FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas freshman pitcher Hagen Smith bounced back in a big way from a rough outing at Florida and the Razorbacks hit three home runs to beat LSU 4-0 on Friday night at Baum-Walker Stadium.
The No. 5 Razorbacks handed the No. 12 Tigers their first shutout of the season to the delight of an announced crowd of 10,811.
“Real impressive,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn. “I mean, it’s hard to shut anybody out, especially a team with that lineup.
“You have to pitch really well, you have to field well, you have to get a break here or there or get lucky, whatever you want to call it. I think we got a little bit of all that today.”
Smith (6-2) matched his season-high by going 7 innings and holding the Tigers to 2 hits and 1 walk with 7 strikeouts. The left-hander from Bullard, Texas, had 64 strikes on 98 pitches.
“Hagen was unbelievable,” Arkansas catcher Michael Turner said.
When Florida beat Arkansas 7-2 last Friday, Smith allowed 7 hits and 6 earned runs in 4 1/3 innings.
“It didn’t go good for Hagen last week at Florida and he took it personal,” Van Horn said. “He worked extremely hard [this] week. He got with [pitching coach Matt Hobbs] and did a lot of talking. Had a great bullpen session.
“He was on a mission and pitched really well. He didn’t overthrow. He threw the ball 92, 93 mph, 91, with his fastball. Then used his secondary pitches effectively.
“He can throw harder than that, but today he really pitched.”
The stadium scoreboard showed Smith had a few pitches that hit 95 mph.
“He reared back every now and then and let it fly,” Van Horn. “But he just really spotted it up and did a nice job pitching in and out.”
Smith said he changed his routine this week.
“Stretching out a little more, throwing a pregame bullpen,” he said.
LSU loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth inning, but Evan Taylor got Cade Doughty on a flyout to right fielder Chris Lanzilli to keep Arkansas’ lead at 4-0.
Taylor, a senior, then retired the Tigers in order in the ninth inning, striking out Josh Pearson swinging to end the game for his first career save.
The Razorbacks (27-7, 10-4 SEC) took a 3-0 lead in the third inning against LSU starter Blake Money (2-3). Zack Gregory hit a leadoff home run and Turner hit a two-out, two-run home run after Brady Slavens walked.
“It was a fastball,” said the left-handed hitting Turner, who hit his home run over the left-field fence. “Got in a good count, 1-0. I knew he wasn’t going to want to get behind 2-0. So I was sitting fastball, and he gave me one up and away, and I put a good swing on it.”
Turner went 3 for 4 and drove in 2 runs.
“He had a big day for us,” Van Horn said. “[Turner’s home run] was a big swing.
“We were up 1-0, and all of a sudden we’re up 3-0. The way Hagen was throwing, we felt like we were in good shape, at least for a while.”
Arkansas made it 4-0 in the fifth inning when Chris Lanzilli hit a two-out home run.
The Razorbacks, who beat LSU 5-4 on Thursday night, won their 12th consecutive home series against an SEC team, including taking two of three games against Ole Miss in a 2019 NCAA Super Regional.
Arkansas also won a third consecutive series against LSU (23-11, 7-7) for the first time. The Razorbacks beat the Tigers two of three games in Fayetteville in 2019 and two of three in Baton Rouge last season.
“They’re the No. 1 team in the country with a bunch of fourth- and fifth-year players,” LSU Coach Jay Johnson said of the Razorbacks. “They’re better defensively … starting pitching is better. They’re more athletic, so they can present more problems.
“They’re just more complete. We’ll get there.”
Van Horn said Smith did a good job of pitching under control.
“He definitely repeated his delivery today, which means if you’re doing that usually you’re staying on line and you’re going to throw the ball over the plate,” Van Horn said. “That was a super job against a good-hitting team like that.
“I mean, that is a very scary lineup over there.”
Arkansas will try for its first sweep of LSU since 2011 and fourth overall in today’s 2 p.m. series finale.
Sophomore right-hander Jaxon Wiggins (4-0, 4.81 ERA) will start for the Razorbacks, who also swept LSU in 2001 and 2004.
“I think Jaxon will have a good outing, and I feel good about the guys that are going to be ready behind him,” Van Horn said. “Game 3, it means a lot. I mean, you can separate yourself a little bit if you find a way to win.
“Our guys know that. We don’t have to tell them every time, ‘Hey, tomorrow, this is what it means.’ They know.
“These guys are smart. So it would be big if we could find a way to win again.”