Hogs sweep Murray State behind dominant pitching
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas baseball picked up its first sweep of the season this weekend, taking all three games from Murray State.
The No. 5 Razorbacks (9-2) sandwiched a blowout win Saturday between two tight victories in the series opener and finale. The Racers (6-5) made things tight on Sunday, trimming the Arkansas lead to just one in the seventh inning, but the Hogs held on for a 5-3 win.
Here are four observations from the weekend sweep.
Continued dominance from Arkansas baseball's starting pitchers
Smith (1-0, 2.77 ERA) followed his 17-strikeout performance against Oregon State with 12 more against Murray State in the series-opener. He needed just 81 pitches to get through six innings, with a leadoff home run serving as the Racers' only hit.
Tygart, somehow, has been equally as impressive to start the year. The junior righty struck out 10 batters and gave up just one run over five innings, which actually raised his ERA to 1.12.
And on Sunday, Mason Molina (2-0, 1.98) kept things rolling by giving up just one run and striking out 10 over five innings. In total, the Arkansas starting pitchers struck out 32 batters in 16 innings. As a team, the Razorbacks lead the nation with 163 punch outs.
Nolan Souza stakes his claim
The freshman from Hawaii was the Razorbacks' most productive offensive player of the weekend, going 3-for-5 with 5 RBIs. Souza had a pair of tworun singles and hit his first career home run to open the Hogs' scoring in the series finale.
Souza has plenty of competition in the infield, and he replaced senior Peyton Holt at second base for each of his starts against Murray State. Arkansas is also waiting on the return of Peyton Stovall, but Souza is certainly deserving of more at-bats in the immediate
future.