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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 9 Arkansas claimed its first series of the season Saturday afternoon with a 10-3 win over Eastern Illinois at Baum-Walker Stadium behind a strong outing from starter Will McEntire and a big day at Jace’s plate. Bohrofen.

The Razorbacks wasted no time, scoring in each of the first three innings to claim an early lead. Jared Wegner’s two-out double quickly became the first run of the game as Brady Slavens’ single to left-center field chased him home. The pair of two-out knockouts became the theme of the afternoon as the Hogs scored seven of their 10 runs on two tries and collected six two-out hits.

Tavian Josenberger took his turn with two-out magic in the second inning, blasting his second home run of the young season over the right-field wall for a two-run explosion and a three-run lead. After the Panthers scored their first run of the game in the top of the third, Parker Rowland responded with a two-out RBI double to push the lead to three runs.

After a tough couple of starts to start his year, McEntire returned to form on Saturday to take the win. The big right-hander retired the first six he faced before Kolten Poorman greeted him with a solo home run to left-center to lead off the third inning. McEntire rallied to retire the next two batters, but a walk and single put runners on the corners with designated hitter Ryan Ignoffo representing the go-ahead run coming to the plate, but McEntire caught Ignoffo looking down. the threat and recorded his second strikeout. McEntire allowed just two hits with a pair of walks and four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.

The Panthers threatened again in the seventh inning against reliever Koty Frank when pinch-hitter Caleb Zalewski led off the inning with a solo home run to the left-field bullpen to cut Arkansas’ lead to two runs. A two-out single brought the tying run home, but Frank ended that threat with a harmless groundout to shortstop John Bolton.

Arkansas decided the game in the eighth inning, sending 10 men to the plate for five runs and six hits. Bolton was followed by a Josenberger single before a one-out walk to Wegner loaded the bases. Slavens pitched again, this time singled to right. Bohrofen’s third of the day found his way into the gap between left-center field for two runs to increase the lead to five runs. Back-to-back RBI singles by Ben McLaughlin and Rowland gave the Hogs the win.

Bohrofen’s three-hit game continued his strong start to the season. The junior had a pair of doubles and missed a third when the runners on base advanced only one base in the seventh to limit him to a single. Josenberger, Wegner, Slavens and Rowland each had two hits with McLaughlin coming off the bench to drive in two runs.

Arkansas and Eastern Illinois conclude the series Sunday afternoon at 1 pm on SEC Network+. Left-hander Hunter Hollan receives the ball in his Baum-Walker Stadium debut against EIU right-hander Ky Matthews-Hampton.

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