ARLINGTON, Texas -- University of Arkansas pitcher Hagen Smith delivered one of the greatest pitching performances in program history Friday night, but it took some late-inning heroics for the Razorbacks to claim a big early-season victory at Globe Life Field.
Peyton Holt's two-out triple off the center-field wall in the eighth inning scored Wehiwa Aloy to give Arkansas the lead and the fourth-ranked Razorbacks defeated seventh-ranked Oregon State 5-4.
Arkansas (4-1) won despite its bullpen surrendering a four-run lead in the seventh and eighth innings.
Right-hander Gage Wood allowed a game-tying home run to Mason Guerra in the eighth inning and a lead-off single to Trent Caraway in the ninth.
After a bunt moved Caraway to second base, right-hander Jake Faherty threw a wild pitch, but Faherty recorded his first save when he struck out Tanner Smith for the second out of the inning and struck out Levi Jones to strand the tying run at third base.
"I don't think our guys play scared. They play to win and that's what we're going try to do and we did it," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "A win like that's good for your team, good for your psyche."
Smith, the junior left-hander, tied the Razorbacks' single-game record with 17 strikeouts. He needed only 18 outs to get there.
Smith's six scoreless innings included 15 consecutive strikeouts to begin the game. He tied the record when Oregon State's Gavin Turley was called out looking at a 2-2 slider to end the sixth inning.
Right-hander Will McEntire replaced Smith in the seventh due to pitch count. Smith threw 59 of 78 pitches for strikes and worked around 3 hits and 1 walk.
Three of Smith's strikeouts were against Travis Bazzana, the Beavers' lead-off hitter and second baseman who is ranked by Baseball America as the No. 3 college prospect available for this year's MLB Draft.
Smith entered the game ranked 13th in Baseball America's college prospect rankings but might shoot up the draft boards after that kind of high-profile outing in front of several scouts.
"We knew he was going to pitch good tonight," Van Horn said. "He's really good."
Smith tied an Arkansas single-game record that has stood for 17 years. Jess Todd struck out 17 South Carolina batters in 8 innings during Arkansas' 6-0 victory over the Gamecocks on May 24, 2007, at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala.
The Razorbacks' 23 strikeouts Friday broke the program record of 18 set multiple times, most recently in 2021.
It was a bounce back performance for Smith, who was lifted after a 42-pitch first inning against James Madison the week before. Smith allowed three runs in that game, which was played in bitter cold conditions.
Smith said that outing "left a bad taste" in his mouth.
"He was upset with himself last week," Van Horn said. "It was 36 degrees and the windchill was in the low 20s. I've said it six times: we shouldn't have played [that day]."
Conditions were ideal inside Globe Life Field, the retractable-roof home of Smith's favorite professional team, the Texas Rangers, about 130 miles east of his hometown of Bullard, Texas.
In two career starts at the stadium, Smith has thrown 11 scoreless innings. He pitched five scoreless and took a no-decision during a 3-2 season-opening victory over the Texas Longhorns last February.
Smith, who threw seven no-hitters as a high school senior, said he has probably never had a performance so dominant.
"I'd have to go back and look, but probably not," Smith said, "especially in college."
Ben McLaughlin's three-run double with two outs in the fifth gave the Razorbacks a 3-0 lead. The drive to center field came on the first pitch McLaughlin saw from lefty Nelson Keljo, who replaced Oregon State right-handed starter Aiden May in the middle of a fifth-inning at-bat. May left the field with a team trainer.
May had hit Holt with a pitch to start the inning, and Jared Sprague-Lott followed with a single. Kendall Diggs drew a four-pitch walk with half the pitches coming from May and Keljo.
Holt made up for earlier struggles. He hit into double plays in the second and sixth innings.
"I told them you're not going be great every night, but when get a chance to help the team, help the team," Van Horn said, "and that's what they did."
Holt gave Arkansas its fourth two-out run. The Razorbacks scored three two-out runs against May, who allowed 3 hits, 2 walks and hit 2 batters, while striking out 6 in 4 1/3 innings.
"Aiden showed lightning stuff and to do it on this stage in a big game was great," Oregon State Coach Mitch Canham said.
Ryder Helfrick, an Arkansas freshman who started as designated hitter for the first time, reached on a two-base error to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning. Helfrick scored when Jayson Jones singled in the next at-bat to push the Razorbacks' lead to 4-0.
Oregon State (5-1) cut the lead to 4-2 against McEntire in the seventh. Brady Kasper singled and scored on pinch hitter Dallas Macias' double. Macias scored on a sacrifice fly.
Bazzana singled against Arkansas lefty Stone Hewlett to lead off the eighth inning, and Guerra hit a one-out home run to left field against Wood to tie the game 4-4.
"We faced a guy with really good stuff and he held us to no runs," Canham said. "It shows no quit that as soon as we were able to get to the bullpen [we] put up some runs and were in it all the way to the very last pitch, when we felt like we were still in a good spot."
AJ Hutcheson hit Aloy with a pitch to lead off the bottom of the eighth and took the loss. Holt's game-winning hit was against Bridger Holmes.