Wallace homers twice, Hogs clinch share of SEC West

FAYETTEVILLE — An in-state kid, Cayden Wallace has been part of several massive crowds inside Baum-Walker Stadium.

Playing in front of one for the first time, the Greenbrier native made sure to give the fans plenty to cheer about, as he homered twice to help lift Arkansas to a 6-1 win over Florida on Thursday night.

A packed house of 11,084 saw the Razorbacks clinch at least a share of the SEC West and a top-two seed in the SEC Tournament, as well as pull within a game of securing at least a share of just their third overall SEC title since joining the conference in 1992.

“It was definitely a surreal feeling, but it just felt like I was supposed to be there,” Wallace said. “I just wanted to do something to help the team win. Being on the field was definitely different than being in the stands.”

Wallace’s first home run came in the fifth inning and broke a 1-1 tie. He said he was hunting fastball and Florida starter Tommy Mace threw him one on the first pitch of his at bat.

It was a little bit outside and Wallace hit it down the right field line for an opposite-field homer that hooked just inside the foul pole.

The Razorbacks were clinging to a 3-1 lead and threatening to add some insurance runs when Wallace came to the plate in the eighth inning. After watching back-to-back Christian Scott sliders, he turned on one and launched it over the left field wall.

The only question was whether or not the ball would stay fair. It was called a three-run home run on the field and stood after a replay review, making it 6-1. Wallace finished the game 3 for 4 with his other hit being an infield single and he also walked.

“He had a great night,” head coach Dave Van Horn said. “I mean, what can you say? … He took some good hacks the other at-bats he didn't get hits on. It was big. He stepped it up for us tonight."

Wallace is now tied with Robert Moore and Matt Goodheart for the team lead with 12 home runs, while Christian Franklin and Brady Slavens are just behind them with 11.

The 12 home runs are also tied with Dominic Fletcher’s 2017 total for the fourth-most ever by an Arkansas freshman. Heston Kjerstad owns the record with 14 in 2018 and two others - Casey Martin in 2018 and Zack Cox in 2009 - have hit 13.

The performance raised Wallace’s batting average to a team-high .313, as well. Van Horn acknowledged it’s “a little unusual” for a freshman to have that kind of success in the SEC, but not at this point of the season.

“He’s had a lot of big at bats this year,” Van Horn said. “This time of year, they’re really not first-year players anymore. They’re really second-year guys.”

Winning Formula

The Razorbacks followed their typical Game 1 formula on the mound Thursday night, going with Patrick Wicklander until turning the game over to Kevin Kopps.

Even though he got off to a little bit of a slow start, including allowing a solo home run to Kendrick Calilao in the second inning, Wicklander settled in and was really good in the middle innings of the game.

After throwing a lot of fastballs the first time through the order, the left-hander started mixing in some sliders and changeups while still hitting his spots. The result was a career-high 11 strikeouts, surpassing the nine he had two weeks ago against Georgia. It was also the most by any Arkansas pitcher this season.

“I didn’t realize he had that many strikeouts until after the game when I looked at the box score,” Van Horn said. “He had a lot more command tonight. He was able to get ahead in the count and get them guessing a little bit.”

Despite sitting at 81 pitches through five innings, Wicklander had arguably his best inning of the night in the sixth, as he struck out the side against the heart of Florida’s lineup.