No. 4 Arkansas baseball uses home runs to claim series win over Ole Miss

Christina Long, Fort Smith Times Record
·4 min read

FAYETTEVILLE — Thanks to late-inning heroics Saturday and a pair of home runs Sunday, No. 4 Arkansas baseball bounced back for a series win over Ole Miss.

The Razorbacks dropped Game 1 on Friday 4-2, but a walk-off home run by freshman Kendall Diggs gave Arkansas a 6-3 Game 2 win. Two more home runs in Game 3 propelled Arkansas to a 4-3 victory to take the series.

The Razorbacks needed the win after dropping last week's series at Texas A&M and ahead of another road series with No. 21 Auburn.

Arkansas (34-10, 14-7 SEC) maintained its lead in the SEC West, and Ole Miss (24-19, 7-14) stays at the bottom of the division.

Here are our three biggest takeaways from Arkansas' victory.

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Offense relies on pop ...

All of Arkansas' 12 runs in the series came on home runs. The Razorbacks again struggled with clutch hitting and leaving runners on base, but the deep ball came through enough to give Arkansas two wins.

The biggest moment of the weekend came when Diggs launched a three-run, walk-off homer to end Game 2. Diggs had appeared in just three SEC games prior to his start on Friday. Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn decided to start Diggs at designated hitter based on the pitching matchup.

"Maybe I felt guilty a little bit that I haven’t played him a little more, honestly, because he’s got a really good swing," Van Horn said. "If he swings the bat like he did today, he’s not coming out of the lineup."

Braydon Webb knocked two home runs on the weekend, bringing his season total to 11. He's tied with Brady Slavens, who also hit a bomb in Game 2. Chris Lanzilli and Michael Turner rounded out the group of home run hitters.

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... Because of stranded runners

While Ole Miss strung together hits all weekend, totaling 24, Arkansas struggled to capitalize on scoring opportunities outside of long balls. Arkansas was a combined 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

Game 1 was especially odd. Both teams combined for 10 hits in the first three innings, but neither managed to score. Ole Miss finally struck in the fourth with a leadoff double and an RBI single.

Arkansas stranded a total of 15 runners over the weekend, but thanks to the Razorbacks' pitching and defense, Ole Miss fared worse with 26 left on base.

Hagen Smith recovers well, and other pitching notes

Freshman lefty Hagen Smith had a good bounce-back start Saturday after last weekend's outing against Texas A&M. In that game, Smith went three innings and gave up five walks, two hits and an earned run while fanning one. It was his shortest outing of the season.

In Game 2 against Ole Miss, Smith lasted six innings and struck out eight. He allowed seven hits, two earned runs and two walks.

Freshman reliever Brady Tygart shined in two games. He was awarded the save in Game 2 after pitching two innings with two strikeouts, no hits and no runs. He walked back-to-back batters to start the ninth inning, but a strikeout and a double play left him unscathed.

In Game 3, Tygart came on in the seventh after a short and shaky start by Jaxon Wiggins. Wiggins was pulled in favor of Zack Morris after three innings with three hits, three walks, three earned runs and two strikeouts. Morris was solid as a setup man, throwing three scoreless innings.

Tygart fanned four in three scoreless innings. He loaded the bases on walks in the ninth but got a flyout for the third out and escaped with the win.

Up next

Arkansas will host Missouri State on Tuesday (6:30 p.m. CT, SECN+). The Razorbacks' next conference series is on the road at No. 21 Auburn starting Friday (7 p.m. CT, SECN+).

Christina Long covers the Arkansas Razorbacks. You can email her at clong@swtimes.com or follow her on Twitter @christinalong00.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Arkansas baseball uses home runs to win series vs. Ole Miss