Razorbacks’ bats come alive in rout of Grambling before sweeping Murray State

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — No. 2 Arkansas racked up 20 base hits, including nine extra-base hits with six doubles and three homers, to coast to a 21-1 runrule win against Grambling on Tuesday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The Razorbacks’ 20 base knocks mark their most in a game since collecting 20 hits against Dayton on Feb. 28, 2018.

Jayson Jones led the offensive explosion, swatting a pair of dingers in the Razorbacks’ lopsided win. He finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a team-leading six runs batted in, swatting a two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning before clubbing a grand slam — the Hogs’ second of the game — in the fifth inning.

Jones was one of six Arkansas batters to record multiple base knocks, with Will Edmunson (2-for-4), Kendall Diggs (2-for-3), Ross Lovich (3-for-3), Jared Sprague-Lott (2-for-3) and Peyton Holt (3-for-3) also tallying multiple-hit games. Holt scored a team-high four runs in the Razorbacks’ win, while Edmunson, Diggs and Sprague-Lott each contributed doubles.

After starter Colin Fisher, who earned the win to improve to 2-1 on the year, fired a scoreless top of the first with a strikeout, the Hogs’ offense posted a seven-spot in the bottom half of the frame. The biggest blow of the inning came off the bat of Hudson Polk, who clobbered a grand slam — Arkansas’ first of the season — in his first at-bat of the year.

Ahead 7-0 after the first, the Razorbacks (6-2) added five runs in the third, two runs in the fourth, six runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth to take control of the ball game. Arkansas silenced the Grambling offense until the seventh inning, when the Tigers put together a two-out rally and brought home a run to break up the shutout.

On the mound, all six Razorback pitchers struck out at least one batter and combined to total 11 punch-outs in the seven-inning win. Parker Coil tossed two scoreless innings in relief, while Cooper Dossett struck out the side in his season debut. Gage Wood logged a pair of strikeouts in his scoreless inning of work.

Hagen Smith, the reigning National Pitcher of the Week, struck out 12 over six innings of one-run ball to lead No. 2 Arkansas to a 5-1 win against Murray State on Friday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium.

Smith, who raised his career strikeout total to 230, moved into seventh all-time in the Arkansas record book for career strikeouts. The left-hander is two strikeouts shy of tying Kevin Kopps’ 232 strikeouts for sixth all-time in program history.

Led by Smith’s second consecutive double-digit strikeout performance, the Razorback pitching staff twirled a combined two-hitter in Friday afternoon’s win over the Racers. Right-handers Koty Frank and Gabe Gaeckle combined for three scoreless innings and eight strikeouts in relief, as Arkansas pitchers finished with 20 total strikeouts on the afternoon.

After allowing a lead-off homer to start the ballgame, Smith settled down to retire the next 18 of 19 batters faced. The lefty finished with 12 strikeouts on 81 pitches (54 strikes) in six innings, allowing just one run on one hit and one walk.

Brady Tygart’s career-high 10 strikeouts, and Diggs’ first home run of the season powered No. 2 Arkansas to a 11-1 run-rule win against Murray State on Saturday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium.

With Saturday’s win, the Razorbacks clinched their 29th consecutive non-conference home weekend series. Arkansas has not lost or tied a non-conference regular season weekend series at Baum-Walker Stadium since dropping two-of-three games against South Alabama in 2014.

For the second consecutive game, an Arkansas pitcher racked up double-digit strikeouts on the mound, as Tygart finished with 10 strikeouts over five innings of one-run ball while allowing just three hits and a walk on 76 pitches (51 pitches). Over the last seven games, Razorback starting pitchers have allowed only two runs (both earned) on 13 hits and seven walks.

Tygart fired four scoreless on the mound before the Arkansas offense shined in the bottom of the fourth. Jayson Jones’ bases-loaded walk, Nolan Souza’s two-RBI single and Ryder Helfrick’s run-scoring double play put the Hogs up, 4-0.

Behind Mason Molina’s 10-strikeout gem and Souza’s career day, No. 2 Arkansas (9-2) completed its series sweep of Murray State (6-5) with a 5-3 win on Sunday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The Hogs, who have won 29 consecutive non-conference home weekend series, received another spectacular pitching performance, as Molina spun five innings of one-run ball and matched his season-high with 10 strikeouts. All three Razorback starters, including Hagen Smith (12) and Brady Tygart (10), racked up double-digit strikeouts during the series.

Over the last eight games, Arkansas starting pitchers have allowed just three runs on 15 hits, including three solo homers, and eight walks while combining for a jaw-dropping 0.69 earned-run average and 70 strikeouts in 39 innings of work.

Arkansas’s 12-game homestand was slated to continue Tuesday against in-state foe Central Arkansas.