FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Friday at 2 P.M. an opening day to a season with lofty expectations finally arrived in Fayetteville and the #3 Arkansas Razorbacks started it off right with a 6-4 win over the visiting James Madison Dukes.
That's not to say the visitors weren't game though. James Madison struck first in the opening inning with a Fenwick Trimble three-run home run off the preseason All-American Hagen Smith.
The Razorbacks would cut into the lead in the bottom half of the first frame with singles from Ben McLaughlin and Peyton Holt to make it 3-2.
But it wouldn't take them long to over take the Dukes.
They would seize the lead in the second with another two-run effort, this time off home runs by Jared Sprague-Lott and Hudson White to make it 4-3 into the third.
The Hogs would then, for the third inning in a row, add two more runs to their tally once again from Sprague-Lott, this time though off a single to right field.
They would hold the Dukes scoreless through the next two innings, before Coleman Calabrese would score an RBI on a ground out to make it 6-4.
A score that would last through the final few innings as the Razorbacks would go on to seal their first win of the season 6-4.
Arkansas improves to 21-1 on opening day under Dave Van Horn and will look to keep his streak of never losing an opening series at home alive over the weekend.
They will face James Madison in game two, Saturday at 2 P.M. it will be Brady Tygart (ARK) vs Max Kuhle (JMU) on the mound.
