STARKVILLE, Miss. — The No. 6 Arkansas Razorbacks extended their SEC winning streak to four games with a 6-2 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the series opener on Friday evening at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville.
Jace Bohrofen got things started with a two-run homer in the top of the fourth, Brady Slavens hit a two-run shot of his own in the top of the sixth and Arkansas plated a pair of runs via a wild pitch and an RBI single from Kendall Diggs in the top of the ninth for insurance purposes.
Hagen Smith threw five innings in the start and allowed two runs — one earned — on two hits while walking five and striking out eight. Cody Adcock threw one scoreless inning and freshman Gage Wood took it the rest of the way and racked up four strikeouts in his three-inning save.
HawgBeat provided live inning-by-inning updates and live commentary on The Trough premium message board throughout the game, which was Arkansas' 34th win of the season.
Starting Lineups
Arkansas
1. RF Kendall Diggs (L)
2. CF Jace Bohrofen (L)
3. DH Ben McLaughlin (L)
4. 1B Brady Slavens (L)
5. 3B Caleb Cali (R)
6. LF Mason Neville (L)
7. 2B Peyton Holt (R)
8. C Parker Rowland (S)
9. SS John Bolton (R)
Mississippi State
1. SS David Mershon (L)
2. CF Colton Ledbetter (L)
3. DH Hunter Hines (L)
4. LF Dakota Jordan (R)
5. RF Kellum Clark (L)
6. 3B Slate Alford (R)
7. 1B Luke Hancock (L)
8. 2B Amani Larry (R)
9. C Ross Highfill (R)
Top 1
After Kendall Diggs drew a leadoff walk, Jace Bohrofen drove Diggs home with a two-run shot to right field directly after.
Cade Smith bounced back by retiring the next three batters after Bohrofen's home run to keep the deficit at two for the Bulldogs.
Bottom 1
Hagen Smith worked a 1-2-3 frame, added a strikeout and threw 12 total pitches.
Top 2
The Razorbacks were retired in order by Cade Smith, who recorded a pair of strikeouts in the frame.
Bottom 2
Hagen Smith made easy work of the Mississippi State lineup once again, sitting the Bulldogs down in order and racking up two more strikeouts.
Top 3
The fourth straight 1-2-3 inning of the game was put together by Cade Smith, who earned two more strikeouts to push his game total to five.
Bottom 3
Hagen Smith hit Amani Larry with a one-out pitch and then he issued a two-out walk to David Mershon. Larry scored on an RBI single from Colton Ledbetter to make it a 2-1 game after three innings.
Top 4
After Cade Smith retired 11 straight batters, Caleb Cali snuck a two-out single through the right side to give Arkansas its first base runner since the first inning. A strikeout from Mason Neville ended the frame and stranded Cali.
Bottom 4
Hagen Smith issued a four-pitch leadoff walk and then hit Kellum Clark with an 0-2 pitch to put a pair of runners on with no outs.
Smith earned three straight outs, two of which were on strikes, to get out of trouble and strand two runners.
Top 5
John Bolton drew a two-out walk, but Kendall Diggs groundout out to first to allow Cade Smith to strand Diggs.
Bottom 5
Hagen Smith walked the first two batters of the inning, but benefitted from the leadoff batter — Ross Highfill — being caught stealing third.
A one-out single from Colton Ledbetter put runners on the corners. A wild pitch moved Ledbetter to second and the next pitch got past Parker Rowland's glove to score a run.
Smith was able to get out of the inning with back-to-back strikeouts.
Top 6
After Ben McLaughlin singled to center with one-out, Brady Slavens hit a two-run shot to right field to give Arkansas a 4-2 lead.
Caleb Cali singled right after Slavens' homer, but he was stranded to end the inning.
Bottom 6
RHP Cody Adcock came on in relief of Hagen Smith. Adcock worked a 1-2-3 frame on 13 pitches.
Top 7
Mississippi State brought on LHP Cole Cheatham in relief of Cade Smith. Cheatham countered Adcock's 1-2-3 frame with one of his own to send it to the bottom of the seventh.
Bottom 7
RHP Gage Wood came on in relief of Cody Adcock to start the frame. A one-out walk was no problem for Wood, who recorded all three outs on strikes.
Top 8
Cheatham retired the Razorbacks in order on just 11 pitches in the frame.
Bottom 8
Wood raised Cheatam's 11-pitch top of the eighth with a 9-pitch bottom of the frame to retire the side in order.
Top 9
Caleb Cali led things off with a double to right field and after advancing to third on a groundout from Mason Neville, Cali scored via a wild pitch to make it 5-2.
After issuing back-to-back two-out walks to Parker Rowland and Caleb Cali, Cheatham was relieved by RHP KC Hunt.
Kendall Diggs snuck an RBI single into right to score Rowland and give Arkansas a four-run advantage. A Jace Bohrofen strikeout closed the frame.
Bottom 9
Wood issued a pair of two-out walks, but his fourth strikeout shut things down.
