2024-05-13 00:17:39
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Powered by three two-run homers, including Peyton Holt’s leadoff hit in the sixth, No. 5 Arkansas (42-10, 19-8 SEC) scored nine unanswered runs to overcome a six-run deficit and pull out a thrilling 9-6 series win against No. 14 Mississippi State (33-18, 15-12 SEC) Sunday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium.
With Sunday’s win, the Razorbacks have now won 10 straight SEC home weekend series since last season and 22 of their last 23 SEC home weekend series since the 2019 campaign. Arkansas, which hasn’t lost a series against the Bulldogs in Fayetteville since 2007, is also 13-2 against Mississippi State with five consecutive weekend series wins since 2019.
Sunday’s win also kept Arkansas within one game of Kentucky in the overall SEC race and maintained its two-game lead over Texas A&M in the SEC Western Division with three games left to play in the regular season.
Mississippi State scored five runs in the second and added another in the third, creating a 6-0 run advantage to start the series finale. Arkansas starter Mason Molina was tagged for four runs on four hits and a walk in his lone inning of work.
Gage Wood took over in relief of Molina and turned three innings of two-run ball with three strikeouts, settling the game and giving Arkansas an opportunity to regroup. The Hogs did just that, scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth before scoring three more in the fifth on Jayson Jones’ two-run shot and Jared Sprague-Lott’s RBI groundout.
Trailing 6-4 in the sixth, Hudson White laced a two-run homer into the Hog Pen in left to tie the game. Later in the inning, Holt stepped to the plate with two outs and hit the Razorbacks’ third two-run home run of the day.
Holt’s go-ahead run, his fourth homer of the season, gave Arkansas an 8-6 lead, leaving Mississippi State in stunned silence. Holt finished 3-for-4, including a double and homer, with two RBI to raise his season slash line to .325/.431/.458.
Ben McLaughlin extended the Hogs’ lead to three in the bottom of the seventh with his sacrifice fly, scoring Sprague-Lott from third. His RBI capped the Hogs’ nine-run rally, which started in the fourth and ended in the seventh.
Christian Foutch (1.0 IP), Will McEntire (2.0 IP, 1 SO) and Gabe Gaeckle (2.0 IP, 3 SO) combined for five scoreless innings in relief of Molina and Wood, who silenced the Bulldogs after their early six-run outburst . McEntire earned his second win of the series to improve to 5-0, while Gaeckle recorded his seventh save of the season — and sixth of the multi-inning variety.
Next, the Hogs will close out the regular season in College Station-Bryan, Texas. First pitch in the three-game series between SEC West Division foes Arkansas and Texas A&M is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, May 16, on ESPN2.
For complete coverage of Arkansas baseball, follow the Hogs on Twitter (@RazorbackBSB), Instagram (@RazorbackBSB) and Facebook (Arkansas Razorback Baseball).
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