Wehiwa Aloy’s Walk-Off Blast Seals Arkansas’ 12-2 Run-Rule Victory Over South Carolina!
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Wehiwa Aloy delivered a dramatic walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh, capping off No. 3 Arkansas’ dominant 12-2 run-rule victory over South Carolina in Friday night’s SEC home opener at Baum-Walker Stadium.
With this win, the Razorbacks (21-2, 3-1 SEC) continued their red-hot start, marking their best 23-game opening since 1982 (21-1-1). The blowout victory was also Arkansas’ 500th SEC win since joining the conference in 1992.
Root’s Masterful Performance
Zach Root was locked in on the mound, pitching a complete seven-inning game, the first by a Razorback since Kacey Murphy in 2017. The lefty struck out seven batters, allowing just two runs on six hits while walking one.
Hogs’ Offense Overwhelms Gamecocks
Arkansas’ bats were relentless, hammering South Carolina’s pitching staff. Starter Brandon Stone gave up five runs in three innings, while reliever Matthew Becker surrendered another five runs on eight hits in just 3.1 innings.
The Razorbacks exploded early, scoring in five different innings:
- Second Inning – Justin Thomas Jr. (2-for-4, double, 2 RBI) opened the scoring with a two-out RBI single.
- Third Inning – Bases-loaded walks to Brent Iredale and Ryder Helfrick pushed the lead to 3-0, followed by a costly South Carolina error that made it 5-0.
- Fourth Inning – Logan Maxwell (2-for-3, HR, 3 RBI) launched a two-run blast, his sixth homer of the season, stretching the lead to 7-0.
Seventh-Inning Fireworks
The Gamecocks managed to scrape across two runs in the fifth and sixth innings, but Arkansas wasn’t done.
With the score at 7-2, the Hogs erupted again in the seventh inning:
- Thomas Jr. smacked an RBI double, scoring Cam Kozeal (2-for-4, double).
- Charles Davalan, who had a four-hit night, added another RBI to push it to 9-2.
- Then came Aloy’s grand finale—on a 3-1 count, he crushed a three-run homer to right field, sealing the 12-2 walk-off victory.
Aloy & Davalan on Fire
- Wehiwa Aloy finished the night 2-for-4, 3 RBI, improving his season slash line to .402/.495/.837 with a team-leading 10 home runs and 31 RBI.
- Charles Davalan went 4-for-5, raising his numbers to .411/.500/.611 on the season.
What’s Next?
The series continues Saturday at 2 p.m. as Arkansas looks to clinch its ninth consecutive SEC home-opening series. The Razorbacks haven’t lost an SEC home-opening weekend since 2015 and are eyeing another dominant performance against the Gamecocks.
