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Late homer drops Razorbacks in series finale against LSU on Saturday

After LSU scoreless through seven innings and with a 2-0 lead, fourth-ranked Arkansas looked primed for its fourth conference series sweep Saturday afternoon.

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FAYETTEVILLE — After LSU scoreless through seven innings and with a 2-0 lead, fourth-ranked Arkansas looked primed for its fourth conference series sweep Saturday afternoon.

However, a three-run home run in the eighth inning by Antoine Duplantis turned the tides and helped LSU defeat Arkansas, 3-2, at Baum-Walker Stadium, allowing the Tigers to salvage what was already a series loss.

Arkansas (39-13, 19-8 SEC) scratched across a run in the first and sixth innings against LSU (31-21, 15-12 SEC) starter Landon Marceaux and held that 2-0 lead all the way until the eighth inning.

Unfortunately, in the fourth and sixth innings, Arkansas had runners in scoring position with nobody out and were unable to bring any extra runs across to pad its lead.

In the fourth, Dominic Fletcher and Heston Kjerstad both led off the frame with singles, but a double play in the next at-bat erased the big inning chance.

Then, in the sixth, Matt Goodheart led off with a double and scored in the next at-bat on a Dominic Fletcher double.

After the run, Marceaux walked Kjerstad and gave way to the bullpen, allowing Todd Peterson to come in and face Jack Kenley with two on and no outs.

Kenley singled to load the bases, but Jacob Nesbit grounded out in the next at-bat as LSU got the force out at home.

That was followed by Casey Opitz grounded into the inning-ending double play, leaving a zero on the scoreboard after starting with three men on and nobody out.

Arkansas will remain at the top of the SEC Western Division standings after Saturday’s loss.

With a two-game lead over Mississippi State heading into Saturday night’s slate of games, Arkansas will have no worse than a one-game lead going into next week’s season finale at No. 18 Texas A&M.

The Razorback pitching staff was a bright spot in Saturday’s game as starter Connor Noland threw 5.1 scoreless innings with four hits scattered and no walks with three strikeouts.

Cody Scroggins followed in the middle of the sixth, giving up just one hit over two innings, but he walked three and, eventually, game-tying baserunner before Duplantis’s homer in the eighth.

For Noland, he’s thrown five or more innings in three of his last four starts and still hasn’t walked more than one batter in his last nine outings.

Combined in his last five starts, Noland has struck out 24 batters and given up only four earned runs, which all came in last week’s start at Kentucky.

Offensively, the Hogs scattered eight hits in the game, two each off the bats of Fletcher and Kjerstad. Fletcher finished the game 2-for-4 with a double, while Kjerstad was 2-for-3 with a walk as both of his hits were singles.

Fletcher now has 21 doubles for the year, which continues to lead the SEC. The Arkansas school record for doubles in a season is 28 set by Jim Kremers in 1987.

Up next

Arkansas hits the road for its final regular-season series next week as it travels to College Station, Texas to face the Texas A&M Aggies in a three-game series starting on Thursday at Blue Bell Park.

First pitch for game one is slated for 6 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU.

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2024 Razorbacks Football

Thu, Aug 29vs UAPB (Little Rock)W, 70-0
Sat, Sep 7@ Oklahoma StateL, 31-39 2OT
Sat, Sep 14vs UABW, 37-27
Sat, Sep 21@ AuburnW, 24-14
Sat, Sep 28vs Texas A&M (Arl)L, 21-17
Sat, Oct 5vs TennesseeW, 19-14
Sat, Oct 19vs LSUL, 34-10
Sat, Oct 26@ Mississippi StateW, 58-25
Sat, Nov 2vs Ole MissL, 63-35
Sat, Nov 16vs Texas11:00 AM
Sat, Nov 23vs Louisiana TechTBD
ESPN+/SECN+
Sat, Nov 30@ MissouriTBD
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2024 High School Rankings

Following is the Arkansas Sports Media High School Football Poll including the Overall Top 10, the top five in Classes 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, plus the top three in the 8-man division, as voted by a panel of sports media from around the state for the week ending August 24. Ranking is given with first-place votes received, records, total points and ranking from last week's poll:
OVERALLRecordPtsPrv
1.Bryant (18)8-02521
2.Conway (6)8-02302
3.Greenwood (2)8-02103
4.Little Rock Parkview7-11714
5.Bentonville5-31416
6.Benton7-11265
7.Fayetteville6-21008
8.Pulaski Academy6-2757
9.Rogers5-3459
10.Shiloh Christian6-24010
Others receiving votes: Marion 13, Valley View 9, Joe T Robinson 8, Mountain Home 4, Cabot 3, Elkins 3.
CLASS 7A
1.Bryant (20)8-01241
2.Conway (6)8-01052
3.Bentonville5-3753
4.Fayetteville6-2455
5.Pulaski Academy6-2354
Others receiving votes: Rogers 5.
CLASS 6A
1.Greenwood (26)8-01301
2.Benton7-11022
3.Shiloh Christian6-2713
4.Marion7-1524
5.Mountain Home7-131
Others receiving votes: Little Rock Catholic 4.
CLASS 5A
1.Little Rock Parkview (23)7-11271
2.Joe T Robinson7-1902
3.Valley View (3)8-0803
4.Hot Springs Lakeside7-1484
5.Farmington7-130
Others receiving votes: Camden Fairview 4, Maumelle 4, Morrilton 3, Greenbrier 2, Harding Academy 1.
CLASS 4A
1.Elkins (19)8-01161
2.Arkadelphia (5)6-2792
3.Little Rock Mills (1)8-0703
4.Warren6-2404
5.Malvern (1)8-0315
Others receiving votes: Dardanelle 22, Southside Batesville 11, Mena 8, Bauxite 7, DeWitt 4, Highland 2.
CLASS 3A
4.Bismarck (15)8-01054
5.Fordyce (4)8-0765
Prescott (3)7-1531t
1.Osceola (2)6-149
3.Mayflower (1)8-036
Others receiving votes: Booneville (1) 31, Rivercrest 19, Mansfield 14, Charleston 4, Rison 3.
CLASS 2A
1.Carlisle (21)8-01211
2.Conway Christian (4)8-01042
3.Des Arc7-1663
4.Bigelow (1)6-2455
5.Murfreesboro6-230
Others receiving votes: Marked Tree 10, Mineral Springs 6, Junction City 5, Cross County 1, Mount Ida 1, Poyen 1
8-MAN SANCTIONED
1.Strong-Huttig (25)5-0761
2.Midland (1)7-0502
3.Cedar Ridge7-1253
Others receiving votes: Rector 5.

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ESPN ARKANSAS 99.5 IN FAYETTEVILLE, 95.3 IN THE RIVER VALLEY, 96.3 IN HOT SPRINGS, 104.3 IN HARRISON-MOUNTAIN HOME.