Arkansas goes Hog Wild over Missouri to sweep series, tied for first place in SEC

No. 2 Arkansas (30-3, 11-1 SEC) swept the Missouri Tigers (11-20, 0-12 SEC) on Sunday afternoon in Baum-Walker Stadium to complete the series sweep and extend its conference winning streak to 11 games. The Razorbacks are now tied for first place in the Southeastern Conference standings with the Texas Longhorns.

Arkansas 14, Missouri 4 (F/7): Game 2

Missouri got on the board first with SS Keegan Knutson leading off the top of the first inning with a single and CF Kaden Peer following by reaching on an error at second base. DH Cameron Benson roped an RBI single to left field to plate Knutson while Peer moved over to third to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Benson later stole second base, and 1B Cayden Nicoletto poked a two-out RBI single to right field to lengthen the lead to two. He was caught stealing second base to end the inning.

Arkansas responded in the bottom half of the first by loading the bases with one out on a single by SS Wehiwa Aloy, RF Logan Maxwell getting hit by a pitch and 3B Brent Iredale drawing a walk. 1B Camden Kozeal brought in Aloy with a sacrifice fly to center field, but it was the only run the Hogs could manage to get in the frame.

The Razorbacks took the lead in the bottom of the second with C Ryder Helfrick working a leadoff walk and 2B Nolan Souza singling to right field. After CF Justin Thomas Jr. struck out, LF Charles Davalan smashed a three-run home run to right to hand the Hogs a 4-2 lead.

Missouri tied the game immediately in the top of the third with Knutson leading off with a walk and Peer singling to right field to put runners on the corners. During Benson’s at-bat, Helfrick committed a throwing error that allowed Knutson to score and moved Peer all the way up to third base. C Mateo Serna grounded out to first for the second out of the inning, but Peer scored to tie the game, 4-4. RHP Gabe Gaeckle got Arkansas out of the frame by striking out LF Brock Daniels.

The Razorbacks retook the lead in the bottom of the third, with Kozeal leading off with a double. DH Kuhio Aloy drove him in with a single to center field to put Arkansas back in front, 5-4. Helfrick and Souza both laid down back-to-back bunt singles to load up the bases. With two outs, Wehiwa Aloy drove in a run on an infield single to third to extend the lead to two.

The Hogs exploded with a seven-run rally in the bottom of the fourth to build their lead to 13-4. Kozeal reached on a one-out walk, and Kuhio Aloy singled up the middle to place runners on first and second. Helfrick smoked an RBI double to right center to plate Kozeal while Kuhio Aloy scrambled to third. Souza walked to load the bases, and Thomas drew in a run with a walk of his own to give Arkansas a four-run advantage, 8-4.

Davalan dug in and lifted a grand slam to right field for his second home run of the game to extend the lead to eight. After RHP Brock Lucas was relieved by RHP James Vaughn, Wehiwa landed a bloop double to left field to keep the rally alive. Maxwell singled to left on a pop-up to allow Wehiwa Aloy to sprint all the way home to cap off the frame.

The Razorbacks tacked on one more run in the bottom of the sixth to put the game away. Wehiwa Aloy singled up the middle with one out, and Iredale was hit by a pitch with two outs to put runners on first and second. Kozeal singled to left field to drive in Wehiwa Aloy to put Arkansas up by double digits.

RHP Aiden Jimenez threw two scoreless innings after relieving Gaeckle to start off the top of the fifth. RHP Steele Eaves closed out the game with a scoreless seventh to seal the deal for the Hogs.

Arkansas 16, Missouri 2 (F/7): Game 3

Missouri started off the series finale by scoring early again in the top of the first inning. SS Keegan Knutson led off the game with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by CF Kaden Peer. Knutson stole third base and scored on a wild pitch when LF Tyler Macon struck out swinging but reached first on the play.

Arkansas responded in the bottom half of the first with a five-run rally. LF Charles Davalan led off with a single, and SS Wehiwa Aloy worked a walk to place runners on first and second. With two outs in the inning, DH Kuhio Aloy slashed a double down the left field line to clear the bases and give the Hogs the lead, 2-1. After 2B Nolan Souza drew a walk, RF Carson Boles clobbered a three-run homer to left center for his first home run of the season in his first SEC start.

Arkansas did not let up on the pedal by putting up two more runs in the bottom of the second. Aloy led off with a single to center and moved over to second on a fielding error. 1B Camden Kozeal destroyed a two-run dinger to right field for his sixth home run of the season.

The Tigers got a run back in the top of the third with Knutson leading out with a double to left center. Peer singled to right field to drive in Knutson and cut the lead to five, 7-2. LHP Landon Beidelschies pitched the Hogs out of the inning by only allowing one base runner for the rest of the frame.

The Razorbacks got the run back in the bottom of the third with Boles leading off with a walk and Helfrick doubling to left center to put runners in scoring position. CF Justin Thomas Jr. plated Boles with a sacrifice fly to center to build the lead back up to six while Helfrick moved over to third base. Davalan and Wehiwa Aloy drew back-to-back walks to load up the bases. Kozeal cleared the bases with a grand slam to right field to put Arkansas up by 10, 12-2.

Beidelschies went four innings in his seventh start of the year (eighth appearance). He allowed two runs (one earned), four hits and a walk while carving up seven batters on 73 pitches (45 strikes). He was relieved by RHP Christian Foutch to begin the top of the fifth, who threw a perfect fifth inning on 12 pitches (eight strikes) while striking out two. LHP Cole Gibler threw a scoreless sixth inning with just one base runner and a strikeout on 14 pitches (11 strikes).

Arkansas tacked on a couple more runs in the bottom of the sixth, with Boles drawing a walk and Helfrick reaching on an infield single to third base. After Thomas grounded into a 5-3 double play, Davalan singled to center field to bring home Helfrick to lengthen the lead to 11, 13-2. Davalan moved up to second on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single by Wehiwa Aloy for the extra point.

Kozeal doubled to right to put runners in scoring position, and the Tigers inserted LHP Cayden Nicoletto on the mound for RHP Xavier Lovett. Pinch hitter Gabe Fraser knocked in Wehiwa Aloy with an infield single to first base while Kozeal sprinted to third. Kuhio Aloy roped an RBI single to center field to knock in Kozeal to inflate the lead to 14

RHP Carson Wiggins closed out the game in the seventh inning by throwing just 11 pitches (seven strikes) while allowing a walk and striking out one batter in his ninth appearance of the season.

The Razorbacks will stay home on Tuesday to welcome the Arkansas State Red Wolves to Baum-Walker Stadium in an in-state matchup. The first pitch is slated for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on the SEC Network.