Error Opens Floodgates for Arkansas Sweep Over McNeese State
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas used a six-run fifth and an eight-run sixth to finish off a sweep of the McNeese State Cowboys 18-5 in seven innings.
"You’ve got to show up and you’ve got to get after it," coach Dave Van Horn said. "I think we did a great job of really being into every game mentally. I think the team grew a little bit as a team this weekend, a little more emotion. It was fun in the dugout with these guys."
After squandering a four-run lead and trailing by one in the fifth, the Razorbacks got some incredible good fortune to tie the game. With two on and one out Sprague-Lott hit a grounder to third. third baseman Gage Trahan aggressively charged the ball and had the ball trickle under his glove and into left, allowing the tying run to score. That opened the floodgates to reclaim a massive lead, Ty Wilmsmeyer roped a two-RBI single to left with the bases loaded. Ross Lovich hit his first homer in a Razorback uniform, a 360-foot three-run bomb to right to stretch the lead back out to 10-5. The Missouri transfer finished the day hitting .417 on the season with nine RBIs in just 24 at-bats.
"There was no panic in our dugout," Lovich said. "We knew they were a good team. But we just have so much self-belief and we knew we were going to get it done. We were going to do whatever it takes to get it done."
Ross Lovich celebrates after hitting his first homer in a Razorback uniform against McNeese State
Arkansas Communications
Mason Molina didn't have a crisp outing, laboring his way through four innings. The Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. native had a bizarre first inning, the Sunday starter didn't give up a hit but was called for the first Razorback balk of the year. The Texas Tech transfer also walked a batter before subsequently picking him off. Despite throwing 22 pitches and only 11 strikes in the first inning, nothing came across.
The pitch count calmed down in the third after Molina retired the side in just six pitches.
The Cowboys starter Alexis Gravel retired the first seven Hogs but six of the next seven Razorbacks reached to open up the game. Hudson White walked for the first baserunner. Wilmsmeyer followed with the first hit, a single to left. Peyton Stovall opened the scoring with a single to right. Wehiwa Aloy followed with a five-hopper up the middle to plate another. Ben McLaughlin doubled the lead, 4-0 with a two-RBI single. The Razorbacks batted around and continued their station-to-station approach.
Jared Sprague-Lott made a nice pick to record the first out of the fourth, which turned out to be important. The next hitter, Parker Stroh, hit a solo homer to right to get McNeese on the scoreboard.
Trouble brewed for Arkansas in the fifth, a hustle double from Easton Dowell to left led off the inning. He advanced to third on a Ben David single before walking Trahan to put the go-ahead run at the plate. Molina turned the ball over to Gage Wood with the bases loaded and no outs.
Arkansas Communications
After an RBI groundout cut the lead to 4-2, McNeese finally got the big hit they were looking for. Cooper Hext roped a ball up the first base line that caromed in and around the right field corner for a game-tying two-run triple. Chase Keeton poked an RBI blooper to right to give McNeese its first lead of the series, 5-4. Wood struck out Peyton LeJune to bring a four-run inning mercifully and close the book on Molina.
The Razorback offense responded in kind, after the massive five-run frame in the fifth, the Hog bats continued to generate traffic, loading the bases again in the sixth. Nolan Souza's second walk of the day forced home another run. All told, Razorbacks tacked on eight more in the inning to make the final score 18-5 highlighted by a two-RBI single off the bat of Kendall Diggs.
Dylan Carter recorded the final two outs in a seven-inning run-rule victory. The Bentonville native got a nice cheer from the Baum-Walker crowd for his first appearance in 10 months coming off Tommy John Surgery.
"At first it was nerve-racking," Carter said. "I’m not going to lie. Just haven’t really been out in a game for so long. Just being able to settle my nerves was a big key. Afterward, it was like, ‘It’s time to ride for the rest of the year.’ The rehab process, it’s long. It was very long. Just being able to throw a baseball again after five months was probably the happiest day of my life. Now here we are. I am getting to pitch again."
The Razorbacks now enter its final tuneup before SEC play against Oral Roberts 6 p.m. Tuesday inside Baum-Walker. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
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