FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Don’t get hung up on the details but Arkansas isn’t going to look back after sweeping a doubleheader against Washington State in an opening-day doubleheader at Baum-Walker Stadium on Friday afternoon.
Even if the first game was a little bit dicey in a 10-inning 3-2 win, things got easier. The Razorbacks jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead and never looked back. Kuhio Aloy, the brother of shortstop Wehiwa Aloy, delivered a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to put the finishing touches on a 12-2 run-rule win.
A big part of those first-game issues came when Hogs coach Dave Van Horn finally found out some information about Griffin Smith and how he did in junior college before going to the Cougars.
“I looked at his record last year in junior college,” Van Horn said later. “He was 11-0 with like a 1.99 ERA and you’re kind of thinking, ‘Well, that’s junior college.’ But on the other hand you’re thinking ‘This guy knows how to pitch,’ and he does. He wasn’t overpowering at all but just did a great job.”
It was good that opening-day starter Gabe Gaeckle answered the challenge.
“Gaeckle was outstanding,” Van Horn said. “You take away the, I think it was the third inning when his pitch count got up there. He was cruising after two innings, he’d only thrown 22 pitches and you’re thinking ‘This guy might go 6 or 7 today.’ And give them credit. They fought him a little bit.”
Gaeckle gave up one hit and one walk while striking out seven. He worked two perfect innings to being the game before running into some trouble in the third.
“It’s just a learning curve, ” Gaeckle said. “It helps me to grow as a pitcher and I felt fine after the fifth inning.”
In that first game, the Hogs got down late, but never gave up on a cold day that felt worse than the actual temperature due to a wind that was creating a lot of adventures on fly balls. Van Horn saw what he was thinking about this team.
“Doesn’t surprise me a bit,” he said. “We have a good team. Have some guys that are going to fight to play and are pushing each other, but they all like each other it seems like. I don’t think they’re ever going to shut it down. Your just a walk and a base hit away from having that guy up maybe when you are down a couple and hit a three run homer. I hope this team has that knack cause that’s what pushes you over the top is when you can come back and beat people late.”
Brent Iredale’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th inning in game one of Friday’s doubleheader propelled the Hogs in the first game, putting the runners on base for Aloy’s homer.
The Opening Weekend series continues tomorrow afternoon with first pitch set for 1 p.m. on SEC Network+. With a win, Arkansas can clinch its 30th consecutive non-conference home weekend series, a streak dating back to the 2015 season.
The Razorbacks have not lost or tied a non-conference regular season weekend series at Baum-Walker Stadium since 2014, when Arkansas lost two-of-three games to South Alabama in its final non-conference home weekend series.
Game 1: Arkansas 3, Washington State 2 (10)
Making his first collegiate start on the mound,Gaeckle fired a career-long five shutout innings with career-high seven strikeouts to help lead Arkansas to a game one win over Washington State. The Aptos, Calif., allowed only one hit and issued just one walk, throwing 51 of his 78 total pitches for strikes in the Opening Day start.
After Gaeckle departed the ballgame, the Cougars broke through for the first run of the day on a solo home run in the sixth inning to take a one-run lead. The Razorbacks, however, punched back in the bottom half of the frame on Logan Maxwell’s sacrifice fly, scoring Charles Davalan from third and evening the ballgame at one apiece.
Arkansas and Washington State continued to exchange zeroes until the game went to extra innings. In the top half of the 10th, the Cougars capitalized on a pair of Razorback errors and, ultimately, scored the go-ahead run to take a 2-1 lead.
Three consecutive walks to Arkansas hitters to begin the bottom half of the 10th set the table for the heart of the lineup to deliver the final blow. After Ryder Helfrick scored the game-tying run on a wild pitch, Iredale’s sacrifice fly to left brought Justin Thomas Jr. home from third and sealed the Razorbacks’ come-from-behind 3-2 win in extra innings.
Game 2: Arkansas 14, Washington State 2 (7)
Zach Root dominated in his Arkansas debut, spinning five innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts to guide the Hogs to a stress-free win in the second game of Friday’s Opening Day doubleheader. The ECU transfer allowed one run on two hits and one walk, throwing 52 of his 75 pitches for strikes en route to earning his first win of the season.
The Razorback offense, meanwhile, scored early and often with two runs in the first, six runs in the fourth and another six runs over the game’s final three frames. Iredale recorded a team-high three hits, including his first double of the season, and drove in a team-leading four runs, while Aloy and Davalan each collected a pair of hits to go with three RBI.
Rocco Peppi’s RBI double in the bottom of the first started the offensive onslaught as Arkansas jumped out to an early two-run lead. The Hogs’ six-run fourth was engineered by timely two-out hitting, beginning with Davalan’s RBI single.
Iredale followed with a two-RBI single of his own before Helfrick delivered the haymaker, as the Razorback catcher tripled down the line in right, clearing the bases and giving Arkansas a commanding 8-1 advantage. Aloy provided the knockout blow with his three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh to punctuate Arkansas’ 14-2 run-rule win.