Arkansas freshman right-hander Gabe Gaeckle put out a fire in the eighth inning and earned a five-out save to lead the Razorbacks to their 11th consecutive victory Friday.
The top-ranked Razorbacks defeated 17th-ranked Alabama 5-3 at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in the series opener. Arkansas improved to 30-3 overall and 12-1 in SEC play.
The Crimson Tide (22-12, 4-9) hit four consecutive singles to lead off a three-run eighth inning against reliever Will McEntire. Gaeckle inherited runners on the corners with one out in a 5-3 game and struck out William Hamiter before Evan Sleight hit into an inning-ending ground out.
Gaeckle earned his sixth save. He retired all five batters he faced.
“Gaeckle came in and just pitched great,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “He threw [81%] strikes and got ahead of everybody and gave us an opportunity to win that ballgame. It’s tough winning on the road.”
Arkansas pitchers held Alabama in check for the first seven innings. Starter Hagen Smith did not give up a run, allowed 2 hits and 3 walks and struck out 6 in his 6-inning, 96-pitch start.
“Hagen was outstanding for six innings,” Van Horn said.
“Seems like every week we say the same thing….I thought everything was pretty good. If he throws like that every weekend, we’ve got a shot.”
Smith took a no-hitter into the sixth inning when he allowed Alabama's first two hits by Gage Miller with no outs and Justin Lebron with one out. Smith got out of the jam when TJ McCants swung through an 84 mph slider in a 3-2 count.
“You don’t get a whole lot of opportunities against an arm like him,” Alabama coach Rob Vaughn said, “and when you do you’ve got to cash in.”
McEntire retired all three hitters he faced in the seventh to preserve a 5-0 lead but ran into trouble in the eighth when nine-hole hitter Bryce Eblin recorded a leadoff single. Miller followed with a single and Ian Petrutz and Lebron added RBI singles against McEntire.
Stone Hewlett replaced McEntire for a couple of left-on-left matchups. He walked Will Hodo before McCants’ sacrifice fly trimmed the Razorbacks’ lead to 5-3.
Arkansas led for virtually the entire game. Ben McLaughlin and Jared Sprague-Lott hit back-to-back one-out home runs against Alabama starter Ben Hess in the top of the first inning to put the Razorbacks ahead 3-0.
McLaughlin’s 423-foot blast to left-center field also scored Wehiwa Aloy, who singled after a two-strike battle with Hess. Aloy fouled off six pitches in the at-bat, including five after falling behind 1-2.
Sprague-Lott pulled his home run 386 feet to left field.
Sprague-Lott was hit by a pitch to spark a two-out rally in the third inning. He went first to third on a single by Kendall Diggs and scored on Hudson White’s RBI single. Diggs scored moments later on a wild pitch by Hess.
Hess allowed 5 runs, 5 hits and 3 walks and struck out 8 in 5 innings. He threw 64 of 101 pitches for strikes.
Arkansas had a chance to blow open the game multiple times. The Razorbacks loaded the bases without a hit in the fifth and seventh innings but did not score.
“Their pitching staff wiggled out of a couple of jams and we had to kind of hold on,” Van Horn said.
Sprague-Lott’s two-out single in the ninth was Arkansas’ first hit since the third. Batting fourth, Sprague-Lott reached base in every plate appearance. He went 2 for 2, walked twice and was hit by a pitch.
“I’ve just simplified some things and I’m starting to feel good,” Sprague-Lott said.
Why Arkansas won
Even though the Razorbacks' bats stranded nine, it is tough to beat a team that only allows three runs.
Player of the Game: LHP Hagen Smith
Vaughn said he liked his team's approach against Smith, but the Crimson Tide had trouble stringing together good at-bats against the Arkansas ace.
Smith lowered his ERA 1.53.
“He’s good,” Vaughn said. “That guy is going to get paid a lot of money come July.”
Up next
Arkansas will go for the series win Saturday at 5 p.m.