Arkansas baseball falls to Kansas State, will face SEMO in elimination game Sunday

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KAIT) – In his previous seven starts, Hagen Smith gave up five runs combined. The junior left-hander surrendered six Saturday night over five innings of work as the Razorbacks (44-15) lost 7-6 against Kansas State (34-24) in the NCAA Fayetteville Regional at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The Razorbacks will face SEMO once more, this time in an elimination game Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. on ESPN+. The winner of that matchup will face Kansas State in the championship game Sunday night at 6:00 p.m. and must defeat the Wildcats twice to punch their ticket to the super regional round.

After the Diamond Hogs beat SEMO 17-9 and the Wildcats beat Louisiana Tech 19-4 to advance to this game, the two teams were scoreless through four innings of play. Arkansas broke through first in the top of the fifth, with Ty Wilmsmeyer scoring on a wild pitch. Hudson White would deliver an RBI single in the same at-bat to make it 2-0.

But the Wildcats answered in their half of the fifth. Smith gave up two walks, both on a full count, to lead off the frame. After a sac bunt, singles by Chuck Ingram, Brendan Jones, and another sac bunt, Kaelen Culpepper blasted a 3-run HR as Kansas State took the 6-2 lead.

It’s the first time since last year’s Fayetteville Regional Championship that Hagen Smith gave up 6 or more runs in a start. Smith gave up 8 nearly a full calendar year ago on June 4, 2023 as the Diamond Hogs lost 20-5 against TCU. Hagen only allowed 4 hits and struck out 7, but walked 4 in today’s outing.

The Diamond Hogs attempted to mount a comeback in the late innings with a Jared Sprague-Lott home run in the 7th. Hudson White had an RBI double with 1 out in the 8th inning to cut the lead to 6-4. But Tyson Neighbors forced a pop out and a strikeout to keep the tying run on second.

Nick English provided an insurance run with a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth.

Peyton Holt gave Arkansas one last gasp with a 2-run home run in the ninth to cut the lead to one, but Neighbors settled in, striking out 2 of the final 3 batters to close the door.

The Diamond Hogs outhit the Wildcats 13-5 and had five batters with multiple hits, but Arkansas left 13 men on base in the loss.

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