Fayetteville, AR- In a much-needed win to avoid a sweep, Luke Hancock delivered with the bat and the glove to give Mississippi State a 5-3 extra-inning victory over #2 Arkansas.
Cade Smith continued to build on his impressive Sophomore campaign today. In five innings of work, the DeSoto Central product struck out six Arkansas hitters and allowed just three hits. Arkansas managed to hit a pair of solo home runs off Smith, one by left fielder Zack Gregory in the third and another by centerfielder Bradyon Webb in the fourth, but keeping runners off the base paths allowed him to do so limit the damage. Smith might have had more left in the tank but left the game after being hit in the head by a ball hit by Arkansas catcher Michael Turner and was seen with stitches above his eye after the game.
Arkansas sophomore Jaxon Wiggins had a very similar start as Smith. The flame-throwing righty had a fastball top out at 100 MPH and limited the Mississippi State hitters to just four hits in five innings. Like Smith, Wiggins allowed a pair of solo homers, one to Luke Hancock in the first, followed by one by R.J. Yeager in the third.
Lefty Evan Taylor came in to pitch the sixth for the Razorbacks, and Logan Tanner jacked one over the left-field wall to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead, but Arkansas got the run right back in the bottom of the frame. Brooks Auger relieved Smith, and Arkansas came out playing some small ball, and after an infield single and a walk, Braydon Webb dropped down a sac bunt to move the runners, and DH Brady Slavens knocked in the tying run with a sac-fly.
Auger shut the Hogs down in the seventh and eighth but got into some trouble in the ninth. After surrendering a single to Brady Slavens and walking shortstop Jalen Battles, Zack Gregory moved them to 2nd and 3rd with a bunt. Mississippi State opted to intentionally walk Arkansas leadoff man Cayden Wallace to set up the force at all bases and would bring in Jackson Fristoe to try to blow out the fire. Fristoe delivered big time, getting the Bulldogs out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts of Razorback freshman 1st baseman Peyton Stovall and Michael Turner to send it to extra innings.
Arkansas freshman Brady Tygart, who had shut the Bulldogs down with six strikeouts in the eighth and ninth, shut them down again in the top of the tenth, and Fristoe would return the favor in the bottom of the frame. State had an opportunity to take the lead in the eleventh, as Logan Tanner drew a one-out walk and a pitch with two outs hit Kellum Clark, but Arkansas would pull Tygart and bring in Kole Ramage, who struck out Brad Cumbest to kill the rally.
Jalen Battles led off the bottom of the eleventh with a single, and Zack Gregory moved him to 2nd base with his 2nd sac bunt of the game. Cayden Wallace would be intentionally walked for a 2nd time to set up a double play, as State would much rather pitch to the freshman Peyton Stovall who had struck out four times on the day. Stovall smacked a line drive as the hearts of many Mississippi State fans sunk, thinking the Razorbacks had an easy walk-off single, but Luke Hancock stuck his glove out and snagged it and doubled up Jalen Battles trying to get back to 2nd to get Fristoe out of the inning.
Kole Ramage hit Tanner Leggett with a pitch, and Kamren James followed with a walk. Now at the plate, Luke Hancock played hero again, driving in the go-ahead run with a single, and Logan Tanner followed with an RBI single of his own to give the Bulldogs a 5-3 lead. Fristoe went back out for a fourth inning and shut the Hogs down 1-2-3 with a pair of flyouts and a strikeout on star 2nd baseman Robert Moore to end the ballgame.
The win avoids a sweep and breaks an 8-game losing streak that Mississippi State had to Arkansas. The Bulldogs move to 17-12 overall and 4-5 in the conference, tied for 3rd in the SEC West. Mississippi State will host UT Martin on Tuesday before LSU comes to town next weekend.
