Baseball

Razorback Report: Week 5

Oliver Grigg
Oliver Grigg March 18, 2024
Season Stats

Overall Record: 17-2
SEC Record: 3-0
Streak: W13

In The Polls – Week 4
Baseball America – #1
D1Baseball – #1
Perfect Game – #1
USA Today Coaches – #1
NCBWA – #2

Week 4 Results (4-0)
Tuesday, March 12 – vs. Oral Roberts – W, 4-2
Friday, March 15 – vs. Missouri* – W, 8-0
Saturday, March 16 – vs. Missouri* – W, 6-0
Sunday, March 17 – vs. Missouri* – W, 9-1

* SEC opponent

Week 6 Schedule
Thursday, March 21 – at #23 Auburn* – 6 p.m. [SEC Network]
Friday, March 22 – at #23 Auburn* – 6 p.m. [SEC Network+]
Saturday, March 23 – at #23 Auburn* – 2 p.m. [SEC Network+]

* SEC opponent

Player of the Week
OF Kendall Diggs

Stats (4 GP/4 GS): .313/.353/.938, 5 R, 1 2B, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 15 TB

Outfielder Kendall Diggs homered in three consecutive games and powered the Razorbacks to a perfect 4-0 week, including their seventh consecutive SEC Opening Weekend series win against Missouri. The Olathe, Kan., native recorded a hit and drove in at least one run in all four games, beginning his big week with a solo home run in the Hogs’ win against Oral Roberts on March 12. Diggs went 2-for-4 and belted a two-run homer in the series-opening win against Missouri on March 15 before crushing his team-leading fifth home run of the season in Saturday’s series-clinching win over the Tigers. The Razorback tri-captain closed out the week with an RBI double in the series finale to help Arkansas complete its SEC Opening Weekend series sweep of Missouri.

Pitcher of the Week
LHP Hagen Smith

Stats (1 APP/1 GS): 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO

Pitcher Hagen Smith was once again dominant on the mound, logging his team-leading third quality start and improving to 3-0 on the year in the Hogs’ series-opening 8-0 combined shutout win over Missouri. The junior left-hander recorded his third double-digit strikeout game of the season, punching out 10 Tigers over six scoreless innings while allowing just two hits and a walk. For the season, Smith owns a 1.57 ERA and 50 strikeouts over 23.0 innings. The Bullard, Texas, native has allowed just four runs on eight hits and eight walks, and is holding opposing hitters to a meager .108 batting average against.

Freshman of the Week
INF Nolan Souza

Stats (3 GP/3 GS): .333/.400/1.000, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI

Arkansas infielder Nolan Souza recorded his first collegiate multi-homer game and helped lead the Razorbacks to their seventh consecutive SEC Opening Weekend series win. Starting as the designated hitter in all three games of the conference-opening series sweep against Missouri, Souza socked two home runs – the first multi-homer game of his collegiate career – to power the Hogs to an 8-0 win in Friday night’s series opener. The true freshman from Honolulu, Hawai’i, finished the series opener with a team-leading three hits and three RBI.

Razorback Notes

  • Arkansas clinched its seventh consecutive SEC Opening Weekend series win. Arkansas has not lost an SEC Opening Weekend series at Baum-Walker Stadium since dropping two-of-three games against Ole Miss in 2013.
  • With the SEC Opening Weekend series sweep against Missouri, Arkansas clinched its sixth conference-opening series sweep in its last seven tries since 2017. Arkansas also swept Mississippi State at home in 2017, Kentucky at home in 2018, Missouri at home in 2019, Kentucky at home in 2022, Auburn at home in 2023.
  • In Friday’s shutout win against Missouri, Arkansas recorded a shutout in an SEC opener for the first time since its 2019 conference opener against Missouri.
  • In Saturday’s shutout win against Missouri, Brady Tygart and Will McEntire teamed up to toss the Razorbacks’ first nine-inning combined one-hitter since 2019.
  • Before this weekend, Arkansas last recorded consecutive nine-inning shutouts against a conference opponent in 2007, tossing back-to-back shutouts against South Carolina on May 23 and Alabama on May 24 in the SEC Tournament.
  • The Razorbacks had last twirled consecutive nine-inning shutouts against a conference opponent in a weekend series during the 1978 campaign, accomplishing the feat against then-Southwest Conference foe Rice on April 10-11.
  • For the weekend, Arkansas held the Missouri offense to just one run on eight hits in 27.0 innings, good for a microscopic 0.33 team ERA. The Tigers posted a meager .096 batting average and struck out 37 times in the three-game series.
  • Offensively, Arkansas finished the three-game SEC Opening Weekend series with eight homers and 21 RBI while outscoring Missouri, 23-1.

For complete coverage of Arkansas baseball, follow the Hogs on Twitter (@RazorbackBSB), Instagram (@RazorbackBSB) and Facebook (Arkansas Razorback Baseball).

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