Hagen Smith strikes out 14 as Arkansas baseball beats Kentucky in top-10 series opener
Hagen Smith is once again climbing up the Arkansas baseball record books.
Smith struck out 14 batters and gave up just one run across six innings Friday night as the No. 2 Razorbacks (40-7, 17-5 SEC) opened a three-game series against No. 8 Kentucky (33-10, 16-6) with a 10-3 victory. The Wildcats could only scratch out three hits and two walks against the junior lefty.
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Smith (9-0, 1.36 ERA) now has nine double-digit strikeout games on the season, which a program record. Last week, he climbed up to second on the Hogs' all-time strikeout list and after another dominant start against the Wildcats, Smith needs just 22 more strikeouts to take over the top spot from Arkansas legend Nick Schmidt.
"It was just a really good team win on the road," Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. "Hagen’s stuff was amazing, especially from about the third inning on. He ramped it up a little bit. He was amazing."
The 14 strikeouts Friday are the most for Smith since he punched out 17 Oregon State batters on Feb. 23.
He has 125 strikeouts on the season, which is tied for the sixth-most in school history and 30 behind David Walling's record campaign in 1999.
Kentucky took a 1-0 lead off Smith in the third inning, but the Arkansas offense came to life in the fifth and scored six runs in the seventh to run away with the victory.
Kendall Diggs may have finally ended a month-long slump by going 2-for-5 with four RBIs. Diggs was hitting .172 with just six RBIs in the previous 18 games, but his two-run double in the sixth gave Arkansas a 3-1 advantage.
"The past couple of weeks have been tough for me at the plate as far as just producing, knowing what I‘m capable of. It was really good to come through for the guys and just going to keep going," Diggs said.
After going 5-for-5 against Missouri State Wednesday, Peyton Stovall had two more hits and two RBIs Friday night. Hudson White, Peyton Holt and Diggs all scored two runs, while Will McEntire and Dylan Carter combined to pitch the final three innings.
Arkansas will go for the series win Saturday at 1 p.m. Brady Tygart (4-1, 2.68) will be on the mound for the Hogs.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Hagen Smith strikes out 14 as Arkansas baseball beats Kentucky
