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FAYETTEVILLE — Hagen Smith didn’t look like a freshman Saturday afternoon.
The heralded left-hander worked out of a couple of jams in a sparkling collegiate debut, helping Arkansas bounce back with a 5-1 win that evened its series with Illinois State at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Getting the Game 2 nod, Smith scattered five hits and a walk while striking out five in six scoreless innings for the Razorbacks.
“Obviously we were all excited to Hagen Smith get his first college start,” head coach Dave Van Horn said. “I thought there was a lot of energy in our dugout. … It just seemed like they were really pulling hard for him.”
As good as he was, Arkansas didn’t need much run support and - unlike on Opening Day - it got plenty of it.
After a solo home run by Robert Moore gave the Razorbacks their first lead of 2022 in the second inning, Smith got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam despite facing the meat of Illinois State’s order.
He induced a fly out by Aidan Huggins and then got Ryan Cermak to ground into a fielder’s choice. His offense responded by scoring another run for him in the bottom of the inning and adding two more in the fifth.
Michael Turner hit an RBI double in the eighth for an insurance run and the Redbirds didn’t break up the shutout until there were two outs in the ninth.
Here are a few other key takeaways from Saturday’s win…
Studs Produce
Arkansas landed two players on the Golden Spikes Award watch list, but neither Robert Moore nor Cayden Wallace lived up to their lofty expectations in Game 1.
Wallace, who was scorching hot in the Razorbacks’ preseason scrimmages, went 0 for 4 on Opening Day, while Moore went 0 for 3 with a walk. Both players also struck out once.
It was a much better day for the potential first-round draft picks Saturday, as they combined for four hits and four RBIs in the bounce-back victory.
