FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 5 national seed Arkansas Razorbacks are set for a Fayetteville Regional winner's bracket matchup with the 3-seed Kansas State Wildcats on Saturday night at Baum-Walker Stadium.
The Wildcats had first pitch of their 19-4 win over 2-seed Louisiana Tech delayed Friday night and the game was eventually suspended until 11 a.m. CT Saturday before Kansas State finished off the win.
Arkansas got the scoring in the 17-9 win over 4-seed SEMO started early Friday behind a one-run first inning and a seven-run second, but walks and timely hits from the Redhawks knotted things up at eight apiece in the fifth.
The Razorbacks regained the lead off of two solo shots from Wehiwa Aloy and Kendall Diggs in the fifth and, despite giving up one more run in the top of the seventh, did not surrender the lead.
RELATED: Arkansas mashes 6 home runs in big win over SEMO
"Credit to them, man," Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said after the game. "Their offense came back and took a couple walks and I don’t know, maybe a home run or whatever, but it was a great job by our offense really the whole game. We’re up eight, it’s tied and we end up winning by eight. It didn’t feel like that, but it was a really good job of continuing to play the game and have good at bats."
Arkansas will start SEC Pitcher of the Year Hagen Smith (9-1, 1.48 ERA) against the Wildcats, who are expected to start right-hander Jackson Wentworth (4-5, 4.18 ERA).
ALSO READ: Fayetteville Regional Preview: Kansas State
The Hogs did use quite a bit of their bullpen in the SEMO game, with five total pitchers entering the game. The most-used pitcher out of the pen was freshman Gabe Gaeckle, who went three innings and gave up one run on three hits while striking out six.
"Obviously, (Will) McEntire could pitch again," Van Horn said. "He could probably start Game 3 if we needed him to. Gaeckle is the big question, I’m not going to — if he doesn’t feel good, he isn’t pitching. But, we gave ourselves a chance by getting him out. Instead of throwing 80 pitches, he threw 62. So, maybe he could go again on Sunday, Monday if needed, whatever."
Prior to the Hogs' game against the Wildcats, Louisiana Tech and SEMO will face off in an elimination game at 2 p.m. CT. The winner of that game will face the loser of the Wildcats and Razorbacks on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.
HawgBeat gives all the details on how to watch, starting pitchers, lineups and BetSaracen odds below.
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How to Watch/Listen
Who: 1-seed Arkansas Razorbacks (44-14) vs. 3-seed Kansas State (33-24)
When: Saturday, June 1 at approx. 8 p.m. CST
Where: Baum-Walker Stadium — Fayetteville, Arkansas
TV/Stream: ESPNU/Watch ESPN
Radio: Learfield Razorback Sports Network (Phil Elson and Bubba Carpenter)
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BetSaracen Odds
Money Line
- Arkansas (-500)
- Kansas State (+350)
Run Line
- Arkansas -3.5 (-115)
- Kansas State +3.5 (-115)
Total Runs
- Over 10.5 (-115)
- Under 10.5 (-115)
Double R Props
- Arkansas team over 2.5 home runs and over 2.5 opponent home runs (+185)
- Arkansas team over 5.5 walks and over 7.5 opponent base on balls (+180)
- Hagen Smith over 98.5 total pitches and over 11.5 strikeouts (+140)
- Hudson White over 0.5 home runs and over 0.5 RBIs (+130)
- Kendall Diggs over 0.5 extra base hits and over 0.5 RBIs (+185)
- Ty Wilmsmeyer over 0.5 stolen bases and over 1.5 hits (+200)
(Alternate lines, spreads, team totals and player props are available on the BetSaracen mobile app.)
(Lines and odds are subject to change at any point after the publishing of this story. HawgBeat does not guarantee any bet as a winner or loser. You must be at least 21 years of age to use BetSaracen. If you have a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit 1800gambler.net)
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Starting Lineups
Arkansas:
1. Peyton Stovall, 2B
2. Hudson White, C
3. Jared Sprague-Lott, 3B
4. Ben McLaughlin, 1B
5. Wehiwa Aloy, SS
6. Kendall Diggs, RF
7. Peyton Holt, LF
8. Jack Wagner, DH
9. Ty Wilmsmeyer, CF
SP: Hagen Smith (9-1, 1.48 ERA)
Kansas State:
1. Brendan Jones, CF
2. Jaden Parsons, 3B
3. Kaelen Culpepper, SS
4. Brady Day, 2B
5. Nick English, RF
6. Danniel Rivera, DH
7. David Bishop, 1B
8. Raphael Pelletier, C
9. Chuck Ingram, LF
SP: RHP Jackson Wentworth (4-5, 4.18 ERA)
