Wilmsmeyer's Career Day Carries Hogs to Run-Rule Win over JMU

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Ty Wilmsmeyer’s show-stopping performance, including a career-high five RBI and a spectacular home run robbery at the outfield wall, carried No. 3 Arkansas to a convincing 15-5 run-rule victory over James Madison.

Batting in the nine-hole, the Mizzou transfer went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a team-leading five runs batted in. Wilmsmeyer socked a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the third, giving Arkansas its first lead of the afternoon.

The Razorbacks’ speedy centerfielder drove a run in the bottom of the fourth with his RBI single to left before delivering the play of the game in the top half of the fifth. With two outs in the inning, JMU three-hole hitter Fenwick Trimble drove a 1-2 pitch from Arkansas starter Brady Tygart deep to the wall in center, but Wilmsmeyer timed his jump perfectly and scaled the fence to bring back what would have been a solo home run.

The sensational catch closed the book on Tygart’s outing. The right-hander earned the win after tossing five innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts in his season debut, allowing just two hits and walking a pair of batters.

Wilmsmeyer, meanwhile, was not finished at the plate as he drove in two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. His two-out, bases-loaded single stretched the Razorbacks’ advantage to 7-1 entering the sixth inning.

JMU scored four in the top half of the sixth, but the Arkansas offense responded with a six-spot in the bottom half of the frame. Ryder Helfrick (1-for-3, 1 RBI), a true freshman making his collegiate debut, swatted his first career home run for his first career hit before RBI from Jared Sprague-Lott (1-for-3, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Wilmsmeyer, Hudson White (2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB) and Diggs (1-for-3, 2 RBI, 3 BB) extended the Razorbacks’ lead to 13-5.

Koty Frank, making his first appearance on the mound since his season-ending injury a year ago, kept the Dukes at bay for the remainder of the ballgame. The right-hander, who entered in a save situation in the sixth, escaped a jam and turned in 2.1 shutout innings of relief with one strikeout.

Frank’s strong outing set the table for Wehiwa Aloy’s walk-off heroics in the bottom of the eighth. With the bases loaded and two out in the inning, Aloy hammered a 1-0 pitch to left for a two-run single, lifting Arkansas to its 15-5 run-rule win.

All nine Razorback batters recorded a hit in Saturday’s win. Five Hogs, led by Wilmsmeyer’s five RBI, recorded multi-RBI games, while four Arkansas hitters collected multi-hit efforts in the ballgame.

Arkansas goes for its first series win of the season in tomorrow’s game against JMU. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 18, with left-hander Mason Molina, a Texas Tech transfer, set to make his Razorback debut on the mound.

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