Freshman's First Homer Carries Razorback Offense to Sweep
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas finished off its first undefeated weekend of the season with a 5-3 win over the Murray State Racers behind Mason Molina's 10 strikeouts on the mound. Nolan Souza led the offense with a three RBI day.
"Feel fortunate to win that game," coach Dave Van Horn said. "We didn’t play great and scored just enough runs. Give them credit, Murray State. They come out swinging the bats and they played hard. They were fighting to get a win. I thought our guys did a pretty good job of jumping on a couple of mistakes and scoring a run here or there."
The Razorbacks mixed luck with heads-up baseball to play a massive get out of jail card. In a 4-2 game with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the sixth, Taylor Howell hit a pop-up high into the windy sky. Third baseman Jared Sprague-Lott didn't make the catch. However, that was a blessing in disguise. The ball caromed off the side of the pitching mound right to catcher Hudson White. Murray State's Carson Garner had inexplicably left third base with the infield fly rule in effect. Pitcher Will McEntire was waiting to tag Garner right in front of home plate to complete the double play and get the Razorbacks out of trouble.
Molina continued the massive strikeout totals, striking out six his first time through the order. The three weekend starters of Hagen Smith, Brady Tygart and Molina finished the weekend with 32 strikeouts with just three walks.
Murray State having just mustered five hits the first two games, opened the scoring in the top of the second with its third solo homer of the weekend. Taylor Howell uncorked a 443-foot bomb to left-center.
The Razorbacks were kept at bay the first two innings, Murray State's Ryan Fender faced the minimum until Nolan Souza led off the bottom of the third with his first homer in his Razorback career, a 398-foot shot to left to tie the game. Back-to-back one-out singles from Hudson White and Will Edmunson set the table for Arkansas to take the lead. White scored on a Kendall Diggs sacrifice fly.
Souza's big day continued in the fourth. Leadoff singles from Jared Sprague-Lott and Jayson Jones gave him the chance to knock them both in with a single to center and stretch the lead to 4-1.
"It was a lot of fun," Souza said. "I was just really happy that I could go out there and perform for my teammates. I know they have my back, so I was really happy that I could just go out there and do my job for them."
Molina settled down and retired seven straight before trouble brewed in the fifth. The first two reached thanks to a single and a hit batsman but the next three were promptly retired. The final out of the inning was recorded when Molina beat leadoff hitter Drew Vogel to the bag on a ball hit back to the mound. The Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. native's day was done after 77 pitches.
Gage Wood took over in the top of the sixth, after striking out the leadoff hitter, back-to-back singles brought the tying run to the plate. Wood looked to have at least gotten the second out of the inning but a throwing error by Jack Wagner trying to start a potential inning-ending double play plated the Racers' first run of the series not via the homer, before McEntire came in to get the rare 2-6-1 double play to preserve a two-run Razorbacks lead.
McEntire cruised through the first two hitters in the seventh, retiring both with strikeouts on nine pitches. On an 0-2 pitch, Vogel cranked his second solo homer of the weekend to cut the deficit to just 4-3.
Poor defense from the Racers gave the run right back, and a leadoff fielding error from Vogel at shortstop came around to score. Diggs blooped a single into center to put runners at the corners. A two-run buffer was restored after Wehiva Aloy brought the run home on a 6-4-3 double play.
McEntire had to get out of the inning twice in the eighth, a missed catch error by Diggs on a fly ball to right, suddenly put the tying run in scoring position with two outs. The Hogs did not come to grips with the mistake and McEntire forced a pop-up off the bat of Ethan Krizen to retire the side. He got the final 11 outs of the game and picked up his first save of the season.
"I bet as a pitcher I probably should not say I enjoy guys on but I kind of enjoy the pressure of it," McEntire said.
The Razorbacks now welcome Central Arkansas 3 p.m. Tuesday as the 12-game homestand continues. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+.
HOG FEED:
• Effort is back for Razorbacks against Kentucky
• Dave Van Horn resorting to small-ball with offense struggling at times this year
• Tygart continues torrid strikeout pace for Hogs' pitching, wins series against Murray State
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