FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Nolan Souza worked an 8-pitch at-bat to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday, drew a single and set the table.
What followed made 9,891 fans at Baum-Walker Stadium forget everything that came before it.
Christian Turner, a freshman who hadn’t logged much time in the Arkansas lineup, stepped in against Ole Miss left-hander Walker Hooks and saw seven pitches.
The last one he hit 410 feet to right-center field for a 2-run walk-off home run, giving the 22nd-ranked Razorbacks a 5-4 victory over 18th-ranked Ole Miss and a 2-1 series win to boot.
The win moved Arkansas into a tie for sixth place in the SEC standings with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
The Rebels, who’d entered the weekend tied with the Hogs in the conference standings, dropped to 12-12 in SEC play and a tie for ninth.
The Razorbacks improved to 13-11 in league play and 32-17 overall.
Turner faced Hooks, who’d thrown 23 pitches the day on Saturday, and fouled off pitches until he got one he could punish.
Souza’s presence on first base, courtesy of that grinding 8-pitch leadoff at-bat, meant Turner’s drive ended the game on the spot.
Lead that kept changing hands
Arkansas got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning. Damian Ruiz led off with a single, stole second and came home on Kuhio Aloy’s RBI single to give the Hogs a 1-0 edge.
Ole Miss didn’t take long to flip the scoreboard. In the top of the second, Owen Paino hit a fly ball to left field off Arkansas starter Gabe Gaeckle that looked routine off the bat.
It wasn’t.
Wind blowing out to the only favorable part of Baum-Walker carried it 323 feet into the seats and the Rebels took a 2-1 lead they’d build on from there.
Gaeckle got through 4 innings total, allowing 3 runs — 2 earned — on 5 hits with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts on 74 pitches.
It was his first start since April 2 at Auburn and coach Dave Van Horn confirmed after the game he’ll stay in the rotation for next weekend’s series against 14th-ranked Oklahoma.
Ole Miss right-hander Taylor Rabe kept Arkansas at bay through five innings, surrendering 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks while punching out 7.
The Razorbacks began cutting into the deficit with the long ball. Zack Stewart hit a wind-aided 339-foot solo shot to left in the fifth off Rabe to make it 3-2.
Then Aloy went deep in the sixth — this time 469 feet to left against reliever JP Robertson — to knot the game at 3-3.
Parker Coil took over on the mound for Arkansas after Gaeckle and was sharp, throwing 3 scoreless innings with 3 strikeouts and 1 walk to keep the Hogs in it.
Ole Miss grabbed lead back briefly
Hooks had already shown he could be tough when needed.
In the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded, he struck out Camden Kozeal and Maika Niu on back-to-back pitches to strand the runners and keep Ole Miss ahead.
Then, in the top of the eighth, Judd Utermark gave the Rebels a cushion nobody thought would disappear so fast.
He led off with a 416-foot home run to center field off closer Ethan McElvain, pushing the Ole Miss lead to 4-3.
The Rebels were six outs from stealing the series.
McElvain didn’t let it unravel further. He allowed 1 run and 2 hits total across 2 innings with 2 strikeouts and earned his fourth win of the season when Turner’s walk-off made the final score official.
Hooks suffered his first loss of the season after allowing 2 runs, 2 hits and 1 walk with 3 strikeouts across 2-plus innings.
Turner’s moment, Arkansas’ series
The Razorbacks needed someone to step up in the ninth and got it from the freshman who hadn’t been counted among the team’s household names.
Turner’s 410-foot drive off the seventh pitch he saw from Hooks did what none of the inning’s other possibilities could.
It ended the game in one swing.
With two weeks left in the regular season, the Hogs now own a tie for sixth in the SEC standings and have next weekend’s home series against 14th-ranked Oklahoma circled on the calendar.
Gaeckle is expected to start in that series after Van Horn kept him in the rotation following Sunday’s performance.
After the final out, kids took the field at Baum-Walker to run the bases.
They were tracing the same path a freshman had just made count for everything.
