LAWRENCE, Kan. — Arkansas wasn’t sharp early, but got the job done when it counted most.
The No. 2 seed Razorbacks used a five-run fifth inning to flip the script on the Missouri State Bears and walked away with a 9-5 victory to open the 2026 Lawrence Regional on Friday night.
The two teams weren’t strangers heading into first pitch having already played twice during the regular season, splitting the series. Missouri State won the first matchup 15-14 in Springfield while Arkansas took the rematch 12-4 at Baum-Walker Stadium.
The Razorbacks have now avoided an opening-round regional loss for more than a decade.
Arkansas hasn’t dropped the first game of an NCAA Regional since 2013, and the team kept that streak very much intact Friday night.
That’s the 233rd strikeout of Gack’s career
Passes Kevin Kopps for 8th most by a Hog pic.twitter.com/drvrhxpRIM
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) May 29, 2026
Bears Strike First — Twice
Missouri State wasted no time making Arkansas uncomfortable. In the very first at-bat of the game, Bears second baseman Bryce Cermenelli turned on a pitch and sent it over the left-field wall for a solo home run. That made it 1-0 Bears right out of the gate.
Things got messier from there.
Later in the same inning, Caden Bogenpohl singled to center to score Taeg Gollert, who’d reached second base on a wild pitch.
Arkansas starter Gabe Gaeckle got out of the inning without further damage, but the Razorbacks were already playing from behind at 2-0.
Gaeckle was making his first appearance against Missouri State in this series. He carried a 6-3 record and a 3.99 ERA into the start.
Missouri State countered with lefty Max Knight, who came in at 6-3 with a 4.69 ERA. Knight had faced Arkansas twice during the regular season and allowed five earned runs across just 2⅔ combined innings in those outings.
Knight looked much sharper Friday. Through three innings he’d faced 13 batters and struck out six of them.
Arkansas managed to get a runner into scoring position in the third inning but couldn’t push anyone across.
Hogs on the board pic.twitter.com/chmKae3mbn
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) May 29, 2026
Missouri State Builds the Lead
The Bears kept adding on in the fourth inning. A fielder’s choice off a sacrifice bunt brought home Carter Bergman to push the lead to 3-0.
Zack Stewart’s fielding error on a ball hit to right field helped set up the play.
TJ Pompey made a heads-up defensive play later in the fourth to cut off what could’ve been an even bigger inning, saving a pair of runs on a sharp-hit ball. But Arkansas still trudged off the field trailing 3-0 with five innings played.
The Razorbacks weren’t hitting much at all. Strikeouts were piling up and the offense looked stuck. Then came the fifth.
Pomp provides the go-ahead RBI! pic.twitter.com/FVXzleh5m6
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) May 29, 2026
The Fifth Inning Changes Everything
Missouri State pulled Knight after he got the first out of the bottom of the fifth, bringing in Brock Lucas to try and keep the lead intact. That decision backfired quickly.
Damian Ruiz singled to center. Camden Kozeal walked to put two runners on. Then Ryder Helfrick laced a double to right field, scoring Ruiz and sending Kozeal to third to make it 3-2. Stewart grounded out to first but that scored Kozeal to tie the game at three.
That’s when Arkansas took the lead for good. Pompey singled to left to score Helfrick and put the Razorbacks up 4-3. Nolan Souza walked to load the bases.
Missouri State went to its bullpen again, bringing in Tyler Charlton, but Maika Niu greeted him with a two-run double to left that chased Pompey home and pushed the lead to 5-3.
Owen Slater came on next and Reese Robinett singled to right to score Souza and make it 6-3. Ruiz grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored Niu for the seventh run of the inning.
By the time the dust settled, Arkansas had batted around and scored five runs on the board in a single inning to take a 7-3 lead.
Have a ballgame, Maika!
↪️ 4-for-4, 2 2B, 4 RBI pic.twitter.com/KkDPFTc9B6
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) May 30, 2026
Niu and Razorbacks Keep Rolling
Maika Niu had himself a night. He wasn’t done after his fifth-inning double. In the sixth, Niu singled to left to score Stewart and push the lead to 8-3.
Then in the eighth, with Missouri State having clawed back to trail 8-5, Niu delivered again with a double to right-center that scored Pompey and sealed the win.
Missouri State did make a run in the eighth inning, getting two runners home on a double by Curry Sutherland to cut the deficit to 8-5.
Ethan McElvain came on out of the bullpen to replace Parker Coil and limit the damage before Niu’s insurance double in the bottom half put the game away.
Gaeckle gave way to Steele Eaves to start the fifth inning. Eaves worked through the seventh before Coil and then McElvain took over.
The Arkansas bullpen held Missouri State to just two runs over the final four frames to secure the win.
With the victory, Arkansas advances to the winner’s bracket of the Lawrence Regional and will face Kansas at 5 p.m. Saturday.
For the Razorbacks, it wasn’t always pretty but they’re still playing. That’s what counts at this point.
