HawgBeat – No. 9 Arkansas beats Eastern Illinois, 13-2

FAYETTEVILLE — A 3-run stroll off homer from sophomore Kendall Diggs helped the No. 9 Arkansas Razorbacks begin their weekend sequence off with a 13-2 seven-inning victory over the Japanese Illinois Panthers on a cold Friday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium.

Highlighted by a six-run backside of the third inning, the Diamond Hogs recorded 11 hits within the sport, eight of which got here with runners in scoring place.

Ace left-hander Hagen Smith tossed 97 pitches throughout 4 2/3 innings of scoreless ball. The sophomore gave up three hits, walked three and struck out six in his second begin of the season.

In a sport that beginning second baseman Peyton Stovall (thumb) was unavailable, junior Crowder School switch Peyton Holt drove in two runs on a pair of two-out knocks. It was Diggs’ three-run bomb — the primary of the season at Baum-Walker Stadium — that despatched the 10-run rule into impact and ended the sport after seven innings.

Additionally of observe, Brady Slavens moved over to 3rd base within the sport and Hutchinson Group School switch Ben McLaughlin slotted in at first base. Each performed their roles properly and did not file any errors.

This is a recap of Arkansas’ win over the Panthers, which marked head coach Dave Van Horn’s 800th profession win.

After recording one hit and seeing EIU starter Blake Malatestinic throw simply 24 pitches by two innings, the Diamond Hogs tagged the Panthers’ righty with six runs within the backside of the third.

The primary three batters of the inning reached on successful by pitch and a pair of bunt singles, and Diggs drew an RBI stroll to place the Hogs on the board first. Jared Wegner added a two-RBI single, which was adopted by a Slavens RBI single that made it 4-0.

An RBI double play groundout from McLaughlin scored Wegner and Slavens got here round courtesy of a Holt RBI single to shut out the scoring within the body.

Smith gave up a two-out double within the prime of the fifth was adopted by his third stroll of the sport and Arkansas turned issues over to right-hander Cody Adcock, who allowed a single after which stranded each runners together with his first strikeout.

Arkansas plated its seventh run on Holt’s second two-out RBI single of the afternoon within the backside of the fifth inning.

The Diamond Hogs turned to righty Austin Ledbetter within the prime of the sixth, and he noticed two runs cross the plate on two hits within the body to make it a 7-2 Arkansas benefit.

Freshman right-hander Gage Wooden tossed a powerful prime of the seventh, following a leadoff hit batsman with a line out and a pair of strikeouts.

Within the backside of the seventh, Holt hit a ball to the EIU third baseman that ought to’ve been fielded, however it made its means into left area and Jace Bohrofen got here round to attain Arkansas’ eighth run. The very subsequent pitch, Caleb Cali scored on a wild pitch to place the Hogs up by seven.

One other error by the third baseman scored Hudson Polk and two batters later, Diggs walked issues off with a three-run bomb to heart area.

Up subsequent, the Razorbacks will face the Panthers at 12 p.m. CT Saturday for Recreation 2 of the sequence. The sport might be streamed on the SEC Community Plus.