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Hogs' Purple Nightmare Continues with Another Kansas State Loss

Wildcats take down Razorbacks again, suffers first loss of the year
Daniel Shi|
Arkansas Razorbacks shortstop Wehiwa Aloy watches a hit against Washington State at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark.
Arkansas Razorbacks shortstop Wehiwa Aloy watches a hit against Washington State at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Andy Hodges-Hogs on SI Images

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Arkansas RazorbacksKansas State Wildcats

ARLINGTON, Texas. — History repeated itself as Kansas State beat Arkansas to hand the Razorbacks its first loss of the season, 3-2.

Moving indoors gave the Arkansas bats little relief as the Razorbacks struggled against Kansas State starter Jacob Frost, who set a new career-high with six strikeouts across 5 1/3 innings.

"We didn’t see the command coming," coach Dave Van Horn said about Frost. "We knew his stuff was better than last year. He was playing up and kind of a high-carry fastball. We tried to prepare for it, but we didn’t do a very good job with it."

Only the Aloy brothers, Wehiwa and Kuhio provided the only offense off Frost with two loud swings. First, Wehiwa hit got Arkansas on the board with a homer into the first row in right field in a 2-0 game to lead off the bottom of the sixth.

Wehiwa Aloy tied his brother with two homers on the season for about 3 minutes. Kuhio tied the game with a shot to the second deck to left to tie the game at two with his third homer. The ball went 435 feet.

"He [Kuhio] got all of that one," Van Horn said. "He did a nice job getting to the 2-2 count and then laid off a pitch. Got the fastball and didn’t miss it."

Razorback fans, many of whom descended on Globe Life Field may have experienced deja vu early against Kansas State. The Wildcats scored a run in back-to-back innings in the third and the fourth using small ball, similar to how Kansas State defeated Arkansas in the 2024 Fayetteville Regional.

Arkansas pitchers had great command in its opening series against Washington State, walking five in 33 innings. That form didn't carry over against Washington State, Gaeckle walked four in 5 2/3 innings.

Kansas State scored the first run on a two-out walk, a stolen base and an RBI single off the bat of third baseman Dee Kennedy. The Wildcats doubled their lead in the fourth with single to right from second baseman Shintaro Inoue.

As quickly as Arkansas got back level, the Razorbacks gave the lead right back. Tate McGuire gave up the game-winning double to center fielder Micah Dean.

Dean wasn't done dashing Arkansas' hopes, gunning down Charles Davalan trying to go first to third with two outs. It proved costly as the Hogs would have had Brent Iredale up with the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh.

"He should have stayed at second," Van Horn said. "The play is in front of him. It didn't look like he was going full speed like he was going 100% right away. He kept looking for help. The play is in front of you, you should have shut it down. Bottom line. You don’t make the third out at third, especially when you have your hottest hitter coming up."

Arkansas threw out a potential insurance run at the plate in the top of the ninth, but couldn't take advantage as right hander Blake Dean pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief and worked around a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth.

The Razorbacks will look to bounce back against No. 22 TCU 6 p.m. Saturday. The event will once again be streamed on FloCollege.

HOGS FEED:

• Hogs return to Arlington to face K-State in weekend opener

• Hogs Squander Golden Opportunity with Top-Ranked Auburn on Ropes

• Former Razorback Portis suspended by NBA for drug violation

• Arkansas Trying to Keep Arms Fresh to Avoid 2024 Repeat

• Arkansas fans stuck playing creative game of 'what if?'

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Daniel Shi
DANIEL SHI

Covers baseball, football and basketball for Arkansas Razorback on SI since 2023, previously writing for FanSided. Currently a student at the University of Arkansas. He’s been repeatedly jaded by the Los Angeles Angels since 2014. Probably silently humming along to whatever the band is playing in the press box. Follow me on X: @dsh12

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