FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks (41-9, 18-7 SEC) took Game 1 against the No. 14 Mississippi State Bulldogs (32-17, 14-11 SEC) in electric fashion on Friday night, with sophomore right-hander Gage Wood closing the game by leaving the bases loaded.
With a 7-5 lead heading into the top of the ninth inning, Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn turned to Will McEntire to close it out after the veteran righty struck out the final batter of the eighth.
The top of the final frame took a turn for the worst, though, as McEntire loaded the bases with a walk and two singles, the latter of which was a misplayed dribbler that allowed the runner to reach first.
From there, Van Horn turned to Wood, who inherited a bases-loaded, no-out situation. He made quick work of the jam by inducing a popup to second baseman Peyton Stovall, earning a strikeout and the game-sealing popout to first baseman Ben McLaughlin.
“I gave him the ball and said, ‘Hey, bases loaded, no outs. Have fun.’ And walked off,” Van Horn said after the game. “Really proud of him, just going in there and taking the bull by the horns. He just said, ‘Okay, I’m the guy, I’m going to get it done,’ and he did.”
Following the game, Wood said he was ready for the moment because he’s been waiting for it for a long time.
“I just told myself this was the moment I’ve dreamed about since I committed here,” Wood said. “I’ve been in those positions before, and tonight I pulled through, and we got it done.”
The contest was back-and-forth, with both the Razorbacks and Bulldogs trading blows throughout the nine innings. Arkansas got the scoring started early when a run scored on a wild pitch, followed by a two-run home run to left field by catcher Hudson White in the bottom of the fourth.
Mississippi State responded, though, and scored three runs on a Hunter Hines double to right field off Hagen Smith in the top of the fifth.
The Hogs took a 4-3 lead from a 421-foot bomb by Jared Sprague-Lott but gave the lead back in the eighth. Right-hander Gabe Gaeckle walked in the tying run, and the Bulldogs took the lead off a sacrifice fly induced by McEntire.
In the bottom of the eighth, Peyton Holt and Sprague-Lott both hit singles before Wehiwa Aloy tied the game with an RBI single.
White then gave the Hogs the lead with a two-out single that scored two to give Arkansas a 7-5 lead that Wood ultimately preserved to give the Hogs the win.
Up next, the Razorbacks and Bulldogs will meet for Game 2 of the series at 6 p.m. CT Saturday at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
