FAYETTEVILLE — The top-ranked Arkansas baseball team hit multiple-run home runs in the second, third and fourth innings and cruised to an 8-0 victory over Missouri in the SEC opener Friday in front of an announced 10,109 at Baum-Walker Stadium.
The Razorbacks (15-2, 1-0 SEC) won their 11th consecutive game. The Tigers (9-9, 0-1) had a three-game win streak snapped.
Nolan Souza and Kendall Diggs hit two-run homers and Ross Lovich added a three-run homer against his former team to build a 7-0 lead by the end of the fourth inning. Souza added a one-out solo homer in the eighth to give the Razorbacks all of their runs via the home run.
Arkansas has hit 21 home runs this season, 17 of which have come during its homestand that reached 10 games Friday. Souza has hit three home runs during that time.
"We feel like we can hit for some power and we’ve got a few other guys that obviously didn’t hit them tonight, and they can leave the yard as well," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. "It’s nice to be able to have that, to be a threat really 1 through 9 to hit the ball out of the park, or at least over somebody’s head. Obviously, it was a big part of the game tonight for us."
All four home runs were pulled to right field by left-handed batters facing Missouri right-handed pitchers. Souza’s went 335 feet off the Hunt Baseball Development Center, Lovich’s landed on top of the Hunt Center and was measured 394 feet, and Diggs’ towering homer to right-center field was measured 400 feet.
Diggs hit his home run three pitches after Missouri coach Kerrick Jackson visited mound but left starter Logan Lunceford in the game after he issued a two-out walk to Peyton Stovall. Lunceford was replaced after he allowed his third home run.
"He told me, 'Hey, I can get this guy,'" Jackson recalled of his mound visit with Lunceford. "If our guys ask for that, I'm going to honor that and believe in the competitor that he is, and I think he was just a little bit out of gas. So he asked me to keep him out there to finish the inning and I wanted to oblige that, and unfortunately it didn't go our way."
Lunceford (1-1) allowed 7 runs (6 earned) on 4 hits and 2 walks in 3 2/3 innings. Lunceford threw 51 of 93 pitches for strikes, walked 2 and hit 1 batter.
Souza’s second home run was a 405-foot shot against reliever Jacob Peaden, who allowed 3 hits and struck out 3 in 4 1/3 innings.
Souza's 3-for-4 night improved his team-leading batting average to .423.
"I feel like I’m seeing the ball well," Souza said. "I feel like my swing is feeling good. I’ve been swinging at the right pitches and that’s what is kind of leading to my success."
Arkansas starter Hagen Smith tied a season high by pitching six innings without allowing a run. Smith (3-0) struck out 10, allowed 1 walk and 2 hits, and threw 63 of 100 pitches for strikes.
Beginning with a 17-strikeout performance against Oregon State on Feb. 23, Smith has struck out 48 and walked 6 and allowed 1 run in 22 innings.
"It’s fun to watch from the side," Van Horn said. "I think maybe people don’t realize what they’re watching because...I’ve watched a lot of baseball games, watched a lot of pitchers, had a lot of pitchers, but Hagen is really good. It’s just hard to come out and be good every outing."
Jackson was not pleased with his team's approach against Smith.
"He's good," Jackson said of Smith. "We didn't make it tough on him, though."
Pitching for the first time since Feb. 27, Arkansas right-hander Christian Foutch pitched two scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth. Right-hander Cooper Dossett pitched a scoreless ninth.
"I was really glad to see two of our younger pitchers come in and finish that up," Van Horn said. "Cooper, there in the ninth, threw seven pitches and they were all strikes. He got us off the field so that was really good."
Arkansas pitching recorded 12 strikeouts. The Razorbacks entered the game with an NCAA-high 13.9 strikeouts per 9 innings, and Missouri averaged 9.1 strikeouts per game.
The Razorbacks recorded a shutout in an SEC opener for the first time since a 2-0 victory over Missouri at home in 2019.
Why Arkansas won
The Razorbacks' pitching continued to dazzle and Arkansas' hitters did damage with runners on base.
Player of the Game: LHP Hagen Smith
Arkansas' ace delivered another great performance.
It was the third time in four weeks Smith has recorded double-digit strikeouts with one walk. The Razorbacks' offense gave him his most run support of the season.
"Sometimes you’ve got to stay a little more locked in," Smith said, "because when they’re scoring like that, you get to watching everybody hit."
Up next
Arkansas will host Missouri on Saturday at 2 p.m.