Souza homers twice, Arkansas sweeps Ole Miss with 7-4 win
FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks (27-3, 11-1 SEC) won their 21st straight game at home with a 7-4 sweep-clinching victory over the Ole Miss Rebels (18-15, 3-9 SEC) in front of 11,184 fans at Baum-Walker Stadium on Saturday.
Arkansas scored three runs between the fourth and fifth innings before opening the floodgates open in the seventh with a four-run frame. Freshman designated hitter Nolan Souza had a superb outing, as he racked up three hits with a game-high five RBIs thanks to two home runs and a single.
"The three-run home run obviously was a big swing," head coach Dave Van Horn said after the game. "The solo home run to give us the lead was huge. And then the two-out single through a vacated 6-hole basically where the shortstop plays. He did it with two strikes, drove in another run. We scored seven runs and he drove in five of them. It was a great day.
"Proud of him. He just hung in there and laid off a few borderline pitches and got him a fastball he could handle, and he handled it about as good as you can. That was a big swing."
Arkansas starting pitcher Brady Tygart gave the Hogs 4.1 innings of work and he allowed two earned runs on four hits with three walks and seven strikeouts on 82 total pitches. The duo of Jake Faherty and Parker Coil held the Rebels to one run in middle relief, while freshman right-hander Gabe Gaeckle and veteran right Will McEntire closed things down with a combined five strikeouts across 3.1 innings.
"I thought it was great," Van Horn said. "I mean, obviously, I know he really wanted to have a good outing. He felt like his last couple outings, he’d just been okay. He gave us a chance to win the game on day three of a series when Ole Miss was fighting like crazy.
"We knew in the fall that (Gaeckle) was going to pitch a lot for us. He threw really well in the fall. I think he’s thrown better in the spring. I think he continues to get better. He doesn’t do anything max effort. It’s easy. It’s an easy mid 90s. It’s an upper 80s slider. It’s a good changeup. I wouldn’t say he’s exceeded it. We thought it could get there, and I think he;s going to be even better in a month. He can go three. We could probably spot start him, if we wanted to. He could do a lot of different roles for us, and today he did exactly what we needed him to do. Get us through a couple innings and maybe hand the ball off, and that’s what he did."
The top of the first was an efficient one for Brady Tygart, who threw just four pitches to set down the top of Ole Miss' lineup. Rebels RHP Mason Nichols — who typically sits 90-91 MPH — cruised through the bottom of the first with three strikeouts while pumping mid-90s fastballs.
Tygart started the top of the second similarly to his first, as he earned a first-pitch out on a grounder before the next Rebel reached base on a fielding error by Wehiwa Aloy at shortstop. Following a single by Will Furniss, Tygart struck out back-to-back batters to get out of the jam.
"Everything felt really good today," Tygart said after the game. "It felt better than it has in a while. Just mixing everything is better than one single pitch today."
Kendall Diggs started the bottom of the second with a right-field single and then Ross Lovich grounded out to advance Diggs over to second base. Jared Sprague-Lott walked in a six-pitch at-bat before Nolan Souza and Hudson White flied out and grounded out, respectively.
Arkansas' junior righty continued to look dominant in the third, as Tygart worked a groundout before striking out back-to-back batters to end the frame. Centerfielder Ty Wilmsmeyer began the bottom of the third with a fly out, but Peyton Stovall torched a double down the right field line to get things brewing.
Ben McLaughlin walked on five pitches and Wehiwa Aloy worked a walk after getting down 0-2 to load the bases. In a crucial spot, Kendall Diggs worked a good at-bat but struck out after eight pitches and Ross Lovich pops out to end the threat.
After a walk to start off the fourth, Tygart battled back with a strikeout but walked the next batter to put himself in a jam. He eventually found his breaking ball and wiped the baserunners off the paths with back-to-back strikeouts again.
Arkansas finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a nuke by Nolan Souza after a flyout to start the inning. Ole Miss turned to the bullpen after Hudson White flew out, and the new pitcher proceeded to give up a single to Wilmsmeyer and a walk to Stovall. McLaughlin ended the inning with a line out to center field.
Ole Miss got its leadoff runner on with a single to center field and followed it up with a bunt to advance the runner to third and a walk. Tygart forced a would-be pop-up in left, but Aloy and Sprague-Lott collided to let the ball drop a run to score. Ole Miss' Ethan Groff kept things going with an RBI single and Van Horn turned to RHP Jake Faherty out of the pen. Faherty got out of the inning with a groundout and strikeout.
Aloy was first-pitch swinging to start the fifth and reached base with a hard-hit single. Diggs followed suit with a single to right field in a full-count and Ole Miss turned to the bullpen again with Lovich up to bat.
With a new pitcher on the mound, Lovich drew a hit-by-pitch to load the bases for the Hogs. Sprague-Lott grounded into a double play that scored Aloy and then Souza smoked an oppo-single to left field to take a 3-2 lead over Ole Miss. White singled and the Rebels turned to RHP Connor Spencer out of the bullpen. Wilmsmeyer ended the inning with a flyout to right field.
Left-hander Parker Coil relieved Faherty in the sixth and he started things off with a strikeout. Ole Miss' Judd Utermark doubled to left center in the next at-bat, but Coil struck out the next batter before giving up a game-tying single to Brayden Randle. As a result, Van Horn brought in RHP Gabe Gaeckle out of the pen. He forced a flyout on his very first pitch to get out of the inning.
The bottom of the sixth was a fairly quick one for the Hogs, who lined out and flied out to start things off. Aloy singled to center field after a long at-bat and stole second, but a groundout by Diggs ended the frame.
Gaeckle faced Ole Miss' Andrew Fischer to start the seventh, but struck out the Rebels batter after an eight-pitch battle. He struck out the next Rebel on only three pitches before allowing a first-pitch double down the left field line. Gaeckle finished things off with another strikeout.
Arkansas started the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back walks by Lovich and Sprague-Lott, and Souza smashed another bomb to right field to hand the Hogs a 6-3 lead. Ole Miss turned to RHP Sam Tookoian out of the bullpen in response, and he walked his first batter of the game in White.
"Yeah, I was trying to stay on the fastball," Souza said after the game. "That was what he was pretty much throwing to everybody so I was trying to stay on time for it. I felt they would probably go outer half later in the count cause they hadn’t shown it to me to start my at-bat. He kept coming in so I was just doing my best to get my hands to it and foul it off and then he left one over the plate a little and more and I just put a good swing on it."
Wilmsmeyer reached on a fielder's choice right after, but was able to advance to second due to a throwing error. White made it all the way to third on the play. With two Hogs in scoring position, Stovall hit an RBI groundout to extend Arkansas' lead to 7-3. Ole Miss handed things off to LHP Ryne Rodriguez out of the bullpen, who struck out McLaughlin and Aloy to end the inning.
Gaeckle got the eighth started with an easy groundout to first base and flew through the Ole Miss lineup with a strikeout and another groundout. The Razorbacks didn't go quietly in the bottom of the inning, as Diggs singled to right field and Sprague-Lott walked to put two runners on. But a Lovich fly-out and a Souza double play ended the threat.
"I think my fastball command was good and then my slider, I thought I could throw it in most counts," Gaeckle said after the game. "I was just mixing well and attacking the zone. I wouldn’t say I’m exceeding my expectations. I expected to have success and I think every baseball player expects themselves to have success. It’s going well so far and hopefully it keeps happening this way. "
Needing only three more outs to win the game, Gaeckle got the ninth started with a first-pitch foulout before allowing a single and walking the next Ole Miss batter. RHP Will McEntire took the mound in relief, and the veteran's first pitch was taken to center field for an RBI single. With the tying run at the plate, McEntire drew a flyout to left field and struck out the final batter of the game to clinch the sweep for the Razorbacks.
Up next, Arkansas will face off against the San Jose State Spartans in a two-game midweek bout that begins on Tuesday at Baum-Walker Stadium. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
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