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Arkansas stunned, eliminated from NCAA Tournament with lifeless loss to SE Missouri State
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Arkansas baseball is getting bounced from the NCAA Tournament in the regional round, losing a 2nd game on its home field with Sunday’s 6-3 loss at the hands of Southeast Missouri State.
The two sides opened the Fayetteville Regional with a 17-9 win by the Razorbacks, a back-and-forth affair that saw Arkansas blow an 8-0 lead. In reality, that was a true harbinger of future struggles for Arkansas.
The Razorbacks found themselves in an elimination game after losing to Kansas State in a Saturday night stunner. Ace lefty Hagen Smith was charged with 6 earned runs in a disastrous 5th inning as the Wildcats secured a major upset with a 7-6 win.
Sunday’s game was unfortunately more of the same from Arkansas. SEMO starter Collin Wilma opened the game with 4 shutout innings and was able to complete 4.2 innings pitched with just a lone hit and earned run while striking out 6. Logan Katen would follow out of the bullpen with 2.1 scoreless innings.
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On the mound for the Razorbacks, the long ball bit the pitching staff once again. Ty Stauss homered off of Gage Wood in the bottom of the 1st, and Brooks Kettering added another home run in the 5th. The Redhawks would also score 3 runs in the bottom of the 4th for a commanding early lead.
Parker Rowland would add a 2-run home run for Arkansas in the top of the 9th but it would not be enough to stave off elimination.
Key moment
In the top of the 8th, Arkansas appeared poised to cut into a 6-1 deficit and make things interesting late in the game. The Razorbacks put the first 2 men on with a single and a double to place runners at 2nd and 3rd with no outs.
SEMO would make a pitching change, calling on Payton Lawrence to put out the fire. He did just that with startling efficiency, inducing a pair of groundouts and a foul out to escape the inning without allowing a run.
Had the Razorbacks delivered just one big hit in that scenario, it could have changed the trajectory of the 9th inning, but they came up short in crunch time.
Key stat
Arkansas’ calling card all year was its pitching staff, finishing 2nd in DI with 4.1 runs per game allowed. Unfortunately, that staff crumbled in the regional round, punctuated by Smith’s loss Saturday night.
The Razorbacks surrendered 6+ runs in all 3 regional round games and averaged 7.33 runs allowed. That’s a recipe for disaster in the postseason, and it led to another early exit for the Razorbacks. Arkansas is just the 2nd national seed to fall in the regional round, joining Arizona with the early exit.
Arkansas has now failed to reach the Super Regionals in back-to-back seasons, the first time that has happened since 2016-17. The Razorbacks made it to 4 Super Regionals from 2018-22.
Main image via Arkansas baseball (@RazorbackBSB) via X (formerly Twitter).
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CLAIM OFFER
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
