FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas, the top seed in the Fayetteville Regional, got a test from No. 4-seed SEMO in a wild 17-9 opener at Baum-Walker Stadium on Friday afternoon in a near four-hour marathon.
Arkansas jumped out to an 8-0 lead after two innings and it appeared the Hogs were ready to cruise to the second round. But it took six home runs by Arkansas to break open an 8-8 game. Dave Van Horn was exhausted after the win.
"What a wild first game of a regional," Van Horn said. "The ball was really traveling today. There were a lot of clutch swings by both teams, and very rarely you get out to an eight-run lead and you see it disappear. A lot of times that isn’t good for your team. Maybe you get a little demoralized or whatever, but our team hung in there. Kept saying, hey, we’ve got a seven-inning game, or a six-inning game ahead of us. Just keep going, and they did it.
"Gabe (Gaeckle) came in and settled it down a little bit. Christian (Foutch) got through I think what was the (fifth) inning, and then Gabe came in after that. Could have gone back out in the ninth. We were just trying to save him a few pitches. Even before we scored the runs, we had already made the decision to take him out. It was one of those games, if you give them something, they were going to score. They kicked a couple balls for us and we ended up scoring. When we walked them, they scored. That’s a really good offensive team."
SEMO Coach Andy Sawyers had the best quote of the day though after he watched the Hogs hit the six home runs and 16 hits.
"I guess I want to talk to whoever said Arkansas couldn’t hit," Sawyers said. "That was the narrative kind of coming into it, was one of the best pitching staffs in the country, but had struggled offensively."
SEMO battled back from down 8-0 to tie the game in the the top of the fifth. They scored four runs in the third and four in the fifth. Arkansas took the lead for good at 10-8 in the bottom of the first when Wehiwa Aloy and Kendall Diggs hit back-to-back home runs with two outs.
Arkansas tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the seventh when SEMO pulled to within 10-9. Ty Wilsmeyer had an incredible day at the plate. He reached base all five times, two by hits and three on SEMO errors. In the bottom of the seventh, he reached base on a SEMO error. Peyton Stovall followed with a single that moved Wilmsmeyer to third. He then scored on a sacrifice fly by Hunter White. After Jared Sprague-Lott walked, Ben McLaughlin unloaded his second home run of the day for a 14-9 lead after seven.
The Hogs added three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth on a three-run blast by White that concluded the scoring.
White hit a solo shot in the bottom of the first for a 1-0 lead. The Hogs tacked on seven more in the bottom of the second. Aloy doubled with one out. Diggs was hit by pitch. Peyton Holt singled to plate Aloy. Wilmsmeyer reached on a SEMO error that allowed Diggs to get home. With two outs, White walked to load the bases. Sprague-Lott singled to plate two runs. McLaughlin then hit a three-run blast, his first of two on the day. McLaughlin was asked about the mood of the team when the game was tied at 8?
"I just feel like for us, we talked as a group, I feel like next man-up mentality," McLaughlin said. "Trusting the guy behind you, and in front of you, to get the job done. It might not always work out, but just knowing the guys always have your back is huge for us.
Arkansas used five pitchers on the day. Mason Molina started, but only lasted 2.2 innings. He allowed just two hits, but four runs on as many walks. Foutch (1-0) worked 0.2 inning to earn the win. Gaeckle worked 3.0 innings, allowing three hits, one run, walking a trio and striking out six. Jake Faherty pitched the ninth only allowing one hit.
Arkansas (44-14) will face the winner of the late game on Friday between No. 2 Louisiana Tech and No. 3 Kansas State. SEMO advances to Saturday afternoon's elimination game against Friday night's loser. SEMO used six pitchers on the day with Collin Wilma (2-5) taking the loss.
The winner of the Fayetteville Regional will play the winner of the Charlottesville Regional in a best-of-three-game super regional round from June 7-9 or June 8-10. No. 12 national seed and top-seeded Virginia (41-15) hosts second-seeded Mississippi State (38-21), third-seeded St. John’s (37-16-1) and fourth-seeded Pennsylvania (24-23) in Charlottesville, Va.
NCAA Fayetteville Regional Schedule
Friday, May 31
Game 1 – Arkansas 17 vs. SEMO 9 – 2 p.m. (ESPN+)
Game 2 – Louisiana Tech vs. Kansas State – 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, June 1
Game 3 – SEMO (34-26) vs. Game 2 Loser – 2 p.m. (TBD)
Game 4 – Arkansas (44-14) vs. Game 2 Winner – 8 p.m. (TBD)
Sunday, June 2
Game 5 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser – 1 p.m. (TBD)
Game 6 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner – 6 p.m. (TBD)
Monday, June 3 (If Necessary)
Game 7 – If the Game 5 Winner Wins Game 6 – TBD
Photos Courtesy of Craven Whitlow CW3 Sports Action
