Arkansas Walks Past Georgia 11-2 in the second round of SEC Tournament

Hoover, AL- Arkansas won their opening game of the SEC Tournament on Wednesday with an 11-2 victory over Georgia.

NEARLY PERFECT
Lael Lockhart nearly pitched a perfect game for the Razorbacks. He went 7 and 2/3 innings pitched without allowing a hit with one out remaining it what could’ve been a seven inning run rule with a 10-0 lead. The Bulldogs had other plans as Josh McAllister singled between Nesbit and Battles to end Lockhart’s perfect game and extend the game to nine innings.

WALKED IN THE PARK

The Hogs weren’t absolutely as dominant at the plate as the score suggests. They struck out a total of 12 times and the leadoff and designated hitter, Matt Goodheart was 0-6 with 4 strikeouts. Yet, the Razorbacks won by scoring the majority of their runs due to being walked 14 times.

BIG FIFTH INNING
Cullen Smith hit the first home run of the post season for the Razorbacks during the fifth inning. He cleared the right field wall for a no doubt solo shot to begin the inning.

Casey Opitz would single off the first pitch after Smith’s. He would steal second off a wild pitch.

Jalen Battles and Zach Gregory would be issued walks to load the bases. Also, Cayden Wallace would walk and bring in Opitz to make it 9-0. A Christian Franklin walk would score Battles to make it 10-0.

INJURY BUG
It’s never a good time to have injuries but the Hogs have suffered a couple the past two weeks. Usual game two starter, Peyton Pallette left the Friday game with an apparent throwing arm injury. The extent of his injury is unknown but is expected to miss the remainder of the season.
Here is what coach Dave Van Horn had to say about the injury:

During the second inning, Brady Slavens went down with an ankle injury while running the bases on a two RBI single. Those two RBI’s gave him the team leading 61 on the season. Slavens left the game with the Hogs up 5-0 and would make Van Horn make lineup changes moving Smith from third to first and Nesbit out of the dugout and two third base where he’s played the previous two seasons as the starter.

Slavens did walk away while putting weight on that ankle. The amount of time he will Miss is also unknown but he did give Razorback Nation an update:

NEXT GAME

The Razorbacks (43-10) will play either Vanderbilt or Ole Miss Thursday night cap beginning around 8 p.m. at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, AL.