FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- For the second consecutive weekend, Arkansas freshman Gage Wood got the save in an SEC series-clinching victory.
Wood, a right-hander from Batesville, went a season-long three innings on Saturday to help the No. 5 Razorbacks hang on to beat defending national champion Mississippi 6-4 at Swayze Field in Oxford, Miss.
Last Sunday, Wood went the final 1 1/3 innings for his first save in Arkansas' 5-4 victory over Alabama at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Wood's emergence as a closer has helped solidify some bullpen roles with sophomore Brady Tygart still recovering from an elbow injury.
"I think Gage has embraced that a little bit," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. "I think he loved being in the game there.
"He's got a little different look on his face than he did the first few times we put him out there early in the season to get him some experience.
"The innings and the outs really mean something. I see a different guy. We need him. He's one of our guys we feel can finish the game."
Tygart had a team-high eight saves as a freshman and was the Razorbacks' top reliever this season before being injured against Illinois State on March 1.
Van Horn said last week he's hopeful Tygart will be able to return by the end of April.
"I feel like we can both do it," Wood said when asked about he and Tygart sharing the closer role. "I've proved I can do it. He's proved he can do it.
"I mean, he's done it more, but I feel like with me and him back in the pen, if we have a one-run ball game that the Hogs are going to win."
Arkansas sophomore Hagen Smith, who started four games and then came out of the bullpen for four, returned to the rotation at Ole Miss and possibly could stay there if Wood and sophomore Dylan Carter -- who combined for four relief appearances against Ole Miss and Alabama -- continue to pitch well.
"I love good starting pitching, but the bullpen, that's going to determine if you have a good team or not, because the games are won seven through nine [innings]," Van Horn said after the Alabama series. "If you've got a little lead there [and] you can't stop people, it's demoralizing."
Wood combined to hold Alabama and Ole Miss to 1 run, 1 hit and 1 walk with 5 strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.
"It's something I've been working on for a long time," Wood said of his shot to close games. "And my name got called and I was ready to step up and do my job."
Wood said he had three pitches working to get four strikeouts against the Rebels with the addition of an effective slider.
"There for a little bit, all I had was fastball, curveball, and it was really hard to get a whole bunch of swings and misses after everyone had seen it and scouted it and what it was like," Wood said. "I lost my slider a little bit."
Wood said watching film with pitching coach Matt Hobbs helped him regain the feel to throw the slider.
"We really talked about getting that slider working," Wood said. "And I can think of many times [Saturday] where I used that slider, and I got swings and misses."
Wood, who threw a season-high 54 pitches, said he felt sharper the longer he was in the game.
"I started getting ahead [in the count]," he said. "I wasn't giving guys free bases and I was executing pitches better."
Wood's confidence has grown since his first appearance in TCU's 18-6 victory over Arkansas at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, on Feb. 18. He failed to get an out facing three batters and allowed 2 walks and 1 hit on 10 pitches.
"It really just goes back to a switch in my head where I turn it on and l have to know I'm the guy and I can get the job done, instead of going out there wondering as a young freshman," Wood said. "Once I figured that out, I developed almost a killer instinct."