Missouri State hasn’t been on the national radar in a couple of seasons. But the Bears always get up to play [autotag]Arkansas baseball[/autotag].
The Diamond Hogs were shell-shocked Tuesday night in the final nonconference game at Baum-Walker Stadium by their biggest out-of-league rival, 6-4.
Arkansas (34-11) managed just two hits through eight innings against a Missouri State team that carried a 7.56 earned-run average in league play. And it isn’t as though the Razorbacks played a batch of reserves. Dylan Leach’s solo home run started the third to make it 2-1 Bears, but it was the second.
Missouri State (22-19) tacked on an insurance run in the fifth and then three in the ninth. By the time [autotag]Robert Moore[/autotag] had Arkansas’ third hit, an RBI single, there were two outs in the bottom of the ninth. The Diamond Hogs made it interested after Moore’s knock, loading the bases with two outs by virtue of a hit-by-pitch and a throwing error. [autotag]Jalen Battles[/autotag] then singled home two more runs, giving Arkansas as many hits in the ninth as it had in the game to that point.
Leach came back to bat with runners at second and third and representing the winning run. But his rollover to shortstop ended in a groundout and Missouri State held on.
Arkansas’ loss makes the Diamond Hogs just 4-4 in their last eight games. They carry a two-game lead for second place in the SEC with three regular-season weekends remaining. The Razorbacks play at No. 19 Auburn on Friday through Sunday.