The University of Arkansas baseball team continues to dominate Mississippi State.
The No. 6 Razorbacks pounded the Bulldogs 14-2 on Saturday night at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Miss., to improve 10-1 against Mississippi State since 2019.
The game ended after the seventh inning because the Razorbacks (35-12, 16-7 SEC) led by 10 or more runs.
It was Arkansas’ seventh run-rule victory this season, but first in SEC play.
The Razorbacks scored five runs in the seventh inning, including a two-run home run by right fielder Kendall Diggs and three-run home run by third baseman Caleb Cali, to push their lead to 14-2.
Sophomore Brady Tygart made his second consecutive start for the Razorbacks after recovering from an elbow injury that he suffered on March 1. He threw 20 pitches in two scoreless innings with 1 walk and 1 strikeout.
“He was throwing his fastball for a strike,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “He kept the ball down.
“I don’t really look at the velocity. I look at the location more than anything. I’m going to guess he was 92-93 [miles per hour on his fastball], good breaking ball.
“Keep building him up and get him ready to maybe go seven or eight one day this spring.”
Tygart (2-0) was credited with the victory and faced six batters, including a double-play grounder after a walk in the first inning, and threw 13 strikes
“I felt great, man,” Tygart said. “That was the best I’ve pitched in a long time.
“Mainly just throwing everything for strikes. Now I have four pitches, and throwing them all for strikes is really tough for a hitter.”
Junior Will McEntire replaced Tygart and went the final five innings and became the ninth Arkansas pitcher to earn a save.
“[Tygart] could have gone back out for the third,” Van Horn said. “We just had him finish down in the bullpen. He thew another 15 down there. We just decided to go that route. He’s fine.”
In Arkansas’ 10-4 victory over Texas A&M last weekend, Tygart started and threw 20 pitches in a scoreless first inning before McEntire replaced him and went 5 2/3 innings.
“I thought [McEntire] threw the ball really well,” Van Horn said. “He came in and spotted his fastball, threw that slider-cutter, changeups to lefties. Kept the ball down for the most part.”
Diggs went 3 for 4 and had 5 runs batted in. He was 4 for 24 the previous eight games.
“The past two weeks, I haven’t been super happy about it, so I’ve just been evaluating my swing,” said Diggs, who is batting .322 and has a team-high 48 RBI. “How I’m feeling, looking back at my approach, talking with the coaches. Just really focusing on staying through the ball.
“See a pitch up in the zone and really getting my A-swing off every time.”
Diggs homered on a 2-2 hanging slider from Colby Holcombe after John Bolton walked.
“He threw three or four sliders in a row,” Diggs said. “That last one I really saw it well.”
Tyler Davis replaced Holcombe and gave up a double to Jace Bohrofen and walk to Ben McLaughlin, then Cali hit a 2-2 pitch for a home run.
“The previous pitch was a breaking ball from that lefty and he kind of hung and [Cali] tried to shoot that ball to right-center and he fouled it off down the right field line,” Van Horn said. ‘I feel like the pitcher felt, ‘Hey, I got away with one there.’
“I think everybody in the stadium, especially Cali, knew he was getting a fastball on the inner half because they had been trying to pitch him in. … [Holcombe] tried to get that one in and [Cali] was ready for it and gave us an opportunity to finish the game early.
“It was big because then we didn’t have to use any more pitching.”
Peyton Holt, a junior from Greenwood starting at second base with Peyton Stovall not on the roster this weekend as he rests a shoulder injury, went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI.
Freshman Mason Neville, starting in right field because of injuries to Jared Wegner (thumb) and Tavian Josenberger (hamstring), was on base three times. He went 1 of 3 with a walk, was hit by a pitch and scored two runs.
“They work hard, they practice hard,” Van Horn said of Holt and Neville. “They’re good players or they wouldn’t be on the team.
“That’s what I tell them, ‘When you get an opportunity, help us out.’ And they did tonight.”
All nine Razorbacks in the batting order reached base and eight had hits.
“Everybody chipped in up and down the lineup,” Van Horn said.
The Razorbacks sent 10 batters up in the second inning and scored four runs to take a 4-0 lead and knock Mississippi State starting pitcher Landon Gartman out of the game.
“It’s a big punch in the mouth,” Diggs said of jumping out to an early lead.
Cali drew a leadoff walk and went to second base when Gartman hit Neville with a pitch. Both runners advanced on Holt’s groundout. After Parker Rowland struck out, Diggs hit a two-run single.
Bohrofen walked and McLaughlin followed with another two-run single. After Slavens walked, Evan Siary replaced Gartman and got Cali on a shallow flyout.
Arkansas made it 7-0 in the third inning, including Neville’s leadoff double and Holt’s RBI single.
Brady Slavens scored in the fourth inning on another RBI single by Holt, then Slavens hit a home run in the sixth inning.
Mississippi State (24-22, 6-17) scored in the sixth inning on a two-run home run by Dakota Jordan, about the only thing for the announced crowd of 11,973 to cheer about.
“People are pissed,” Mississippi State Coach Chris Lemonis said. “And I understand people are pissed, because it’s not acceptable.
“There are so many fans that show up, we’re doing everything we can to get it back, to get it right. Right now, it’s a real struggle.”
Arkansas, which opened the series with a 6-2 victory on Friday night, has won back-to-back road series at Mississippi State (24-22, 6-17) for the first time since 2010 and 2012.
The Razorbacks swept three games on the road from the Bulldogs in 2021. For seven consecutive seasons from 2013-19, the home team won the series between Arkansas and Mississippi State.
“We’ve just played pretty well against them, I don’t know if there’s anything to it,” Van Horn said of the Razorbacks winning 10 of the last 11 against the Bulldogs. “You catch them at the right time or whatever. That’s kind of the way this game works a little bit.”