Oliver Grigg

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Kendall Diggs’ three RBI and Gage Wood’s 3 1/3 scoreless innings powered No. 3 Arkansas (37-12, 18-7 SEC) to a 4-1 series-opening win against No. 6 South Carolina (36-13, 14-10 SEC) on Friday night at Baum-Walker Stadium.

With the win, the Hogs improved to 29-3 at home on the season. It matches their best record at Baum-Walker Stadium since 2018, when Arkansas also got off to a 29-3 start before finishing with a program-record 34-4 mark at home. 

Diggs provided the game’s first run with his two-out RBI single in the bottom of the third, giving the Razorbacks and starter Hagen Smith an early 1-0 lead. Smith worked into the sixth, departing after 5 2/3 innings and seven strikeouts.

The Gamecocks broke through against Smith in the top half of the sixth. South Carolina took advantage of a two-out RBI single to center, evening the ballgame at one apiece and knocking the Razorbacks’ left-handed ace out of the game.

Wood emerged in relief of Smith and inherited two runners on with two outs. The true freshman was up for the challenge, however, retiring the first he faced to end the top half of the sixth and keep the score tied at 1-1.

The Razorback offense did not let Wood’s efforts go to waste, answering with the go-ahead run in the bottom half of the inning. Arkansas tacked on two more runs in the seventh, thanks to Diggs’ bases loaded single to right.

Diggs finished with a team-leading two hits and a team-high three RBI, raising his season slash line to .333/.468/.615 with his performance. He was one of seven Razorbacks to collect a base knock in Friday night’s series-opening win.

Staked with a 4-1 lead entering the eighth, Wood locked down the final two innings without issue. He allowed just two hits and struck out four in his 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, earning the win to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Arkansas, now in sole possession of first place in the SEC with five games to play, goes for its seventh SEC series win of the season tomorrow. First pitch between the Hogs and Gamecocks is 6 p.m. Saturday, May 13, on SEC Network+.