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FAYETTEVILLE — It required a doubleheader sweep, but Arkansas still hasn’t had a losing weekend in the regular season since before the pandemic.
After a disastrous inning led to a loss in the opening game of the series, the Razorbacks bounced back with 4-2 and 11-1 wins over Southeastern Louisiana at Baum-Walker Stadium on Saturday.
They needed a seventh-inning home run from Michael Turner to win Game 1 of the doubleheader and then exploded for eight runs in the final two innings of Game 2 to pull away for a run-rule victory.
“Just a really good bounce-back day after a tough loss yesterday to a scrappy team,” head coach Dave Van Horn said. “They fought us really. They fought us hard. We didn’t play great yesterday. We played solid baseball today.”
It’s the second time this season that Arkansas dropped a Friday game only to win the next two to take the series. The Razorbacks also needed to beat Louisiana-Lafayette in the third game of the Round Rock Classic to win two of three that weekend.
Not including the postseason, Arkansas has now strung together 18 consecutive winning weekends. The last time it failed to win at least two of three was at the 2020 Shriners College Classic, when it was swept by three difference opponents.
“Obviously we wanted to win this series,” Van Horn said. “We talked about it between games, that this is a big game. We want to win the series and our guys responded.”
Here’s a quick recap of both games, as well as some key takeaways from Saturday’s doubleheader…
Game 1: Arkansas 4, Southeastern Louisiana 2
With Hagen Smith in control of things on the mound, the Razorbacks just needed to figure out a way to scratch across some runs and did so with some clutch two-out hitting.
A pair of free passes — Zack Gregory walked and Cayden Wallace was hit by a pitch — with two outs set the stage for an RBI double by Michael Turner that started the scoring in the third.
Arkansas nearly replicated that exact scenario the following inning, but Chris Lanzilli was plunked with one out before a two-out walk by Jalen Battles set up an RBI single by Peyton Stovall that made it 2-0.
It seemed like that might be enough offense because Smith retired all but five of the first 21 batters he faced. However, the 22nd batter was Preston Faulkner and he launched a two-run home run to left-center that tied the game.
Turner provided the game-winning hit when he hit a line drive that left his bat at 106 mph and went 351 feet, clearing the right field fence for a two-run bomb of his own.
“He started me off 1-0 and I know he wasn’t wanting to get behind,” Turner said. “I was looking fastball and he gave me one I could handle and put a good swing on.”
