Arkansas falls to No. 15 Kansas again, eliminated from NCAA Tournament
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Arkansas’s 2026 season has come to an end. The Razorbacks were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament with a Sunday loss to Kansas in the Lawrence Regional final.
The Hogs, the regional’s 2-seed, came out of the loser’s bracket to reach the regional final. They needed to beat Kansas twice to advance to Super Regionals.
Things started out well. Arkansas had a 5-0 lead after 3 innings, but things went south in the 4th. KU scored the next 11 runs, and held on for a 13-10 victory.
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Final from Hoglund Ballpark pic.twitter.com/Wqxuzw5JmL
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) June 1, 2026
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Dave Van Horn turned to Ethan McElvain as his starter with the season on the line. McElvain retired the leadoff man in the 4th inning before the Jayhawks got going at the plate. He gave up a solo home run followed by three consecutive singles.
Van Horn pulled McElvain for Cole Gibler. The pitching change did not slow the Kansas bats. It ended up being a 6-run inning for KU, with McElvain being charged with 4 earned runs.
It was an 11-5 game in the 6th when Arkansas finally answered with 2 runs. The Jayhawks scored 2 more in the 8th, and the Razorbacks only finished 3 more.
Arkansas finishes the year 41-22. The Razorbacks ended the SEC Tournament feeling worthy of hosting a Fayetteville Regional but were instead sent to Lawrence Regional. Kansas proved to be worthy of a top-16 seed, defeating the Razorbacks 5-3 in the winner’s bracket game and 13-10 on Sunday evening.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
