Razorbacks' Get Game-Winner from Kendall Diggs to Down Texas A&M

Backing up Jared Wegner's earlier grand slam that kept Hogs in SEC Tournament

Author:
Andy Hodges
Publish date:
May 24, 2023 11:48 PM EDT

In this story:

HOOVER, Ala. — Kendall Diggs hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to propel second-seeded Arkansas (40-15) to a thrilling 6-5 win over 10th-seeded Texas A&M (33-24) on Wednesday afternoon at The Hoover Met.

"Exciting way to end the game," Hogs coach Dave Van Horn said in about as under-stated of a description as anyone could have. "Walk-off homer is about as good as it gets, and just proud of the guys for hanging in there."

With the win, Arkansas advances to play third-seeded LSU at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, May 25. Left-hander Hagen Smith will get the start on the mound for the Razorbacks and go up against Tiger ace Paul Skenes. The winner of tomorrow’s game between Arkansas and LSU will advance to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament on Saturday, May 27.

Diggs’ homer, his 11th of the year, was his second walk-off hit of the season. The Razorbacks’ designated hitter came through with a walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the 11th to lift Arkansas to a 10-9 win over Illinois State on March 1.

Texas A&M built an early 4-0 lead on Wednesday afternoon, tagging Arkansas starter Cody Adcock for three runs on two hits and two walks over his two innings of work. The Aggies added their fourth run against Razorback reliever Zack Morris in the top half of the fourth, but that would be the veteran left-hander’s only blemish of the afternoon.

For the longest, it looked like that might be enough to hold up. The Razorbacks couldn't do much, but Morris put out the fire and kept the Aggies from doing anything else.

"Offensively we struggled a little bit," Van Horn said later. "We started taking better at-bats the second half. I was hoping we could put together an inning. We were down four runs or three runs, and we had a catcher's interference, a walk in there, and then Jared got him a fastball in, and I'm sure he was hunting it after his previous at-bat, and he got it and he didn't miss it."

Morris went five innings in relief of Adcock, racking up five strikeouts and limiting the Aggies to just one run on three hits and a walk. His strong performance on the mound set the table for the Hogs’ come-from-behind heroics.

"A little bit of everything, all four of my pitches were working, especially the fastball, the split and the curveball were all good early in the game," he said later. "I kind of found my slider towards the end. I just felt like all of them I started to find the groove with each of the four."

Trailing 4-1 in the seventh, Arkansas loaded the bases with one out for Jared Wegner, who hammered the very first pitch he saw and swatted a go-ahead grand slam over the wall in left to put the Hogs ahead, 5-4. It was his 13th home run of the year, Arkansas’ fifth grand slam of the year and the Razorbacks’ first grand slam in the SEC Tournament since 2018.

Texas A&M, however, tied the game at five apiece in the top of the ninth with a one-out solo shot. Will McEntire, who relieved Morris to start the eighth, silenced the Aggies after that, collecting three strikeouts in his four innings of work.

The Razorbacks’ walk-off heroics in the 11th allowed McEntire to improve to 7-3 on the year. Diggs homered on the fourth pitch he saw from Texas A&M pitcher Ty Sexton, picking up his team-leading 57th RBI on his game-winning swing.

Diggs and Peyton Holt, who had a pair of singles, both finished with a team-high two base knocks. Wegner, meanwhile, tallied a game-high four RBI and raised his season total to 48, good for second most among all Razorback batters.

Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.