FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It looked like the Razorbacks were building something special. That feeling didn’t last long.
Arkansas had won back-to-back SEC series, climbed to No. 17 in the country and entered Sunday’s finale with a legitimate shot at just their second sweep in conference play this season.
Then the seventh inning happened.
No. 24 Oklahoma (31-18, 13-14 SEC) sent 11 batters to the plate in a chaotic seventh that produced seven runs and effectively ended No. 17 Arkansas’s (34-18, 15-12 SEC) comeback bid, as the Sooners walked away with a 15-10 win to close out the regular season for the Hogs.
The loss hurts not just for what it cost in the standings column but for how it happened.
Arkansas had scratched and clawed its way back from a 7-4 deficit to tie the game at 7-7 heading into the seventh and for a moment it looked like the momentum had fully swung toward Fayetteville. It hadn’t.
Rough start that got worse before it got better
Arkansas sent lefty Cole Gibler (4-2, 3.88 ERA) to the mound against Oklahoma’s fellow lefty Cord Rager (3-3, 5.10 ERA) and the Sooners wasted no time putting the Hogs in a hole.
In the very first inning, Deiten LaChance turned on a pitch and belted a three-run homer to left field, putting Oklahoma up 3-0 before Arkansas even swung the bat.
Gibler didn’t make it out of the third inning.
After yielding another run on a LaChance single that scored a baserunner who’d reached on a balk, the lefty gave way to Steele Eaves.
Gibler had trouble locating his pitches and when he did find the zone, Oklahoma’s hitters made him pay. He departed having surrendered five runs on three hits with two walks and five strikeouts on 50 pitches.
The second inning made things look even bleaker when Drew Dickerson added a solo shot to right-center, pushing the Sooner lead to 4-0. Arkansas’s bats, meanwhile, couldn’t pick up the spin on Rager’s slider. He entered with a 5.10 ERA and still had the Hogs looking uncomfortable.
TJ Pompey finally got the Razorbacks on the board with a solo home run to right-center in the third inning, his 13th of the year at that point.
Eaves and Cooper Dossett then combined to allow just one run across three innings, keeping Arkansas within striking distance.
Kozeal’s big swing changes everything
By the fifth inning, things were looking grim with Oklahoma ahead 5-1. That’s when Camden Kozeal delivered one of the biggest swings of the afternoon.
With runners on first and second, Kozeal drove a ball to right-center for a three-run home run, pulling the Hogs to within one at 5-4.
The Sooners responded in the sixth, with Brendan Brock going deep to right to make it 7-4. But Arkansas wasn’t finished.
Kuhio Aloy led off the bottom half with a solo shot to left, then after a pair of walks, Pompey singled to left field to score two more and knot it up at 7-7. The Hogs had momentum.
Seventh inning unravels it all
It all fell apart in the top of the seventh.
Jaxon Willits hit a two-run home run off Colin Fisher to put Oklahoma back on top 9-7. Things got worse when freshman Mark Brissey entered and gave up a grand slam to Dickerson, who drove a ball to right field to make it 13-7.
By the time the inning ended, Oklahoma had pushed across 14 runs total, with a Johnson single scoring one more to cap the damage.
Arkansas tried to chip away in the bottom half of the seventh, getting two back to make it 14-9.
Then Pompey launched a 2-2 slider 444 feet to left field for his second home run of the game and his 14th of the season, pulling the Hogs within four at 14-10 in the eighth.
But Oklahoma reliever Gavyn Jones slammed the door, getting Kozeal to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat, then retiring Arkansas in order in the ninth.
An unearned run in the top of the ninth made the final score 15-10.
Pompey, Kozeal carry offensive load
Pompey was the standout performer for the Hogs despite the loss, going 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI.
Kozeal finished 2-for-5 with three RBI. James DeCremer gave the Razorbacks two solid innings of relief out of the bullpen, surrendering just one hit and one unearned run.
The offense has clearly found something over the past couple of weeks. It was back-to-back series wins over Ole Miss and Oklahoma represent genuine progress.
Sustaining that kind of run production deep into the postseason is a different challenge than putting it together for a weekend series.
Pitching depth remains question
The issue that loomed largest after Sunday’s loss isn’t the offense, it’s the pitching staff.
Arkansas doesn’t currently appear to have a reliable third starter and the bullpen options that coaches can confidently turn to in high-leverage situations are limited.
Dave Van Horn will need to find answers there before the Razorbacks make any postseason run.
The Hogs went into this weekend’s series squarely in the conversation for hosting an NCAA regional, sitting tied for fifth in the SEC standings.
That conversation is now a bit more complicated with the loss, though two consecutive series wins still represent a positive stretch of baseball heading into the postseason.
What’s next for Razorbacks
Arkansas wraps up its regular season with a road trip to Kentucky on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Kentucky Proud Park.
Junior lefty Hunter Dietz (7-2, 3.22 ERA) is the probable starter for the Hogs. The game will stream on SEC Network Plus and be carried on the Razorback Sports Network.
The Sooners salvaged their dignity with Sunday’s win, but Arkansas took the series two games to one, extending a stretch of momentum that gives the program something to build on as NCAA Tournament selection weekend approaches.
