FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas baseball team bounced back from a series-opening loss with a doubleheader sweep over Southeastern Louisiana behind dominant pitching by starters Hagen Smith and Jaxon Wiggins on Saturday.
The No. 6 Razorbacks (7-3) took the opener 4-2 and pulled away late in the finale for an 11-1 run-rule decision in eight innings before a crowd of 10,444 at Baum-Walker Stadium.
"Just a really good bounce-back day after a tough loss yesterday to a scrappy team," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "They fought us really. They fought us hard.
"The pitching was outstanding. We got some timely hits. I don't think we had an error in three games. So we're slowly getting there."
Michael Turner homered and drove in four runs on the day, and Jace Bohrofen notched his first five RBI as a Razorback with two singles and a bases-clearing triple in Game 2. Robert Moore also had three hits and two runs in Game 2.
"I want to give a lot of credit to Coach [Nate] Thompson," said Turner, who had 3 hits, 2 walks, 4 runs and 4 RBI on the day. "I think our scouting reports here are something I've never been a part of the last four years. I think having a good approach coming into the game helped me a lot today."
Southeastern Louisiana (5-7) managed 6 hits in the doubleheader, 3 in each game, after banging out 9 in its 7-3 win in the series opener.
"I thought we battled really hard," Southeastern Louisiana Coach Matt Riser said. "I was disappointed at the end because I thought we played a lot better than what it showed there to finish off that game."
Southeastern Louisiana scored all 10 of its runs on the weekend in the sixth inning, highlighted by its seven-run sixth in Friday's win.
The teams agreed to a doubleheader because rough weather is forecast for Northwest Arkansas today.
Wiggins (2-0) struck out a career-high 7 in 6 1/3 innings on 96 pitches to win the finale. The 6-6 sophomore also walked 4, but two of those runners were erased on the bases on first baseman Michael Turner's top-notch scoop and throw to second base in the first inning and a 6-4-3 double play in the fifth.
Four Arkansas leadoff batters reached in Game 2 and all of them scored: Moore's single in the second, Turner's walk in the fourth, Moore's double in the sixth and Jalen Battles' double in the seventh.
"To be able to get the lead runner on, advance him and get him in was huge," Van Horn said.
"We felt like we just missed a couple of big innings early and then you look up and we're up 2-0 and then it was 2-1 and we made it 3-1. But we just couldn't put them away."
Arkansas erupted for four runs in the seventh and eighth innings to create the run rule. Brady Slavens, Turner and Bohrofen had run-scoring singles and Kendall Diggs drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh inning. Bohrofen cleared the bases with his opposite-field triple into the left field corner, then scored the game-ending run on a wild pitch in the eighth.
"I was carrying a lot of confidence into today," Bohrofen said. "This is a mental game and you can't let it beat you up because the game wants you to feel sorry for yourself and you can't let that happen."
In Game 1, Smith (2-1) and two relievers combined on a three-hitter and Turner hit a go-ahead two run home run in the seventh inning after the Lions tied the game 2-2 on Preston Faulkner's two-run home run in the sixth inning.
Smith threw a career-high 7 innings and 97 pitches, giving up 2 hits while striking out 9.
"My fastball and my cutter," Smith said when asked what pitches were effective. "I was just trying to throw it inside, my fastball, and it worked out."
Said Riser, "Obviously it's elite stuff. He struggled with command a little bit and we took advantage of it here and there. Overall, a pretty dad-gum good freshman."
Zebulon Vermillion allowed a leadoff walk in the eighth before shutting down the inning.
Freshman Brady Tygart allowed a one-out single in the ninth inning but induced a double-play ground ball from Christian Garcia to end the game for his first save.
Turner, moved up to the three hole, was the hitting star for Arkansas. He opened the scoring with an RBI double to score Zack Gregory in the third inning and cracked his line drive two-run home run off Trey Harrington (0-2) in the seventh.
Turner's shot was 106 mph off the bat with an 18-degree launch angle, and it hit off the Hunt Family Center like his first home run as a Razorback.
"He started me off 1-0, and I know he wasn't wanting to get behind," Turner said. "I was looking fastball, and he gave me one I could handle and put a good swing on."
Chris Lanzilli was hit by a pitch from starter Hayden Robb and scored on Peyton Stovall's two-out single in the fourth inning for a 2-0 Arkansas lead.