No. 5 Arkansas (2-0) had some drama and a power surge in its doubleheader sweep over the Washington State Cougars (0-2) on Friday in Baum-Walker Stadium. The Razorbacks have won their Opening Day game for the 22nd time out of 23 seasons under head coach Dave Van Horn.
Game 1: Arkansas 3, Washington State 2 F/10
Arkansas took the first game of the doubleheader, 3-2, over Washington State in a dramatic 10-inning, walk-off victory.
RHP Gabe Gaeckle went five innings in his first career collegiate start and did not give up a run while tossing 78 pitches (51 strikes). He struck out seven Cougar batters while allowing a hit and a walk while hitting one batter.
The matchup was scoreless for the first five frames until Washington State broke the tie in the top of the sixth inning with a solo shot to right field by RF Logan Johnstone with two outs off of RHP Will McEntire.
The Razorbacks rallied back in the bottom half of the sixth with back-to-back singles by CF Charles Davalan and SS Wehiwa Aloy to put runners on the corners to lead off the inning. DH Logan Maxwell drove in Davalan with a sacrifice fly to center off of southpaw reliever Troy Shepard to tie it back up, 1-1.
The Cougars opened up the top of the 10th with 2B Ollie Obenour reaching on an error at first base and advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt. 3B Kyler Northrop drove in Obenour after reaching on a throwing error by C Ryder Helfrick to give Washington State a 2-1 lead.
CF Cole Watterson continued the frame by singling up the middle to put runners on the corners with one out, but RHP Christian Foutch got out of the jam when LF Max Hartman popped out into a double play. Aloy made the catch in shallow left field and threw out Northrop at home.
Aloy’s spectacular play caught the attention of former Arkansas shortstop Robert Moore on X.
“Probably the best play I’ve seen on that field,” Moore posted. “Stud!”
The bottom of the 10th started with Helfrick, LF Justin Thomas Jr. and Davalan working back-to-back-to-back walks off RHP Trevor Stowe to load the bases. After Aloy struck out, Helfrick scored on a wild pitch to tie the game while the other runners moved into scoring position. Maxwell was intentionally walked to reload the bases.
3B Brent Iredale stepped up to the plate and plated Thomas from third on a walk-off sacrifice fly to win it for the Hogs, 3-2.
Game 2: Arkansas 14, Washington State 2 F/7
This time around, Arkansas pounded Washington State in the second game of the doubleheader to complete the sweep, 14-2.
The Hogs broke out of the gate early with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. RF Rocco Peppi ripped a double down the left field line to score Aloy all the way from first base to give Arkansas an early 1-0 lead. Peppi advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI groundout off the bat of Iredale.
After the Cougars put up a run on the board in the top of the fourth, the Razorbacks threw up a six-spot in the bottom half of the fourth. Davalan punched in 2B Camden Kozeal from second base on a single to center field to put the Hogs back up by two, 3-1, with two out. Aloy and Peppi kept the line moving by drawing back-to-back walks to load the bases.
Iredale dug in and ripped a two-run single to center to double Arkansas’ lead to four. After DH Kuhio Aloy drew a walk, Helfrick cleared the bases with a three-run triple down the right field line to extend the lead to seven, 8-1.
LHP Zach Root had a solid start in his Razorback debut with five frames of one-run ball while picking up the win. The East Carolina transfer hurled 75 pitches (52 strikes) while carving up eight batters and allowing just two hits, one walk, and hitting a batter.
Iredale picked up his fourth RBI of the game in the bottom of the fifth by drawing a bases-loaded walk to score Thomas with two outs. Washington State got a run back on an RBI single by Griffin Myers to plate Johnstone from second off of RHP Aiden Jimenez with one out. Jimenez shook it off and forced Obenour to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
The Hogs loaded up the bases once again in the bottom of the seventh with one out. Davalan drove in a pair to put Arkansas ahead by nine, 11-2, while giving himself a trio of RBIs on the day.
Kuhio ended the game early in the bottom of the seventh with a three-run bomb to left field for his first career dinger as a Hog.
The Razorbacks will take on the Cougars on Saturday at 2 p.m. for the third game of the four-game series in Baum-Walker Stadium. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+.