Kuhio Aloy delivers walk-off win for Arkansas over Xavier as Camden Kozeal hits for cycle
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Kuhio Aloy hopes to finally get Arkansas across the finish line in Omaha at the end of this season.
For now, Aloy will settle for getting the Razorbacks a thrilling victory in February. After Arkansas beat Xavier on Friday night in its home opener, the Razorbacks reached into the highlight reel on Saturday on a few levels, with Aloy delivering a walk-off single to left field that lifted the Hogs to a 7-6 victory over the Musketeers.
After Xavier tied the game at 6-6 with 2 runs in the 7th inning, Aloy made sure Arkansas had the last laugh, taking a 2-2 pitch with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th and serving it into left, setting off a wild celebration that improved the Razorbacks to 5-1 on the young season.
Arkansas will go for the 3-game sweep on Sunday afternoon in Fayetteville, but on Saturday the Hogs had a lot to celebrate. The Arkansas baseball social media account celebrated along with the Razorbacks, posting the highlight of Aloy’s dramatic hit with the headline: “Never a doubt. Not a single one.”
As if the game didn’t seem scripted enough with the magical ending for Arkansas, the player who scored the winning run on Aloy’s hit, Camden Kozeal, made a little magic of his own on Saturday. Kozeal hit for the cycle, completing the remarkable feat with a 2-out double to left-center field that put him in scoring position so Aloy could knock him in to win the game.
Sure, there was a home run, a triple and a single mixed in for Kozeal, but it was that 9th-inning double that was by far the biggest hit of the bunch because it directly led to victory after the Hogs had nothing going in the 9th with 2 outs and nobody on.
The Arkansas baseball social media account also celebrated Kozeal’s Saturday heroics:
Arkansas has never won a national championship in baseball, coming close several times, especially recently. The Hogs got to Omaha last year and fell just short, and here are Kalshi’s current favorites to win it all in 2026, with Arkansas once again being in the mix:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
