Cole Gibler grew up about 110 miles from Taylor Stadium. Friday night, he pitched like he owned the place.
The Arkansas sophomore right-hander threw a career-high 90 pitches across six innings, giving up just one hit and three walks while striking out five in his third career start.
When Steele Eaves came out of the bullpen in the seventh and finished off Missouri without a baserunner, the Hogs had their fifth shutout of the season and their first in SEC play.
It’s the kind of performance that makes a 6-0 road win look easy.
“He just continues to get better at starting,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said of Gibler. “Obviously he hadn’t done it [since high school] and I think he’s getting more comfortable with it.
“He’s managing his pitches, he’s throwing the ball over the plate more for contact, not trying to strike everybody out. That’s why he got six innings in tonight.”
Eaves recorded his first career save. Together, the two held Missouri to two hits on the night while Arkansas collected 10 of its own.
Missouri couldn’t find an answer at the plate
The Tigers came in struggling and never found their footing offensively.
Missouri fell to 20-23 overall and 3-17 in SEC play with the loss, their ninth defeat in a row and their 28th consecutive home SEC loss.
Missouri starter Brady Kehlenbrink actually kept Arkansas off the board through three innings, striking out seven Hogs the first time through the order without allowing a hit.
The second time through the lineup told a different story.
Kozeal’s homer broke the seal
Carter Rutenbar led off the fourth with a single and Camden Kozeal did the rest. The Arkansas shortstop launched a 362-foot home run to right field that put the Razorbacks up 2-0 and got the offense moving.
Kozeal wasn’t overthinking it.
“I just hit it pretty high and hit it pretty hard,” he said.
It was home run No. 12 on the season for Kozeal and it pushed him to 50 RBI — the first Razorback to reach that mark in this season. He’d had the benefit of seeing Kehlenbrink’s stuff for a full turn through the order before that at-bat, and he explained how that second look changes things.
“You just see his pitches,” Kozeal said. “You just see everything, and in baseball sight is a big deal, especially for hitters to see his pitch shapes, see how the ball is spinning, see the batter’s eye.”
Sixth-inning burst finished the job
Arkansas kept the pressure on in the sixth. Ryder Helfrick singled and Kozeal followed with a single the other way, chasing Kehlenbrink after 5 1/3 innings. The Missouri lefty finished allowing four runs on five hits with a walk and eight strikeouts.
Right-hander Eli Skidmore came on in relief and immediately ran into trouble. Maika Niu greeted him with an RBI double on his first at-bat, and then Zack Stewart delivered the blow that effectively ended things — a two-run single back through the middle that made it 5-0.
Stewart was pinch hitting for Kuhio Aloy in a left-on-right matchup, and Van Horn liked what he saw from his hitter in a tough spot.
“That was a really tough at-bat,” Van Horn said. “He got behind quick and then fouled off some pitches, took a couple of pitches and then he just fought him and hit the ball back through the middle and drove in two runs. All of a sudden we were up 5-0 at the time, and it just seemed that base hit took the air out of them a little bit over there.”
Reese Robinett added an RBI single in the eighth after Missouri’s infield committed a leadoff error on a Souza at-bat. The Hogs loaded the bases again in the ninth but couldn’t tack on more when Stewart was called out looking on a borderline 2-2 pitch from Luke Fricker. Arkansas drew four walks on the night to go along with its 10 hits.
Third road series win puts Hogs in rare company
With the series clinched, Arkansas improved to 29-15 overall and 11-9 in the SEC. The Razorbacks are now 8-3 in conference road games and 12-5 away from Baum-Walker Stadium this season.
It’s the program’s third road conference series win this year — something the 2024 team never accomplished. The last time the Hogs won at least three SEC road series in a year was 2021, when they didn’t lose a single series all season, home or away.
Earlier this spring Arkansas took a series at South Carolina in March and swept then-No. 9 Alabama two weeks ago. Their only road series loss came at then-No. 11 Auburn earlier this month.
Van Horn’s noticed what his team’s built away from home.
“We’ve played solid baseball on the road,” he said. “We need to play a little better at home sometimes, but sometimes it’s who you’re playing. There’s a lot that goes into it, but I’m really happy with the way that we’ve focused in on the road this year.”
Now there’s one more game to play Saturday, and Kozeal’s already got the mindset locked in.
“You’re never satisfied with just two wins,” he said. “Like Christmas Eve, it’s sweep eve — that’s how [strength coach Hunter] Bell put it.”
First pitch at Taylor Stadium is set for 2 p.m.
