Hogs win SEC West

Razorbacks top Texas A& M to clinch fifth division title in last six seasons

From the University of Arkansas

arkansasrazorbacks.com

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Razorbacks are the SEC Western Division champions.

For the fifth time in six seasons and ninth time in program history, No. 3 Arkansas (43-11, 20-9 SEC) clinched the SEC West title after defeating No. 5 Texas A& M (43-11, 18-11 SEC), 6-3, Friday night at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.

The Hogs have now won the SEC Western Division eight times – 2004, 2007, 2011, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024 – under head coach Dave Van Horn. With Friday night’s win, Arkansas also clinched its fifth 20-win SEC season in school history.

Hudson White and Mason Molina, a pair of Texas Tech transfers, provided the heroics in their return to the Lone Star State. White’s go-ahead threerun blast in the eighth proved to be the game-winner, while Molina emerged from the bullpen for the first time this season and twirled three perfect innings with two strikeouts to secure Arkansas’ win.

White’s game-winning home run was his fifth of the season and fourth in his last seven games. Molina, meanwhile, retired all nine batters he faced in his first relief outing since his true freshman season at Texas Tech in 2022.

Arkansas trailed early to begin Friday’s game, as Texas A& M got off to a quick start with a two-run homer in the bottom half of the first. Making only his second career start on the mound, sophomore right-hander Gage Wood fired five strong innings with five strikeouts and zero walks against the Aggies, allowing just three runs (two earned) on seven hits.

The Razorbacks answered with a run in each of the second and third innings. Peyton Holt’s RBI single scored White from second in the second before Wehiwa Aloy’s team-leading 12th home run of the season tied the game at two in the third.

Texas A& M, however, would regain the lead in the bottom half of the third on an RBI single. All three of the Aggies’ runs came against Wood, who threw 58 of 86 pitches for strikes in his first career SEC start and first career road start.

Facing its second deficit of the night, Arkansas once again answered the bell. Ben McLaughlin tied the game at three on his RBI single in the top of the sixth to score Peyton Stovall, who finished with a team-leading three hits, from second.

In relief of Wood, sophomore left-hander Parker Coil spun a scoreless bottom of the sixth before turning the ball over to Molina, who entered in the seventh and worked around an inherited base runner against the heart of the Aggies’ lineup.

The junior left-hander struck out leadoff hitter Gavin Grahovac and induced a harmless pop-up from two-hole hitter Jace LaViolette before generating an inning-ending grounder from three-hole hitter Braden Montgomery.

Molina’s success on the mound set the table for the Razorbacks’ top half of the eighth. Stovall singled and Aloy doubled to lead off the inning before White hit the go-ahead three-run homer to give Arkansas its first and only lead of the night.

White finished 2-for-3 with a team-leading three RBI to raise his season slash line to .285/.377/.467 with five home runs and 25 RBI. In SEC play, the Keller, Texas, native is slashing a team-leading .326/.402/.500 with 14 homers and 15 RBI.

Texas A& M went down in order in the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings, as Molina put the finishing touches on the ballgame to earn the win and secure the Hogs’ SEC Western Division championship-clinching victory.

Ready for the SEC Tourney

The three-game weekend series between the Razorbacks and Aggies at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park and the 2024 regular season concluded Saturday afternoon, with first

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gies taking the finale 14-4, with many of the starters seeing limited action and much of the regular pitching staff getting the day off.

The 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament bracket is officially set, and the Arkansas Razorbacks earned the two-seed for this year's competition at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama. Arkansas (20-10 SEC) ended two games behind Tennessee (22-8 SEC) and Kentucky (22-8 SEC) in the conference standings this season, as the Volunteers earned the top seed in the tournament for winning the SEC East and Arkansas earned the 2seed for winning the SEC West. Kentucky and Texas A& M round out the top four seeds at three and four, respectively.

Seeds 5-12 will meet in a single elimination format on the opening day of the tournament Tuesday, followed by traditional double- elimination play Wednesday-Friday. The tournament will return to single elimination play on Saturday. A total of 17 games will be played throughout the tournament.

On Wednesday, Arkansas will play the winner of Tuesday’s 7/10 seed matchup that features 7seed Alabama and 10-seed South Carolina. If the Hogs win Wednesday, they’ll play the winner of Kentucky and Georgia/LSU at approximately 4:30 p.m. CT Thursday. If Arkansas loses its first game, it will play the loser of Kentucky and Georgia/LSU in the first game Thursday at 9:30 a.m. CT.

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