Arkansas triumphs over Grambling in annual Little Rock game at Dickey-Stephens Park

No. 2 Arkansas (27-3, 8-1 SEC) had to extinguish a scrappy Grambling (10-17, 6-3 SWAC) team on Tuesday night to pick up a 7-4 victory in North Little Rock, Ark., at Dickey-Stephens Park. The Razorbacks have swept the season series over the Tigers and are a perfect 13-0 all-time against them.

Arkansas baseball vs Grambling

Arkansas struck first in the bottom of the first inning with a pair of singles by the Aloy brothers to put runners on the corners with one out. 3B Brent Iredale plated SS Wehiwa Aloy from third base on a sacrifice fly to right field for his team-leading 43rd RBI of the season to put the Hogs up, 1-0.

Grambling knotted the game up in the top of the third with C Chris Marcellus leading off with a double and stealing third base. With one out, DH Jaylyn Bennett punched in Marcellus with an RBI groundout to second.

CF Charles Davalan led off the bottom of the third with a triple down the right field line. Wehiwa Aloy lined a single to left center to score Davalan and give the Razorbacks the lead back, 2-1. DH Kuhio Aloy was hit by a pitch, and Iredale drew a walk to load the bases.

LHP Nick Robinson was relieved by RHP Hampton Phillips, and LF Carson Boles welcomed him to the game with a two-run single to left field to bring in both of the Aloy brothers. C Zane Becker laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position. After 1B Michael Anderson fouled out to the right side, Iredale scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to four, 5-1.

RHP Tate McGuire threw four solid innings in his first career start (ninth appearance of the season) while allowing a run, a hit and two walks with four strikeouts on 59 pitches (38 strikes). LHP Colin Fisher was inserted on the mound to begin the top of the fifth.

Grambling got a run back in the top half of the fifth with SS Jacob Jacobs-Guishard leading off the frame with a single. Bennett reached on a single of his own on a bunt near the first baseline, and CF Martavius Thomas threw down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners in scoring position. RF Cameron Hill drove in Jacobs-Guishard on an RBI fielder’s choice, 5-2, with Bennett getting thrown out at third base.

Arkansas built its lead to five, with Davalan reaching on a one-out single. After Wehiwa Aloy drew a walk, Kuhio Aloy drove in Davalan with an RBI single to right, 6-2. Iredale was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Boles reached on a fielder’s choice to score Wehiwa Aloy from third.

Thomas led off the top of the seventh inning for the Tigers with a walk, but RHP Dylan Carter picked up the first two outs of the frame. 2B Nyan Hayes came through with an RBI double to center field to cut the deficit to four, 7-3. LF Trey Bridges kept the rally going with an RBI single off of Iredale to drive in Hayes while moving up to second on the play. Bridges was caught in a rundown between second and third base to get the Razorbacks out of the inning.

LHP Cole Gibler came out of the bullpen at the start of the eighth and tossed the final two innings to close out the game. He allowed just one walk while carving up five batters on 25 pitches (20 strikes) for his first career collegiate save.

The Razorbacks will welcome the Missouri Tigers to Baum-Walker Stadium for a three-game series starting on Friday. The first pitch for the series opener is slated for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.