Razorbacks pepper Doyle, Tennessee; clinch top-four SEC Tournament seed

Originally posted on Arkansas Razorbacks on SI
By Daniel Shi | Last updated May 16, 2025 11:32 PM ET

No. 8 Arkansas charged Tennessee ace Liam Doyle with 11 hits and eight runs to even the series, 8-6, against the No. 17 Volunteers.

With the Razorbacks' win and a Georgia loss, the Hogs clinched a top-four seed and a double bye in next week's SEC Tournament.

The 11 hits and eight runs were career highs for Doyle, a junior who has spent time at both Ole Miss and Coastal Carolina.

He came into the game as the frontrunner for SEC Pitcher of the Year with a 2.17 ERA and 0.80 WHIP, but Arkansas had no problem generating baserunners.

The Hogs added over half a run to his ERA with six of the eight runs being earned (2.72).

BING BONG pic.twitter.com/TbZaHCWcmg
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) May 17, 2025

For the second straight day, Arkansas managed at least a bakers dozen of hits led by center fielder Charles Davalan's three hit day with an RBI and a walk.

Five of the eight runs charged to Doyle came around to score on homers.

Third baseman Brent Iredale got the Hogs on the board with a two-run shot in the second, his first homer in two weeks.

The two teams traded punches in the early innings with both teams scoring in both the second and the third.

Tennessee catcher Cannon Peebles, who came into the night 3-for-17 in the last five games, cashed in a pair of RBI singles in his first two at-bats for three of the four runs charged Arkansas starter Aiden Jimenez.

Jimenez lasted just 2 1/3 innings and did not record a strikeout. Lefty Cole Gibler allowed the two runners he inherited to score, but limited the damage to keep the Tennessee lead at 4-3.

Arkansas scored five unanswered runs to build an 8-4 lead. Ryder Helfrick's 409-foot homer to left gave the Hogs a 5-4 lead, one they wouldn't give up.

IT'S A GAME OF RUNS, FOLKS pic.twitter.com/HoyNqCcZbe
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) May 17, 2025

Gibler provided some much-needed stability on the mound, retiring nine of 10 Volunteers at one point. He left to a nice hand from the Baum-Walker Stadium crowd of 10,925 after 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Tennessee chipped away with a two-run homer from Levi Clark off Parker Coil to cut the lead in half to 8-6

The Volunteers brought the tying run to the plate in both the eighth and the ninth. A 6-4-3 double play wiggled Christian Foutch out of a first and third situation with just one out.

The regular season concludes with a rubber match against the Volunteers 2 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.