FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It didn’t look pretty for most of the afternoon, but the Arkansas Razorbacks made it count when it mattered most.
No. 17 Arkansas used a seven-run eighth inning to take down No. 24 Oklahoma 12-8 on Saturday, locking up the series at Baum-Walker Stadium and collecting the program’s third straight SEC series win.
The Razorbacks entered the key inning trailing 8-5 and needed something special. That’s exactly what they got.
Arkansas sent 11 batters to the plate in the bottom of the eighth to put up seven runs and erase a three-run deficit.
It wasn’t the long ball that carried the Hogs this time either. After using the home run to mercy-rule the Sooners on Friday, five of their six hits in the eighth inning were singles.
The sequence that unlocked the inning wasn’t a bullet off the bat, it was a bobbled grounder.
Kuhio Aloy hit a hard ground ball right at shortstop Jaxon Willits, who bobbled the ball and couldn’t come up clean, allowing a run to score and Aloy to reach first.
Had Willits picked it up cleanly, it likely would’ve started an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. Instead, the Razorbacks had new life.
Three straight Arkansas batters recorded RBI base hits in the span of four pitches off Oklahoma reliever Jackson Cleveland.
The key blow came from an unlikely source. Zack Stewart, who entered the at-bat hitting just .137 over his last 29 at-bats, lined a go-ahead two-run double down the right field line to clinch the series.
Carter Rutenbar and Damian Ruiz then added back-to-back singles against reliever Jason Bodin to set the final margin at 12-8.
Oklahoma pushed Hogs to brink before collapse
The Sooners gave Arkansas fits for much of the afternoon and had the game seemingly in hand entering the eighth.
Oklahoma scored in six of their nine at-bats and outhit the Hogs 12-9 on the day. Four different Sooners connected for home runs and big two-strike hits had Oklahoma looking like the steadier side for long stretches.
Oklahoma right fielder Dasan Harris, who came in with just three career home runs across three seasons, hit a pair of them Saturday including a solo shot off Tate McGuire in the eighth that pushed the lead to 8-5.
Parker Coil allowed a two-run game-tying home run to Kyle Branch in the sixth before Steele Eaves allowed two inherited runners to score on a two-run double off the bat of Detien LaChance in the seventh. Those five unanswered Oklahoma runs over three frames is what built the three-run cushion the Sooners carried into the final home half.
But Oklahoma’s pitching staff couldn’t hold it. The difference in the game was Sooners pitchers giving up 11 free passes and committing two errors. The last error occurred in the eighth inning and allowed Arkansas to reach down and find the momentum that had escaped them up until that point.
Gaeckle steady in second straight start
Gabe Gaeckle started for the Razorbacks in his second week back in the weekend rotation, pitching on short rest after taking the Sunday start against Ole Miss.
He didn’t have his sharpest stuff but he kept the Hogs in the game long enough.
Gaeckle allowed three earned runs on five hits in 4.2 innings, striking out four and walking two. He left with the Razorbacks holding a 5-3 lead.
Coil was roughed up in his 1.1 innings of work, charged with four runs on four hits.
Eaves and McGuire then worked the seventh and eighth innings. McGuire gave up a solo home run but earned his first win of the season.
Ethan McElvain pitched a scoreless ninth. Despite back-to-back baserunners with two outs, the tying run never reached the plate.
Home runs fuel early lead
Arkansas didn’t wait around to get on the board. The Sooners struck first for the second straight day with a solo home run in the top of the first by Dieten LaChance off Gaeckle.
The Razorbacks answered with home runs in the bottom of the second by Maika Niu and TJ Pompey to make it 3-1.
Niu led the offense with three RBI and was the only player with two hits on the afternoon. Pompey’s blast traveled an estimated 420 feet and gave Baum-Walker a jolt heading into the middle innings.
The crowd that showed up on a Saturday afternoon in Fayetteville saw both teams trade punches before Arkansas’ magic inning took over.
Eighth inning has been Arkansas’ best friend
What happened Saturday wasn’t a fluke. It’s becoming a signature.
The Hogs have now outscored opponents 58-18 in the eighth inning this season. It’s the biggest scoring margin of any inning for Arkansas in 2026.
There’s also a notable milestone buried in the comeback. It was Arkansas’ first win of the season when the opponent scored seven or more runs.
The Razorbacks had been 0-11 in such games entering Saturday.
The Razorbacks now stand at 34-17 overall and 15-11 in SEC play. Oklahoma falls to 30-18 and 12-14 in the conference.
The Hogs will go for the sweep Sunday at 1 p.m. on SEC Network+, with Arkansas’ starter listed as TBA against Oklahoma lefty Cord Rage.
