It was a roller-coaster weekend for Arkansas baseball as a win that clinched the SEC West title was sandwiched between one tight and one blowout defeat against Texas A&M.

The No. 2 Razorbacks (43-12, 20-10 SEC) dropped two-of-three games against the No. 4 Aggies (44-11, 19-11) to close the regular season. Arkansas had a chance to win the series entering Saturday’s rubber match, but Texas A&M handed the Hogs their first run-rule defeat of the season, instead.

All eyes now shift toward the postseason, with Arkansas opening its SEC Tournament Wednesday night as the No. 2 seed. The Hogs will receive a first-round bye thanks to their top-four finish in the league.

Here are four observations from the Razorbacks’ series loss to Texas A&M.

Mission accomplished for Arkansas baseball

The 14-4 loss Saturday will sting, and Arkansas will be disappointed to have wasted a record-breaking start from Hagen Smith in the opener, but the only objective this weekend was to win the SEC West. The Hogs did just that with a 6-3 win Friday night.

More: Arkansas baseball clinches SEC West title with win over Texas A&M

More: Arkansas baseball bracketology: Where Hogs stand in 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket projections

“There are a lot of teams who haven’t been able to do that and we’ve done it five of the last six years,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. “Came in second the year we didn’t do it. Just kind of let it go that last weekend a couple, three years ago, and it feels good.”

Gage Wood makes case to remain in weekend rotation

Changing the weekend rotation for the final conference series of the season — on the road against a consensus top-five team in the country — turned out to be a well-worked gamble from Van Horn.

Wood made the first SEC start of his career Friday and limited the Aggies to two earned runs across five innings. He struck out five and didn’t walk a single batter after Van Horn removed Brady Tygart and Mason Molina for losing their control in back-to-back starts building up to this weekend.

Tygart didn’t pitch against Texas A&M, but Molina did, thrusted into the Friday night fire of a 3-3 tie with a runner on first and no outs in the bottom of the seventh. Molina got out of the jam and recorded the final nine outs of the win. He could jump back into the weekend rotation as soon as the SEC Tournament.

Hudson White continues late-season surge

White won the division for Arkansas in game two, crushing a hanging slider and giving Arkansas its first lead of the weekend with a three-run homer to left in the top of the eighth. He hit another home run Saturday and finished the weekend 4-for-10 with four RBIs and three runs.

Two weeks ago, White could sense his season changing with Arkansas on the road against Kentucky. He entered that series hitting just .243, but he’s gone 14-for-32 since then with four home runs and 13 RBIs. The Texas Tech transfer is now hitting NUMBER.

“It’s been awesome,” White said Friday night. “Just been trying to stick to my plan and stick to my routine. Just trying to help the team keep stacking up wins.”

There might also be another bat getting hot at the right time. Wehiwa Aloy hit a pair of home runs this weekend to up his team-high on the season to 13.

What does Arkansas do with Will McEntire and Kendall Diggs?

It was not a fun weekend for McEntire. He faced one batter out of the bullpen Thursday night and walked in the game-winning run. He then got his first start of the season Saturday and gave up a pair of two-run homers with the Aggies striking for four runs in 1 1/3 innings.

McEntire has now given up 17 earned runs in his last 11 appearances. With a 10.60 ERA during that stretch, McEntire’s season mark has dropped from 1.75 to 4.29.

Diggs, meanwhile, went 0-for-7 at the plate and simply can’t get out of this slump that’s now stretched across two months

How much longer are the leashes for both players? There is no obvious replacement for Diggs in right field, but it’s going to be hard for Van Horn to trust McEntire in the postseason with his current form.

FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 12 University of Arkansas softball team survived a scare against Southeast Missouri State in its first game of the NCAA Fayetteville Regional on Friday.

The Razorbacks (37-16) scored three runs in the fifth inning and came from behind to defeat SEMO 3-2 in front of an announced crowd of 2,655 at Bogle Park. Arkansas advanced to play Arizona, which defeated Villanova 14-3 earlier in the day, in the regional winners bracket.

“I’m just really proud of our team for finding a way to win tonight,” Arkansas Coach Courtney Deifel said. “That’s exactly what we expected to get from SEMO. They’re tough, they’re gritty and they gave us everything we could handle tonight. I’m just really proud of the way we stayed the course and found a way to win.”

The Razorbacks and Wildcats are scheduled to play Saturday at 2 p.m. The winner will advance to Sunday’s regional final.

Arkansas entered the bottom of the fifth inning with two hits before Rylin Hedgecock led off with a double down the first-base line. It was the onset of a four-hit, two-walk inning for the Razorbacks.

Reagan Johnson delivered an RBI double to pull Arkansas within 2-1. Nia Carter then sent Johnson home with single to right field, which tied the game at 2-2.

“I would say that we trusted our plan of being flat, driving the ball,” Johnson said when asked about adjustments made during the three-run fifth. “(We were) just hitting line drives, which is what we always try to do. We finally trusted that plan, stayed together and did it.”

After Bri Ellis singled up the middle, SEMO elected to intentionally walk Hannah Gammill with two outs. Freshman Kennedy Miller then drew a full-count, bases-loaded walk to give Arkansas a 3-2 lead.

“She’s a freshman by year, but she’s not a freshman at this point,” Deifel said of Miller. “She’s battle-tested. She’s been through it all and she’s been clutch for us. In that moment for anybody, it’s hard: senior, fifth-year, sophomore, it doesn’t matter when you’re in that moment and the bases are loaded and you’re in postseason and the lights are on and everyone’s cheering.

“There is a certain level of just controlling your emotions and just being really present. She was just so locked in in that moment. … It’s huge to not stretch your zone and just take your base in that moment. And it was the final dagger, fortunately.”

SEMO (28-25) went ahead 2-0 in the second inning when Brittany Affolter singled with the bases loaded. It came after the Redhawks loaded the bases to chase Arkansas starter and All-SEC first-team selection Morgan Leinstock.

“I was just looking for a pitch to hit, and I figured that they were going to come in on me,” Affolter said. “I just needed a pitch to hit and luckily it went up the middle and scored two runs. It’s probably the best feeling I could have had. It’s just nice to be able to come in there and not be afraid, step in the box, take a deep breath and just do what you know how to do.”

The Razorbacks turned to sophomore Robyn Herron, who provided a dominant relief performance.

The sophomore left-hander from Tampa, Fla., threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings and shut down the Redhawks after Affolter’s go-ahead hit.

“I really just wanted to have Morgan’s back because she’s been great for us all season long,” Herron said. “I just wanted to attack every hitter, every pitch, and never take a pitch off. Just my goal was to win — win every batter, win every pitch.”

The Redhawks threatened in the sixth inning with a one-out single. But in the next at-bat, Herron caught a liner hit and flipped to first base for an inning-ending double play. It was not the final time the Razorbacks made an energizing defensive play.

In the seventh inning, Carter robbed the Redhawks of a leadoff hit with a diving grab in left field.

SEMO Coach Mark Redburn said he tipped his cap to Arkansas for making tough plays on defense.

“We knew it was going to be a big environment, and it was,” Redburn said. “I thought that they handled it really well. We didn’t commit any errors, we outhit them 7-6 and we hit a couple of really good balls that they made some great defensive plays on and robbed us.

“I thought we came out and we did exactly what we wanted to do. We played on the big stage and (the team) battled and competed. Just unfortunately this time right here, we just fell a little short.”

Arkansas advanced into the winners bracket of a regional for the fourth consecutive year.

The Razorbacks will play Arizona for the third time this season and the eighth time since 2021. Arkansas split a pair of games — each by a 3-2 score — in February against Arizona during the Bear Down Fiesta it hosted.

“They’re an explosive offense,” Deifel said of the Wildcats. “They’re a team that pitches by committee and they do a good job of mixing their pitchers in with different looks. They have exceptional defense and so we know that everything that we get, we’re going to have to earn. It’s going to be a battle.”

SEMO will play Villanova in an elimination game Saturday at 4:30 p.m.