FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas baseball team participated in a seven-inning intrasquad scrimmage Friday evening at Baum-Walker Stadium and the Cardinal squad, which was stacked with starters, earned a 10-2 win over the Gray team.
Junior right-hander Gage Wood started on the mound for Gray and he gave up two runs in his lone inning of work. Wood tossed 28 total pitches, walked one and struck out two while allowing a pair of hits, including a two-RBI single from New Mexico JC transfer third baseman Brent Iredale.
Florida SouthWestern State transfer Justin Thomas Jr. singled up the middle to lead things off against sophomore righty Gabe Gaeckle in the bottom of the first, and Thomas quickly made his way around with two stolen bases and then he scored via an error from catcher Ryder Helfrick to cut the deficit to 2-1. That was all Gray scratched across in the frame.
Ohio State transfer left-hander Landon Beidelschies took the mound for Gray in the top of the second and he retired the first two batters he faced before giving up a solo homer to Florida Gulf Coast transfer Charles Davalan to make it a 3-1 lead for Cardinal. Beidelschies retired Wehiwa Aloy right after to get out of the frame otherwise unscathed.
Lefty Zach Root, an East Carolina transfer, ran into a pair of one-out base runners but he managed to strand both on the bases for the first scoreless frame of the evening in the bottom of the second.
In the top of the third, sophomore right-hander Tate McGuire was tagged for a two-run, 411-foot homer by Helfrick to center that gave Cardinal a 5-1 lead. Freshman lefty Cole Gibler faced the minimum in the bottom half of the frame for Cardinal.
Super senior right-hander Dylan Carter retired all three batters he faced on swinging strikeouts in the top of the fourth. Back on the mound for his second inning, Gibler once again faced the minimum and benefitted from Helfrick's second runner thrown out at second in as many innings.
Carter ran into a bases loaded situation with two outs in the top of the fifth, but a groundout from third-year infielder Reese Robinett allowed Carter to escape without allowing a run in his second inning of work. Flame-throwing righty Christian Foutch worked around a two-out walk in a scoreless bottom of the fifth.
Freshman right-hander Carson Wiggins, brother of former Diamond Hog Jaxon Wiggins, pitched a perfect top of the sixth with two strikeouts. Veteran Will McEntire mirrored Wiggins' frame by retiring three in a row and also picking up two punchouts.
Valley View High School product Lance Davis, a freshman right-hander, gave up back-to-back 400-plus foot homers to shortstop Wehiwa Aloy and TCU transfer Logan Maxwell in the top of the seventh. Helfrick added an RBI groundout and then Robinett went deep to right for a two-run shot that made it a 10-1 Cardinal lead.
Freshman right-hander Tag Andrews was tagged for a two-out RBI single by freshman catcher Zane Becker that made it 10-2. Despite running into bases loaded with two outs, Andrews picked up his third strikeout of the frame to finish the contest.
HawgBeat has provided an unofficial box score with stats from Friday's scrimmage, plus notable quotes from head coach Dave Van Horn.
Stats from Arkansas' 2024 Fall Classic (unofficial)
Highlights
