Hogs hang on to beat Arkansas State in historic matchup

FAYETTEVILLE — It wasn’t without drama, but Arkansas won its historic midweek matchup with Arkansas State on Tuesday.

Representing the tying run with the bases loaded in the eighth inning, Jared Toler grounded out to end the threat and the Razorbacks hung on for an 8-4 win over the Red Wolves at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The two schools had never met on the diamond, as it was only recently that athletics director Hunter Yurachek loosened the UA’s decades-long policy against playing in-state programs. Arkansas went 6-0 against the other four Division I school in the state this season.

For the Razorbacks, it was also their final midweek game of 2021 before back-to-back series against top-10 opponents to end the regular season.

“I’m just glad we were able to get a win in kind of a game in between two big series,” head coach Dave Van Horn said. “Big series coming up. We did just enough to win, so good win for us.”

Despite both teams being known for their offense, they were locked in a scoreless tie through four innings. Each team had one hit, but the Arkansas was all over the bases thanks to Arkansas State starter Tyler Jeans issuing four walks in the first two innings.

The Razorbacks couldn’t do anything with it though, as the freshman right-hander from Texarkana escaped the self-inflicted jams unscathed by mixing a couple different breaking balls with a 90 mph fastball.

“The first two innings we should’ve got him,” Van Horn said. “But give him credit for pitching out of a couple of jams. I thought he kept us off-balance for the most part until the fifth inning. It looked like it was going to be tight and it was.”

Things unraveled quickly for Jeans in that fifth inning. Dylan Leach hit a leadoff single and then Zack Gregory was plunked and Matt Goodheart walked, loading the bases with no outs.

Having struck out on seven total pitches in his first two at bats, Cayden Wallace hit a 2-1 pitch over the right field fence for a grand slam that started the scoring. It was his 10th home run of the season, but this one was unique because it was an opposite-field shot.

That’s something he’s been working on a lot, Van Horn said, and he’d shown power that way in batting practice.

“We’ve seen him really develop into a guy that can stay inside the ball and that was a slider he hit,” Van Horn said. “He stayed inside of it and hammered it. We knew it was out right when it left the bat just because of where he hit it. That was really good to see.”

Jeans was pulled after walking Brady Slavens and eventually charged with five earned runs in four innings because Slavens scored on an RBI double by Christian Franklin to make it 5-0.

The Razorbacks added some insurance in the seventh, with Slavens and Cullen Smith also hitting RBI doubles and Slavens scoring with some heads-up base running on a throwing error by Arkansas State.

Wiggins’ 1st Start

With Arkansas still searching for a third weekend starter, all eyes were on Jaxon Wiggins as the heralded freshman made his first career start.

The hard-throwing right-hander didn’t disappoint, working a couple of scoreless innings with three strikeouts before reaching his pitch count.

Arkansas State did hit a couple of balls hard off him, but one was a line drive right at Franklin in center and the other was a two-out single. It’s also worth noting that Wiggins ended a lengthy at bat by Liam Hicks - who came into the game hitting .398 - with a strikeout.

Wiggins sat 96-98 mph, according to Van Horn, and threw 20 of his 31 pitches for strikes.

“Just watching him and seeing him move around a little bit before the game, he just seemed calm but confident,” Van Horn said. “I think he was ready to go. He threw a lot of strikes and that was really good to see.”