Hogs avoid sweep against LSU with 7-4 win in last game of series
BATON ROUGE, La. — No. 7 Arkansas (41-11, 18-9 SEC) avoided a sweep with a 7-4 win in the series finale against No. 3 LSU (40-12, 17-8 SEC) Sunday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium to clinch its eighth consecutive 18-win SEC campaign.
By clinching their 18th SEC win of the season, the Razorbacks became the first team since LSU with eight consecutive campaigns of 18 or more SEC wins.
The Tigers accomplished the feat in 10 consecutive seasons from 1996-2005.
After dropping the first two games of the weekend series in Baton Rouge, Arkansas responded with a resilient win in Sunday’s series finale.
The six Razorback pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts while limiting the Tigers to just four runs.
Starter Landon Beidelschies struck out four in two innings of work before giving way to the bullpen. Dylan Carter (2.0 IP, 2 SO), Christian Foutch (1.2 IP, 3 SO), Cole Gibler (1.1 IP, 3 SO), Aiden Jimenez (1.1 IP, 1 R, 2 SO) and Parker Coil (0.2 IP, SO) teamed up in relief to twirl seven innings of one-run ball with 11 strikeouts to hold off third-ranked LSU in the finale.
Carter earned his sixth victory of the season, tying him with ace Zach Root for the team lead, while Coil, making his first appearance on the mound since March 23 due to an injury, logged his second career save to secure the Hogs’ 7-4 win.
After falling behind early, Arkansas used a four-spot in the top of the third to open a 4-2 lead and never looked back. A sacrifice fly by Wehiwa Aloy followed by Ryder Helfrick’s game-tying RBI double set the table for Cam Kozeal, who would put the Razorbacks up with his go-ahead two-run single up the middle with two strikes and two outs in the inning.
When LSU responded with a run in the bottom half of the third, Reese Robinett collected his first of two RBI of the game in the top of the fifth on a groundout to extend Arkansas’ advantage to 5-3.
The Tigers would once again close their deficit to a run in the eighth, but the Razorback had another rally left in them in the top of the ninth inning.
Three consecutive walks to start the frame loaded the bases, and the Hogs took advantage. Brent Iredale drew a one-out walk to push Arkansas’ edge to 6-4 before Robinett tallied his second RBI on a single to right to extend the lead to three.
LSU put a pair of runners on in the bottom of the ninth, but Coil emerged from the bullpen with one out in the frame and extinguished the threat. The left-hander needed only six pitches to record a strikeout and the game-ending lineout.
Arkansas will close out the 2025 regular season against Tennessee next weekend inside the friendly confines of Baum-Walker Stadium. First pitch in the final SEC series of the year is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, May 12, on ESPN2.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
Hogs pick up high seed for NCAA Tournament, starting Regional at home
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — For the sixth time in program history and fifth year in a row, Arkansas and Bogle Park will host an NCAA Tournament Regional on May 16-18.
The Razorbacks drew the No. 4 overall national seed, as announced Sunday evening. Oklahoma State, Indiana, and Saint Louis will join Arkansas at the Fayetteville Regional.
Arkansas will play Saint Louis at 5:30 p.m. Friday on ESPN+. Oklahoma State and Indiana will clash beforehand at 3 p.m. on ESPN2.
More information on tickets, along with the broadcast schedule, for regionals at Bogle Park will be communicated in the next 24 hours.
It’ll be the fifth consecutive season Arkansas has hosted a regional.
All six of the program’s national seeds have been accumulated under coach Courtney Deifel. It’ll also marks the program’s 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
The Razorbacks’ No. 4 National Seed tied a program best as the Razorbacks were also seeded fourth in 2022.
Arkansas holds a perfect 8-0 all-time record against Saint Louis. The Hogs swept a doubleheader in the last matchup with the Billikens on April 10, 2018, in St. Louis.
Arkansas and Oklahoma State have met 15 times, with the Cowgirls holding an 8-7 advantage in the series.
The teams last met on Feb. 11, 2021, when Oklahoma State defeated Arkansas 12-11 in Monroe, La.
The Razorbacks own a 1-0 record over the Hoosiers as Arkansas defeated Indiana 7-0 on Feb. 18, 2023, in Clearwater, Fla., behind a complete-game shutout from Robyn Herron.
Arkansas enters the NCAA tournament with a 40-12 record, already having eclipsed the program’s win total from a year ago.
The Razorbacks recorded a nation-leading five Top 10 series wins during the regular season while also earning their first No.1 ranking in program history in last week’s Softball America Poll.
Hogs trying to avoid getting swept after dropping series to LSU
BATON ROUGE, La. — No. 7 Arkansas (40-11, 17-9 SEC) suffered a 13-3 loss in seven innings against No. 3 LSU (40-11, 17-9) Saturday night at Alex Box Stadium, dropping its penultimate SEC weekend series of the season in the process.
The Razorbacks will look to salvage the series in the weekend finale, which is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday, May 11, on SEC Network.
Arkansas has not been swept in an SEC series since suffering a sweep on the road against Georgia in 2023.
LSU scored three in the first and never looked back, posting runs in each of the first five frames and blowing the game open with a six-run fifth to take a 12-0 lead.
The Tigers tagged Razorback starter Gage Wood for four runs on four hits and two walks, and continued to do damage against the Arkansas bullpen after Wood departed the ballgame.
In total, the Razorback pitching staff combined to issue a season-high nine walks and allow a season-high 12 earned runs, including a season-high four homers.
Steele Eaves tossed a scoreless frame with a strikeout, while Hunter Dietz made his season debut and tallied a pair of punchouts in his first appearance on the mound since April 9, 2024.
The Arkansas offense was silenced by LSU starter Anthony Eyanson, who struck out 11 batters, through the first six innings before breaking through against the Tiger bullpen in the top half of the seventh.
Justin Thomas Jr. and Charles Davalan each collected RBI singles, and Logan Maxwell added an RBI sacrifice fly to cut the Razorbacks’ deficit to 12-3.
Davalan, who finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, was one of two Hogs to record multiple hits Saturday night.
Ryder Helfrick also tallied a pair of base hits, leading off the three-run seventh with his eighth double of the year and finishing 2-for-3.
LSU, however, responded to Arkansas’ rally by scratching out a run in the bottom half of the seventh inning to extend its lead to 13-3 and initiate the 10-run rule.
The Tigers handed the Razorbacks their first run-rule loss of the 2025 campaign.
Root’s strong outing not enough for Hogs in extra-inning loss to LSU
BATON ROUGE, La. — Zach Root logged his team-leading fifth quality start with his six frames of two-run ball and six strikeouts on the mound, but No. 7 Arkansas (40-10, 17-8 SEC) coughed up a two-run lead in the seventh inning and was handed a 5-4 series-opening loss in 10 innings against No. 3 LSU (39-11, 16-9 SEC) Friday night at Alex Box Stadium.
Friday night’s game, which was originally scheduled for 6:30 p.m., did not begin until 9:57 p.m., only three minutes before the latest allowed start time by the SEC, due to steady rain in Baton Rouge.
Despite the delayed first pitch, Root settled in quickly and worked six innings on the bump, allowing two runs on five hits to lower his season ERA to 3.88.
The left-hander racked up six strikeouts against the Tigers, his eighth consecutive start with six or more punchouts, and raised his season total to a team-leading 98 in a team-high 72.0 innings across 13 appearances on the mound.
Thanks to solo home runs by Cam Kozeal and Kuhio Aloy as well as RBI from Charles Davalan and Wehiwa Aloy, Arkansas provided Root with four runs of support and led, 4-2, entering the bottom half of the seventh inning.
Kozeal swatted his 12th homer of the season in the top of the fourth before Kuhio Aloy connected on his 13th blast of the year in the sixth.
Aiden Jimenez, who took over on the mound in relief of Root in the seventh, struck out the first batter he faced, but LSU tagged the right-hander for two runs on two hits and two walks to even the game at four apiece.
Gabe Gaeckle emerged from the bullpen to strand a pair of runners in the seventh, giving the Hogs an opportunity to reclaim the lead.
Arkansas, however, could not answer over the game’s final three frames. Gaeckle’s strong relief outing sent the game to extra innings, where the Razorbacks loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the 10th but were unable to capitalize.
The Tigers finally broke through against Gaeckle, who tossed 3.1 innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts, in the bottom of the 10th.
LSU scored the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly to center to eke out the 5-4 walk-off win.
Offensively, Justin Thomas Jr. (3-for-4) paced the Razorback offense with a career-high three hits, while Wehiwa Aloy (2-for-5, RBI) and Ryder Helfrick (2-for-4, 2B) also turned in multi-hit efforts.
With his two-hit performance, Aloy raised his team-leading season slash line to .377/463/.710 with a team-high 17 home runs and 53 RBI over 50 games.
Arkansas will look to even things up at a game apiece tomorrow evening in Baton Rouge.
First pitch in game two of the weekend series between the Razorbacks and Tigers is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday, May 10, on SEC Network.
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