COLUMBIA, Mo. — Things looked bleak early Thursday night.
Missouri jumped on Arkansas starter Hunter Dietz for three runs before he’d recorded a single out — and the Razorbacks couldn’t solve the Tigers’ starter for most of the game.
But No. 24 Arkansas (28-15, 10-9 SEC) put together five unanswered runs in the final two innings to knock off Missouri (20-22, 3-16 SEC) by a 5-4 final to open the three-game SEC series.
The hero of the comeback wasn’t someone you’d have expected.
Zack Stewart came to the plate in the eighth inning having hit just .157 against SEC pitching this season, going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts earlier in the game.
He also hadn’t gone yard in conference play since the opening series against Mississippi State. None of that mattered when Nolan Souza reached on a walk and stole second to set the table.
Stewart then launched a two-run home run to right field — estimated at 450 feet — that gave the Hogs a 5-3 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Rough start for Dietz didn’t tell whole story
The early innings weren’t pretty for the Arkansas lefty.
Missouri’s Jase Woita drove the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning over the left field wall for a solo shot.
Dietz then hit the second batter he faced, and Blaize Ward followed with a two-run homer on the first pitch he saw as well giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead without Dietz recording a single out.
To his credit, Dietz didn’t unravel. He settled in and worked seven full innings on 101 pitches, scattering five hits beyond those two home runs and striking out eight batters.
The only other real threat he faced came in the sixth, when Ward, a freshman from Maumelle, Ark., who was a high school teammate of Razorbacks pitcher Peyton Lee, tried to advance to third on a ball hit to shortstop Camden Kozeal.
Kozeal threw him out at third for the first out of the inning, a play that proved costly for Missouri. Ward would’ve scored on a bloop base hit that came moments later had he held at second.
Missouri starter Josh McDevitt was equally tough to crack. He struck out a career-high 11 batters across 6⅓ innings and kept the Razorbacks mostly in check but they couldn’t get much going at the plate until the late innings.
Arkansas found way in the seventh
The comeback started building in the seventh inning. With one out, Kuhio Aloy worked a walk after falling behind 0-2 in the count.
Reese Robinett then doubled into the left-field corner — also after being down 0-2 — to put the tying run in scoring position.
TJ Pompey struck out to bring up Carter Rutenbar in a two-out, two-on spot.
Rutenbar delivered a two-run single to center field that tied the game at 3-3. It was the second straight game he’d come through with either a tying or go-ahead single in the seventh inning or later.
Pompey’s night was a snapshot of the approach he’s taken all season.
After hitting a homer in the sixth, drawing a walk and striking out twice Thursday, he’s now seen 56.4% of his 140 plate appearances end in either a home run, a walk or a strikeout — a feast-or-famine profile that’s defined his SEC year.
Bullpen held on when it mattered
Gabe Gaeckle took over for Dietz in the eighth and struck out the side on three batters, keeping the Tigers off the board. But he ran into trouble in the ninth, walking the leadoff hitter.
Hogs coach Dave Van Horn turned to Ethan McElvain, who came on and stranded the tying run at first base.
Missouri did cut the deficit to 5-4 when Donovan Jordan singled to center to score Jamal George, who had entered the game as a pinch runner, but McElvain slammed the door to earn his third save of the season.
The Razorbacks also had a chance to add to their lead in the top of the ninth but came up empty. Robinett drew a walk before getting caught stealing second.
Pompey struck out looking and Rutenbar drew a walk but Damian Ruiz flied out to center to end the threat.
Arkansas returns to the field Friday night at 7 p.m. for Game 2 of the series, which’ll be broadcast on the SEC Network.
The Hogs enter the contest with a chance to clinch another road series win as the regular season winds toward its final weeks.
