Arkansas dominates SEC opener behind Hagen Smith's impressive outing

Riding a 10-game win streak into the SEC opener vs. Mizzou, the Razorbacks played complementary baseball on Friday evening, smashing four home runs and getting six scoreless innings, along with 10 strikeouts, from ace pitcher Hagen Smith, who only gave up two hits and one walk on 100 pitches, 63 of which went for strikes. 

Relievers Christian Foutch and Cooper Dossett closed out the game for Arkansas, who looks to win the series on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. 

Out of seven Arkansas hits, four went for home runs, including two round-trippers for freshman DH Nolan Souza, who went 3-4 on the night with three RBI. Kendall Diggs and Ross Lovich each contributed a home run each. The four homers accounted for all eight of Arkansas' runs, with the only Razorback hit not from a home-run slugger coming from catcher Hudson White.

The win showed Razorback fans much of the same from their 10-game win streak, with their elite pitching and blazing bats turning into a juggernaut the opposition had no chance to stop. Missouri could only muster five total baserunners in a scoreless outing, whilst its pitching staff gave up the aforementioned home runs. If Arkansas is able to keep its momentum rolling into Saturday's matchup, things may get ugly for the Tigers. 

Both Saturday's game and Sunday's series finale are set for a first pitch at 3 p.m. ET. Arkansas travels to Auburn for its next conference series starting on Mar. 21, while Missouri's second conference series will come at home vs Kentucky, with a one-off rivalry game against Kansas sandwiched in between.