Arkansas baseball is on the brink of another SEC series loss after a late night turned into an early morning and a stinging loss to LSU.
The No. 2 Razorbacks (40-10, 17-8 SEC) fell to the No. 4 Tigers (39-11, 16-9) 5-4 in 10 innings Friday night. The game ended at 1:17 a.m. after inclement weather forced a first-pitch delay of 3 hours, 25 minutes. Eventually, LSU’s Ethan Frey provided a game-winning sacrifice fly against Arkansas‘ Gabe Gaeckle. Jared Jones narrowly beat the throw from center fielder Justin Thomas Jr. after the Hogs challenged the call at home plate.
Arkansas swept No. 1 Texas last weekend, but the Razorbacks had lost their prior three conference series before the triumph over the Longhorns. They’ll now need to win the next two games to rally for a series victory against the Tigers.
Here are three takeaways from Arkansas’ game one loss to LSU.
Arkansas baseball’s bullpen can’t close the door
Dave Van Horn turned to Aiden Jimenez in the seventh inning with Arkansas leading 4-2. The Hogs’ top reliever had a 1.76 ERA and just four walks on the season, but he yielded a pair of free passes and let LSU tie the score on a two-run single from Derek Curiel.
Jimenez exited the game after recording just one out, but the damage was done. Gaeckle relieved Jimenez and pitched well until a leadoff single from Jared Jones in the 10th set the stage for Frey’s heroics. Gaeckle struck out five batters and allowed the lone run in 3â…“ innings.
Frey was a thorn in the Arkansas side throughout the night. LSU’s designated hitter was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs.
Hogs lineup squanders too many chances
Kuhio Aloy and Cam Kozeal hit solo home runs, and Arkansas was able to manufacture two other runs. Charles Davalan had a sacrifice fly and there was an RBI groundout from Wehiwa Aloy.
But overall, the Razorbacks left a lot to be desired in the clutch hitting department. Arkansas was 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded the bases loaded in the top of the 10th when Reese Robinett ended the inning on a strikeout.
The Hogs had other chances, perhaps most notably in the top of the fifth when they got runners to the corners with no outs and could only score one run.
They forced LSU ace Kade Anderson to throw more than 100 pitches in fewer than six innings, but it wasn’t enough against an elite pitching staff. Relievers Chase Shores and Zac Cowan held Arkansas to one run in 4â…“ innings.
Zach Root delivers another gem for Arkansas baseball
Root produced the best start of his collegiate career last week against No. 1 Texas, and he followed that outing with another strong performance against the Tigers.
The Arkansas ace struck out six and didn’t walk a batter across six innings. He gave up two runs and even showed off his athleticism with a run-saving defensive play in the bottom of the second. Root fielded a safety squeeze bunt from Michael Braswell and dove to tag Ethan Frey out before LSU’s designated hitter could cross home plate.
Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jfuller@gannett.com or follow him @jacksonfuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter.Â