Arkansas 0, Oregon State 0 — Middle 3rd Inning
Hagen Smith is on fire with nine strikeouts through three innings.
He has fanned Travis Bazzana, the No. 3 draft prospect, twice. He is dealing with a great fastball-slider combo.
Arkansas 0, Oregon State 0 — End 2nd Inning
Jayson Jones drew a one-out walk but Peyton Holt into an inning-ending double play one pitch later. The Razorbacks do not have a hit against Aiden May.
Arkansas 0, Oregon State 0 — Middle 2nd Inning
Hagen Smith has six strikeouts through two innings. He is pitching incredibly well early.
Oregon State’s Brady Kasper reached with an infield single on the first pitch of the second inning, then Smith sat down three in a row. He has thrown 20 of 23 pitches for strikes.
Arkansas 0, Oregon State 0 — End 1st Inning
Aiden May was as effective as Hagen Smith in the first inning. He hit Ben McLaughlin with a two-out pitch, but otherwise no damage.
Kendall Diggs and Hudson White each struck out to begin the inning and Wehiwa Aloy grounded out.
Arkansas 0, Oregon State 0 — Middle 1st Inning
Hagen Smith was electric in the first inning with a 98-99 mph fastball that he relied on to strike out three Beavers, including Travis Bazzana in three pitches to lead off the inning.
Smith didn’t nibble — he went right after Oregon State’s hitters and did not waste pitches.
Oregon State got a runner with a one-out bunt single, but he had no chance advancing with the way Smith threw to the others.
Pregame
Good evening from Texas!
Arkansas and Oregon State are set to get underway at 7:10 p.m. tonight from Globe Life Field in Arlington, home of the “2023 World Series champion Texas Rangers” as we have been reminded many times since walking in the door.
The game is starting about 10 minutes later than originally scheduled because of an Oklahoma State-Michigan game that ran a little long earlier. The Cowboys defeated the Wolverines 9-3.
Lefty Hagen Smith will get the ball first for Arkansas tonight. He is a Texas native, from about 130 miles east of here in Bullard, who grew up a Rangers fan. He pitched well here last season (5 scoreless innings vs. Texas) but is looking to rebound from a poor start last week vs. James Madison when he allowed 3 runs in a 42-pitch first inning and did not return.
Oregon State will throw right-hander Aiden May, an Arizona transfer who was strong last week in his first start against Minnesota.
The matchup to watch tonight is Smith vs. Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana. Both are first-round prospects for this year’s MLB Draft. Many projections have Bazzana going third overall.
Arkansas has made a little change to its lineup tonight with freshman Ryder Helfrick getting the start at designated hitter. Otherwise this is the lineup the Razorbacks used in last week’s season opener.
RF Kendall Diggs
C Hudson White
1B Ben McLaughlin
SS Wehiwa Aloy
DH Ryder Helfrick
LF Jayson Jones
2B Peyton Holt
3B Jared Sprague-Lott
CF Ty Wilmsmeyer
LHP Hagen Smith
There is a big crowd forming, mostly red with a splash of orange. Arkansas fans have turned out in numbers tonight.