STANFORD, Calif. — It was a day of missed opportunities for Arkansas.

With the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the top of the ninth inning Friday, Pepperdine center fielder Nate Simon made a diving catch of Casey Coon’s sinking fly ball to preserve a 4-3 victory over the Razorbacks in the opening game of the NCAA Stanford Regional.

It was the last of many squandered chances that put No. 3 seed Arkansas on the brink of elimination at Sunken Diamond. The loss dropped the Razorbacks (34-23 ) into the losers bracket, where they will play at 3 p. m. today against host Stanford. Arkansas needs a victory to remain alive in the double-elimination tournament. Offensive days like Friday’s were commonplace for the Razorbacks as they struggled during an up-and-down regular season. Arkansas led 2-1 through the top of the fourth, but it couldn’t build on that lead as it stranded 10 runners in the game. Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn commended Pepperdine starting pitcher Nathan Newman (8-4 ), who allowed only two

2 earned runs in 6 / 3 innings. But Newman gave the Razorbacks plenty of chances, allowing five hits and five walks. Twice the Razorbacks had a runner on third with fewer than two outs but failed to score.

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“We didn’t swing the bats very well,” Van Horn said. “We had our opportunities to build on a lead, and we didn’t. Even if it just had been one run here and one run there, we didn’t take advantage of it.

“ That kind of stings when you lose by a run.”

It looked promising for the Razorbacks in the first inning. Leadoff man Chase Leavitt singled to open the game and promptly reached second on a wild pitch before advancing to third on Ben Tschepikow’s groundout to the right side.

That brought up All-SEC third baseman Logan Forsythe, who had 23 RBI in the season’s final 21 games. But Newman worked out of the jam by retiring Forsythe on a foul popup and striking out Coon, the first of 12 Arkansas hitters to go down on strikes.

Newman bore down again in the sixth after Coon stood 90 feet away from breaking a 2-2 tie. With one out, Tim Smalling looked at a called strike three, then Ryan Cisterna popped out to shortstop.

Chase d’Arnaud made things worse in the bottom half of the inning when he hit a Cliff Springston (5-3 ) fastball over the left-field fence for a 3-2 lead. The Waves (37-19 ) added another unearned run, assisted by two Arkansas errors, for the eventual game-winner.

“We kept telling our guys, you win in this tournament, you have to hit,” Van Horn said. “We left two runners at third base with less than two outs. That was definitely the killer.”

The second-seeded Waves weren’t much better. They stranded nine runners in the game.

“We both had our chances to get things going, but that’s what happens when you get two good teams playing, you’re going to get a close game whether you like it or not,” Pepperdine Coach Steve Rodriguez said. “Today, it just happened to be a pitching and defense day, and luckily, we came out on top.”

Arkansas now finds itself in a familiar position with the season on the line. Several times throughout 2008 the Razorbacks put themselves into must-win situations in SEC play and often thrived.

“We are never going to give up,” said Leavitt, who had two of Arkansas’ six hits. “We are going to battle day in and day out, and that says a lot about this team.

“ Unfortunately, we couldn’t put together that big inning. That’s what we needed really bad.”