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Published Feb 23, 2024
Late clutch hitting seals victory for Razorbacks
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Riley McFerran  •  HawgBeat
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Pitching and defense commanded the first 4.5 innings of No. 2 Arkansas' (4-1) 5-4 victory over the No. 7 Oregon State Beavers on Friday night, but late clutch hitting by the Diamond Hogs sealed the win at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

Oregon State starting RHP Aiden May was excellent through the first four innings of the game, but disaster struck when a hit-by-pitch and single in the bottom of the fifth gave the Razorbacks life. In the middle of starting right fielder Kendall Digg's at-bat, May exited the game with an apparent injury.

The subsequent plate appearances were tension-filled for Arkansas, and following a walk and strikeout, first baseman Ben McLaughlin smashed a first-pitch liner over the center fielder's head for a bases-clearing double.

"He’s a three-hole guy," head coach Dave Van Horn said after the game. "Three, four, for me. When Stovall gets back, he’ll go probably up to the top. We’ll move it around. Hudson White’s been lights out with the bat until tonight. Hometown area. A little nervous. I bet he has a good game tomorrow or the next day when I play him."

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Arkansas added one more run in the sixth thanks to an error and a Jayson Jones single, but the Beavers stormed all the way back and took advantage of the Razorbacks' bullpen once starting LHP Hagen Smith exited the game following a historic 17-strikeout performance.

"I mean, there were a couple other times we left runners out there, we didn’t advance runners, didn’t do some things," Van Horn said. "We had guys that are good hitters did not hit tonight, but some guys picked them up. McLaughlin picked up White when he didn’t make contact with a runner on third and one out.

After tying things up in the top of the eighth, the Beavers couldn't hold the Hogs back from regaining the lead in the latter half of the inning. A Wehiwa Aloy hit-by-pitch and advancement to second base set the stage for Peyton "spark-plug" Holt to do some damage, and that he did with a laser-beam triple to take a one-run lead.

"Then obviously Holt, Holt hits into two double plays, but he got the big hit that gave us the lead, gave us a chance to win the game," Van Horn said. "That’s what I told them. You’re not going to be great every night. When you get a chance to help the team, help the team, and that’s what they did."

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RHPs Gage Wood and Jake Faherty closed things out in the ninth, and the Hogs claimed victory over the same program that defeated them six years ago in the 2018 College World Series Finals. But revenge wasn't on Van Horn's mind today.

"No, not at all," Van Horn said. "I woke up and (thought), ‘Who am I going to close the game (with)? Who am I going to bring in to bunt for a couple different guys that aren’t real good at it?’ That’s the kind of stuff I think about."

Up next, Arkansas will take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-2) on Saturday night at Globe Life Field. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. CT and the game will stream on FloBaseball.