FAYETTEVILLE — Ryan Cisterna tripped twice on the base paths in the fifth inning, but he never broke stride while gracefully circling the bases in the seventh. Cisterna hit a two-run home in the seventh to break a tie and give Arkansas a 5-4 victory over Tennessee before 3, 056 at Baum Stadium Jeff Nutt also hit a home run and Aaron Murphree had a tworun, pinch-hit triple in the fifth to give Arkansas its first lead. Stephen Richards got the victory for Arkansas (21-16, 6-9 SEC ) in relief of Dallas Keuchel,

1 who pitched 6 / 3 innings and left with the game tied 3-3. Cisterna changed his cleats after he tripped twice while running the bases in the fifth. He hit a ball off the wall to open the inning but only made it to first base for a single. He also tripped rounding second after a hit by Scott Lyons to right field.

After changing cleats, Cisterna had no problem remaining upright on his home run trot in the seventh. The hit scored Chase Leavitt, who pinch ran for Andrew Darr after Darr led off the inning with a double to right field.

“My cleats blew out on me [in the fifth ], and it was a mess out there for me,” Cisterna said. “I was tripping all over the place, and it was good to get back in the dugout. I was glad to jog around the bases the next time after my home run.” Richards (2-3 ) enabled Arkansas to hold on by striking

2 out six in 2 / 3 innings. Tennessee scored one run in the ninth on four hits and threatened to take the lead with runners in scoring position. But Richards battled back and retired Yan Gomes and Cody Brown to end the game. “I got into some trouble and scared myself at the end,” Richards said. “Luckily, I was able to get out of it, and we came away with the win.” Arkansas won the game despite being outhit 13-8 by the Volunteers. Keuchel left two men on base in the seventh before Richards retired two consecutive to end that threat. The Razorbacks then remained with Richards in the ninth and let him work out of another jam to preserve the victory.

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“It’s a big boost to know we’ve got a guy like Richards who can come in and shut it down,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “He’s done it his last three times now, and our guys notice when he goes down to the bullpen and starts warming up. He gives them confidence we can win the game.”

Murphree put Arkansas ahead 3-2 with his pinch hit triple in the fifth, but Gomes quickly quieted the home crowd with a tying home run in the sixth.

Sean Jones was pulled in favor of Murphree, who got off to a fantastic start early in the season but entered Friday’s game hitting only. 167 in SEC play. Murphree fell behind 0-2 with two outs before hitting a 2-2 pitch against the wall in left as Cisterna and Lyons came around to score. The triple was the first extra-base hit for Murphree since March 15, when he hit a home run in a loss to Georgia.

Keuchel allowed three runs while scattering nine hits. Two batters reached against Keuchel in the sixth before Richards took over and struck out Kentrail Davis and Gomes to end the inning.

Tennessee (22-15, 9-7 ) took a 1-0 lead before Nutt tied it with his fifth home run in the second.

Justin Wells (3-0, 4. 81 ERA ) will make his first appearance as Arkansas’ No. 2 starter in today’s game at 2: 05 p. m. Wells has been effective since moving into the rotation two weeks ago, and he pitched 6 2 / 3 innings for a victory over Florida in his last outing.

Tennessee will go with another left-hander in Bryan Morgado (4-2, 3. 04 ERA ), a redshirt freshman.