Offense carries Arkansas baseball in series win over Mississippi State

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A historic Arkansas baseball regular season inside Baum-Walker Stadium ended on a high note.

The No. 3 Razorbacks (42-10, 19-8 SEC) took two of three games from No. 15 Mississippi State (33-16, 15-12) this weekend thanks to a dramatic rally in the series finale. The Hogs won the opener Friday night and erased a six-run deficit Sunday to clinch the series.

Arkansas has lost just one home SEC series since 2019. The Razorbacks are now one game behind Kentucky in the league standings and will take at least a two-game lead over Texas A&M in the SEC West into the final weekend.

Here are four observations from the Hogs' series victory over the Bulldogs.

Arkansas baseball bats come to life

An anemic offense finally broke through this weekend against Mississippi State, erupting for 21 runs across three games, marking the Hogs’ best offensive performance in the SEC since the opening weekend against Missouri.

They entered the weekend averaging just 13.6 runs in conference series.

Sunday afternoon was the highlight, with Arkansas erasing a 6-0 deficit by scoring nine unanswered runs to secure a 9-6 victory. The Razorbacks scored once in the fifth, three times in the fourth and took the lead with a four-run sixth that featured two-run homers from Hudson White and Peyton Holt.

Starting pitching can't get back on track

Brady Tygart and Mason Molina struggled mightily for the second straight weekend. Neither pitcher gave Arkansas a chance, failing to make it out of the second inning in both of their respective starts and giving up eight runs combined.

"I didn’t see the fastball go over the plate much at all," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said of Tygart's start Saturday.

Tygart's overall stats of 4-3 and a 3.68 ERA are fool's gold. In the SEC, those numbers drop dramatically to 1-3 and 5.40. He gave up four runs in an 8-5 loss.

Molina gave up four runs in one inning, failing to record an out in the second. He is only slightly better with a 4.90 ERA in the league.

More: Arkansas baseball notebook: Why Dave Van Horn is embracing late-season adversity

More: Hagen Smith strikes out 11, Arkansas baseball rallies past Mississippi State in series opener

Even Hagen Smith struggled by his own standards, giving up three runs in five innings, which marked his worst start since opening day. His spot is secure, but all of a sudden, Arkansas has a major problem with its weekend pitching rotation. It feels like a safe bet their will be changes at Texas A&M.

Hogs win the battle of bullpens

Even with the starting pitching’s struggles, Arkansas was able to stay within striking distance and eventually win the series thanks to its dominant bullpen that allowed four earned runs on the weekend. By contrast, Mississippi State relievers gave up 12 earned runs.

Gabe Gaeckle, Gage Wood and Christian Foutch continued their fine form, while Arkansas also received strong performances from Will McEntire, Parker Coil and Jake Faherty. McEntire’s two scoreless innings in the series finale were a welcome sign for the big righty who had been floundering down the stretch.

Hudson White and Kendall Diggs continue recent trends

White entered the weekend as Arkansas’ hottest hitter, and he proceeded to go 5-for-12 with two home runs and six RBIs. He's now hitting .279 with four homers and 22 RBIs.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Diggs, who went 1-for-8 with three strikeouts. Diggs was hitting .310 on March 23, but his batting average is now down to .242.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Offense carries Arkansas baseball in series win over Mississippi State