Diamond Hogs offense explodes to beat SEMO in opening game of Fayetteville Regional

FAYETTEVILLE, Ar. (KNWA/KARK) – Arkansas survived and advanced Friday afternoon in a wacky opening game of the NCAA Baseball Tournament Fayetteville Regional that went completely off the rails midway through the contest.

The Razorbacks raced to an 8-0 lead in the second inning,  coughed it all up and then saw  Wehiwa Aloy, Kendall Diggs, Ben McLaughlin and Hudson White hit home runs as Arkansas outlasted SEMO 17-9 at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The win before a crowd of 11.062 fans lifts Arkansas (44-14) into a Saturday 8 p.m. game against the winner of Friday night’s 7 p.m. game between second-seeded Louisiana Tech (45-17) and third-seeded Kansas State (34-25).

Arkansas jumped to its 8-0 advantage on Hudson White’s solo home in opening inning followed by a seven-run second frame capped by the first of McLaughlin’s two three-run blasts in the game.

The Razorbacks would then send 10 batters to the plate in the bottom of the second inning, which started and ended with Ryder Helfrick striking out.

Aloy’s hustling double began the explosion before Kendall Diggs was hit by a pitch and Peyton Holt delivered an RBI single.

Diggs scored on a fielder’s choice and an error, Jared Sprague-Lott had a two-run single and then McLaughlin launch his eighth home run of the season.

But Southeastern Missouri State got four runs in the third against Arkansas starter Mason Molina and four more in the fifth against Razorback reliever Will McEntire.

Six of runs came via two swings with Ben Palmer’s three-run homer coming in the third and Josh Cameron launching a three-run blast in the fifth.

Aloy and Diggs hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth on back-to-back pitches from two different pitchers in the sixth to put Arkansas up 10-8.

The Redhawks got a run back in the seventh off Arkansas reliever Gabe Gaeckle, but White’s sacrifice fly and McLaughlin’s second three-run blast proved a four-run bottom of the seventh and a 14-9 edge.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Hogs offense kept rolling. Hudson White hit a three-run home run to left center to put the Razorbacks up 17-9 on SEMO.

McLaughlin finished the game with three hits and six RBI. Aloy, Diggs, Wilmsmeyer, Holt and White all added two hits. White also had five RBI.

The Razorbacks will move on to play either Kansas State or Louisiana Tech on Saturday at 8 p.m.