Hogs end regular season in grand fashion; topple Tennessee in rubber game

Razorbacks go into postseason play on high note, achieve slice of history

Ryder Helfrick celebrates after hitting a grand slam against the Tennessee Volunteers in the rubber game and series finale. The Razorbacks won 8-4. | Nilsen Roman -HogsSI Image

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — No. 8 Arkansas rode a Ryder Helfrick grand slam to a 8-4 win over No. 17 Tennessee to close out the regular season and clinch the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament.

"We did just enough," coach Dave Van Horn said. "We played solid defense. We didn’t give them much. Walked them four times but they walked us more than that and they made an error in that inning we ended up scoring five runs. We’ve been good at that. If we get an extra at-bat or maybe something like that starts a rally."

Tennessee came into the third inning with a 2-1 lead, which turned into a 6-2 deficit in the span of five batters.

Helfrick busted the game wide open with a 331-foot high-arcing grand slam with a launch angle of 46.2 degrees.

RYDER HELFRICK BAUM-ED IT

GRAND SLAM FOR THE LEAD‼️🐗 @RazorbackBSB pic.twitter.com/tjY3k6YYn9

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) May 17, 2025

It was Helfrick's second homer of the series and 10th on the year.

He became the seventh player this year to reach the double-digit homers. It's the first time in the Van Horn era that seven different players hit 10 or more homers. Previously, six different players hit 10 in 2021. Justin Thomas could be the next to join the list, he's two away on eight.

The inning was set up by a mix of subpar play from Tennessee and a potential break. Charles Davlan led off the inning with a single, but looked to be picked off by Tennessee starter Tegan Kuhns, but first base umpire Jeremy Dupree gave Davalan second base on a balk.

A ground ball hit right to the second baseman Dean Curley went between his legs off the bat of shortstop Wehiwa Aloy. Back-to-back walks to Logan Maxwell and Kuhio Aloy chased Kuhns from the game with the bases loaded and no outs.

Helfrick cashed them all in with the grand slam on a 2-1 pitch. He continues his hot stretch and is now hitting .316 on the year.

"Just trying to hit everything the same," Helfrick said. "Hard, flat, through the other way. "Making some swings after the Ole Miss series and trying to make the adjustment through there with my stance and mindset I think helped a lot too."

Wehiwa Aloy hit his team-leading 18th homer for an insurance run in the fourth, his first since the series opener against Florida April 25, breaking a streak of 41 at-bats without a homer.

Tennessee had plenty of early chances against starter Gage Wood. The Volunteers had three hits in each of the first two innings, but could only managed a solitary run in each frame. Wood stranded two runners in each of his three innings of work and struck out seven. Tennessee finished the day just 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

As a domino effect to Aiden Jimenez making his first start of the season Friday, Landon Beidelschies made his first appearance out of the bullpen since Febuary 22 against TCU in Arlington, Texas. His previous 11 outings were all starts.

Beidelschies and Will McEntire combined for six innings of two-run relief with the only blemish being a two-run homer off the bat of Andrew Fischer. The tying run never came to the plate in relief.

MAC'S GOT SOMETHING TO SAY 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/ukBASfj8Ll

— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) May 17, 2025

McEntire had his best outing of the season, retiring the final 11 batters of the game with four strikeouts on just 39 pitches.

"That was awesome," McEntire said. "Been here six years, poured everything into this place. To go out like that in the regular season was awesome, but there’s still a lot of work left to do." 

Arkansas now awaits an opponent in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. By finishing as the No. 2 seed, the Razorbacks earned a double bye in the 16-team single elimination format. Their first game will be 3 p.m. Friday in Hoover, Ala.

News and Notes:
$280,000 Legislators Throw Out First Pitch:
The winner of the first Razorback Raffle was announced in the eighth inning with a final pot of $282,645. Arkansas State Representatives RJ Hawk and Matt Shepherd were both sponsors of HB 1634, the bill that legalized the raffle. Both were on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Missed the actual pitch, but that’s ⁦@RJHawk⁩ and Former Ark. Speaker of the House Matt Shepherd, who were both sponsors of HB1634, legalizing the Razorback raffle. The pot is now 150k+. pic.twitter.com/1MAwEhtO9B

— daniel shi (@dshi12) May 17, 2025