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Razorbacks Leave Hoover on Winless Whimper; Drop Elimination Game

Arkansas' Hagen Smith records just six outs; offense no match for Wildcats' power streak Thursday

Daniel Shi

Arkansas second baseman Peyton Holt runs to first base on a two-RBI single against Vanderbilt during the fourth inning in 2023
Arkansas second baseman Peyton Holt runs to first base on a two-RBI single against Vanderbilt during the fourth inning in 2023 / Andrew Nelles / Tennessean.com / USA
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HOOVER, Ala. — Arkansas' coronation of starter Hagen Smith as the Razorback single-season strikeout leader is on ice for at least another game. The ace struck out just four in two innings in a 9-6 loss to the Kentucky Wildcats behind a trio of homers from Kentucky.

"Got to give credit to Kentucky," coach Dave Van Horn said. "They came out and played a really good ball game. Obviously made all the plays defensively. Really a couple of really nice plays in the infield. When we made a mistake, they hit it out of the park for the most part."

David Walling still clings to the record with 155 strikeouts when Van Horn pulled Smith after 36 pitches and just one time through the lineup. He allowed two unearned runs after the Wildcats ran havoc on the bases after a leadoff walk from Ryan Waldschmidt, forcing errors from Smith and Hudson White to give Kentucky an early 2-0 lead.

Van Horn and pitching coach Matt Hobbs pulled Smith after noticing a velocity dip from Smith, hitting at times 91 on the stadium radar gun, his season average fastball velocity is 95.7 mph. Smith turned the ball over to Gage Wood in the top of the third.

Wood gave up a pair of solo homers in both the fourth and the fifth, one to Ryan Nicholson and the other to Waldschmidt. Four straight Wildcats reached with one out in the fifth inning, including Émilien Pitre is now 7-for-13 with four extra-base hits in four games against Arkansas. Nick Lopez tacked on a two-RBI single to take a 6-0 lead into the top of the sixth.

The Razorback offense was held silent by Kentucky starter Trey Pooser, who scattered three singles across five scoreless innings. Arkansas had much better luck against Jackson Nove, loading the bases with a pair of hits and a walk. After Wehiwa Aloy got the Hogs on the board with an RBI groundout, Peyton Holt snuck a three-run homer to left field to pull the Razorbacks back to within 6-4.

"We're right where we need to be," Holt said. "We didn't win both games — either game — but we're swinging it well. We just got to get those timely hits, just stack clubs and stay with our approach."

However, the Wildcats' Waldschmidt had another homer up his sleeve. After the Razorbacks committed its third error of the game, Waldschmidt hit homers in back-to-back at-bats to restore the Kentucky lead back to 8-4. The Wildcats added another run in the inning on a sac fly.

Holt matched Waldschmidt, homering in his second straight at-bat but the tying run never came to the plate in the final two innings. Jared Sprague-Lott also added a solo homer in the ninth.

"You're playing all year to get to Omaha," Holt said. "This is where it starts. We've been preparing for this since August. And we're really not going to change much, we're going to do our work, be intentional and take it day by day."

The Razorbacks will now head back to Fayetteville to await their fate in the NCAA regional. The selection show takes place 11 a.m Monday and will be broadcast on ESPN2.

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Daniel Shi

DANIEL SHI

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