No. 2 Arkansas Takes SEC Lead with 10-3 Victory in Opener

In a matchup of teams competing for first place in the ultra-competitive Southeastern Conference, No. 2 Arkansas dominated the middle innings on the way to a 10-3 victory at Kentucky Proud Park in front of 4,742 fans.

Razorback ace Hagen Smith, arguably the top starting pitcher in Division I, struck out 14 in six innings, yielding only a Ryan Waldschmidt RBI double off the centerfield wall in the third. The Wildcats (33-10, 16-6 SEC) had a chance to take a 2-1 lead through five but were unable to get a runner home from third with one out in the fifth.

Arkansas (40-7, 17-5) answered with three runs in the sixth and six two-out runs in the seventh to break the game open. Kendall Diggs had the backbreaker in both innings but it was the free passes in front of him that created the opportunities.

Although Kentucky has dropped five of its past seven, all to ranked teams including two top five opponents, it still maintains a half-game lead in the division over Tennessee with eight to play.

NOTES

• Kentucky now is 33-10 in 2024, 16-6 in Southeastern Conference play.
  • Kentucky is 14-3 in night games.
  • Kentucky is 0-1 in May.
  • Kentucky is 7-3 in SEC home games, 17-5 overall at Kentucky Proud Park in 2024.
• Kentucky is 11-5 vs. ranked teams and 14-5 vs. Quad 1 opponents.
  • This was Kentucky’s seventh straight game vs. a ranked opponent.
• UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his eighth season at the helm and now owns a 249-160 career record.
  • Mingione needs nine victories to become the second-winningest coach in school history.
  • UK is 40-42 in the month of May under Coach Mingione.
  • Mingione now is 1-9 vs. Arkansas.
• Ryan Waldschmidt went 1-for-5 with an RBI double.
  • He has a hit in 13 of his last 14 games.
• Devin Burkes stole his 15^th base of the season in 17 attempts.
• Emilien Pitre legged out an infield single to extend his streak of games reaching base safely to 20.

ON DECK

The Wildcats and the Razorbacks, the two top horses in the SEC, will face off on Derby Day. First pitch is at 2 p.m. ET and the game will be streamed on the SEC Network+, along with an audio broadcast via the UK Sports Network.