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Pitching and defense were on full display Monday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium, as the White team prevailed 4-0 over the Cardinal team in Game 3 of Arkansas’ annual Fall World Series.

White jumped in front with a three-run first inning, courtesy of a two-out homer by junior right fielder Zack Gregory. Freshman first baseman Peyton Stovall produced the only other run of the afternoon on a solo shot in the third.

With White on top 2-1 in the series, here are a few takeaways from game three:

Smith Looks Sharp

Left-handed pitcher Hagen Smith made the most of his Fall World Series start, hurling three scoreless innings on 48 pitches. He allowed a pair of hits and a walk, but struck out five Cardinal hitters - four of whom went down looking.

The freshman from Bullard, Texas, featured a nice mix of offspeed pitches with his fastball, which sat consistently between 93-94 miles per hour.

“I had all of my three pitches work (that) I could throw for strikes,” Smith said of his fastball-changeup-slider arsenal.

Smith retired his first two hitters of the afternoon with ease and worked around a two-out walk with a ground ball. He surrendered a one-out double to freshman left fielder Gabe D’Arcy in the second inning, but struck out the other three Cardinal batters in the frame.

Freshman shortstop Drake Varnado reached on a bunt single to lead off the third inning, but Smith got some help from his catcher, sophomore Dylan Leach, who gunned down Varnado trying to steal third.

After that, Smith returned to form, punching out freshman right fielder Kendall Diggs and inducing a ground ball against sophomore third baseman Cayden Wallace to finish his day.

Wiggins Struggles with Walks, Longballs

Righty Jaxon Wiggins pumped gas — as he tends to do — but free passes plagued the sophomore flamethrower Monday afternoon.

His fastball sat between 96-97 miles per hour, even reaching 98 a couple times, but it was rare that he threw it for a strike. Wiggins walked the first two batters he faced, and ended up paying for it when Gregory launched a fastball into the Razorback bullpen.

“I know Jaxon throws hard, he’s a strike-thrower,” Gregory said. “I was just trying to stay patient, I was out over the plate and I put a good swing on it.”

Down 3-0, Wiggins settled down for a 1-2-3 second inning, but his struggles continued in the third. Freshman first baseman Peyton Stovall led off with a 411-foot blast to deep center field, extending the White lead to 4-0, and Wiggins walked senior center fielder Braydon Webb again.

Graduate senior Chris Lanzilli roped a double with an exit velocity of 108 mph that cleared the left field fence on one hop and ended Wiggins’ afternoon after 50 pitches and 2 1/3 innings.

Wiggins was charged with four runs, all earned, though it could have been five if not for an acrobatic diving play from his catcher, graduate senior Michael Turner. Freshman righty Austin Ledbetter bounced a pitch in the dirt, Turner went to his right to field it and lunged back toward the plate, tagging Webb just in time for the out.

“It was impressive,” Gregory said. “It reminded me of Casey Opitz a little bit, something he would do.”

Gregory Is An On-Base Machine

Gregory reached base in two of his three plate appearances Monday afternoon, somehow dropping his on-base percentage to .700 in the Fall World Series.

His 371-foot, laser-beam home run left the yard at 106 miles per hour and proved to be the only thing the White team needed to take the series lead.

Though his next at-bat was a groundout, it left his bat at 97 miles per hour. He made up for the out in the sixth inning, getting the line moving with a one-out walk.

“I think I was just hitting good today, trying to get something out over the plate, something I could drive,” Gregory said.

Through three games, Gregory is just 1 for 4, but has reached base seven out of 10 times, thanks to three walks and three hit-by-pitches.

Both Sides Play Clean Defense

Both Razorback teams played the best defensive game of the series Monday afternoon. The lone error came on a wild pickoff attempt from Smith, allowing Webb to advance to second base. It did not prove costly, however, as Leach threw Webb out at third.

Turner one-upped his White counterpart in the bottom of the frame, recording what was officially scored as an unassisted caught stealing for his diving play at home.

Wallace, who spent a majority of his freshman season in right field, made all three plays that came his way at the hot corner. He fielded a sharp one-hopper right at him, initiated a near-5-4-3 double play, snagged another hot shot hit to his left and made each of the throws he needed to.

Cardinal sophomore center fielder Jace Bohrofen made a leaping grab at the warning track, causing junior Robert Moore to toss his helmet down in frustration on his way to second base. The catch was the third out, and likely prevented at least one White run.

“Knowing I have a really good defense behind me helps a lot,” Smith said.

Lights Out Bullpens

Four Razorbacks saw relief action Monday and each one did his job, ranging from 4- to 7-out appearances.

Ledbetter was the first guy out of the Cardinal bullpen, tossing 2 1/3 hitless frames to keep his team in the game. His velocity and mix of pitches was a significant shift from Wiggins’ heavy usage of mid-90s fastballs. With offspeed stuff as low as 70 miles per hour and a fastball in the low-to-mid 80s, Ledbetter kept White hitters off balance for parts of three innings.

Senior righty Zebulon Vermillion was tasked with the final four outs for the Cardinal team, working around two walks with an inning-ending double play in the sixth.

On the White side, sophomore righty Evan Gray struck out six of the eight hitters he faced. He induced a groundout and surrendered a single to Turner in the fourth, struck out the side in the fifth and fanned one more hitter before departing in the sixth.

Freshman righty Nick Moten took care of the last five outs. He retired two hitters in the sixth, combining for a 1-2-3 frame with Gray, before running into a little trouble in the seventh. After a walk and a double, skipper Bobby Wernes paid Moten a visit, and he notched a pair of strikeouts and a flyout to end the ballgame.

“It feels really good knowing they’re coming behind me,” Smith said about his bullpen.