BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Brady Slavens’ two home runs and Zack Morris’ three relief innings lifted Arkansas’ No. 4 to a 3-1 win over Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon at Blue Bell Park.
The Razorbacks tied the series at one game apiece with Saturday’s win. Arkansas, winner of 14 of its last 15 SEC series overall, is aiming for road series victory in Sunday’s rubber game.
After struggling to find the offense in Friday’s series-opening loss, Arkansas scored a run in each of the first three innings on Saturday. Slavens hit his first of two homers with an out on top of the first to give the Hogs a 1-0 lead.
Chris Lanzilli started the second with a brace and came on to score on wild pitch, extending Arkansas’ advantage to two. The lead continued to grow in the very next inning when Slavens stepped in and hit a first home run to make it a 3-0 ball game.
Slavens now has 10 team-leading homers on the year to go along with his team-best 42 runs. The native of Olathe, Kan. 349/.611 for the season.
Arkansas starter Hagen Smith lasted three innings before giving way to the bullpen. The true freshman southpaw struggled with his control and hit a career-high five, but managed to limit the Aggies to just one afternoon run.
Morris came out of the bullpen and gave the Hogs exactly what they needed. The southpaw pitched three scoreless innings in relief from Smith, stoking one while allowing just one hit and one walk.
Zebulon Vermillion (1/3 IP) and Evan Taylor (1 2/3 IP) also made appearances in medium relief, combing through two scoreless innings. Taylor, Arkansas’ third left-hander to pitch, was snappy for the second straight day as he struck out a pair.
The last three outs went to true rookie Brady Tygart. Razorback’s closest was unfazed by a hostile Texas A&M crowd, pulling one out in a scoreless frame to lock in the 3-1 win and earn his sixth save of the season.
Will Johnson (play-by-play) and Boomer White (analyst) will have the call in Sunday’s rubber game, which kicks off at 1 p.m. on SEC Network+.
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