SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — It looked so many times like a typical night for slumping Arkansas, but Tuesday’s game finally swung the Razorbacks’ way.

Despite losing another key position player and a late lead twice, Arkansas scratched out a run in the top of the 10 th inning to secure a 7-6 victory at Missouri State.

Losers of 10 of their previous 14 games, the Razorbacks (16-11 ) were a little more excited than usual to celebrate a midweek victory. This one meant that much to a club that has been in a major funk.

“I said you’ve got to come back and get to the 10 th and do whatever it takes,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said, “that this is the kind of game that can change things — the way you think, the way you feel about yourself — and maybe change your season.”

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It ended when Shaun Seibert (2-0 ) struck out the last three Bears (17-8 ) in the 10 th inning, though Ryan Mantle took first on his strikeout and represented the winning run with Ben Carlson on third.

“We needed a big win like we got today,” said Seibert, who blew a save in the bottom of the ninth. “It was real emotional.”

Seibert was scheduled to start, felt stiff Tuesday morning but seemed better later in the day and deemed himself able to pitch in relief.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been a closer,” he said. “I have two saves in my college career, and they didn’t come in the closer role. A loss would’ve been almost devastating. We’ve had a rough go of it.”

Nobody needs to tell that to Van Horn.

“They wanted to win and get that winning feeling again,” he said. “We know we’ve got good players and a lot of things haven’t been going our way.”

The game’s late innings can be interpreted two ways: Both teams’ hitters were clutch with two outs, or the bullpens couldn’t nail down a third out with the lead. Three relievers combined to blow saves by allowing two-out, run-scoring hits between the seventh and ninth innings.

The Razorbacks scored three times in the ninth to take the lead, and Missouri State had a single run in the bottom of the inning to force extra innings.

Ben Tschepikow’s sacrifice fly in the 10 th scored Chase Leavitt for a game-winner.

“March was kind of a tough month, but it’s a new month, April, now,” said freshman Andy Wilkins, whose two-out, two-run single in the ninth kept the Razorbacks alive. “This is a huge win.”

Unfortunately for the Razorbacks, it seems they can’t get through a day without an injury, and Tuesday was no different with Casey Coon going down. The junior left f ielder was attempting to dive back into second on a pickoff throw and suffered an ankle injury in the second inning. Coon was helped off the field and replaced by Jacob House.

Better news on the injury front was the return of senior Jeff Nutt, who made his season debut and started at catcher. Nutt, who had been sidelined with a shoulder injury, walked in his first place appearance and scored a second-inning run on Tim Smalling’s groundout.

Missouri State’s Cody Aycock, a freshman right-hander from Batesville, started for the Bears and allowed 3 earned runs on 6 hits and 4 walks in 2 4 / 3 innings.

Arkansas will play host to Mississippi Valley State at 6: 30 tonight at Baum Stadium. The Razorbacks host Auburn in a three-game series this weekend, starting Friday.