Fayetteville, Ark – No. 8 Arkansas rode the rider Helfrick Grand Slam with an 8-4 victory over No. 17 Tennessee to finish the regular season and earn the second seed in the SEC tournament.
Tennessee went into the three innings with a 2-1 lead and was 6-2 deficit on a span of five batters.
Helfrick opened the game wide with a 331-foot high earthing grand slam with a launch angle of 46.2 degrees.
It was the second homer in Hellflic's series, and this year was the 10th.
He became the seventh player this year to reach double-digit homer. This was the first time in the Dave Vanhorn era that seven different players have attacked more than 10 Homers. Previously, six different players hit 10 in 2021. Justin Thomas could potentially join the list next.
The innings were set by a combination of Tennessee sub-per play and potential breaks. Charles Dublan led the innings with a single, but appeared to have been selected for Tennessee starter Tegan Coons, but 1st base judge Jeremy Dupree gave Dublan to 2 bases.
The ground ball hit the right of the second base hand Dean Curly went between his legs from the bat of shortstop Wehiwa Aloy. A successive walk to Logan Maxwell and Kuhio Aloy loaded the bass and chased Kuhns from the game without outs.
Hellfrick cashed them all in the Grand Slam on the 2-1 pitch.
Wehiwa Aloy hit his team's lead 18th Homer with his fourth insurance, having beaten a 41-at-bat streak without Homer without Homer.
Tennessee had many early opportunities against starter gauge wood. The volunteers got three hits in each of the first two innings, but managed only lonely runs in each frame. Wood removed two runners for each of the three jobs and hit the seven. Tennessee ended the 9-2 day with runners scoring.
As Aiden Zimenez's domino effect, building on the first start of Friday's season, Landon Beidelski has made his first appearance since February 22nd from the bullpen with TCU in Arlington, Texas. All of his previous 11 outings were a start.
Beidelschies and Will McEntire are paired together in six innings of two-run relief, with the only wound being a two-run homer from Andrew Fischer's bat. The ties were not at the plate with peace of mind.
McEntire had his best outing of the season, retiring as the game's final 11 batters with four strikeouts on just 39 pitches.
Arkansas is currently waiting for their opponents in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament. By finishing as the second seed, the Razorbacks won a double-by in a 16-team single-elimination format. Their first game will be in Hoover, Alabama on Friday at 3pm.
News and Notes:
A $280,000 lawmaker dumps the first pitch:
The winner of the first Razor Back Raffle was announced in the eighth inning, with the final pot at $282,645. Arkansas representatives RJ Hawk and Matt Shepherd were both sponsors of HB 1634, the bill that legalized raffles. Both were on hand to throw away the ritual first pitch.
