MEMPHIS — Ben Hartman became East Carolina’s all-time leading scorer Saturday night in the Liberty Bowl.

Unfortunately for Hartman and the Pirates, he still came up three points short as Arkansas won 20-17 in overtime.

Hartman came into the game having hit 67.5 percent of his career field-goal attempts (56 of 83), including six gamewinners, but he was 1 of 5 against the Razorbacks. Three of Hartman’s misses came in the final 1:03 of regulation and the overtime period as he failed to break a 17-17 tie.

Hartman, a senior, had his 39-yard attempt with 1:03 left in regulation hit the left upright and bounce to the outside rather than over the crossbar.

Kicking from the exact same right hash mark from the Arkansas 29 on the last play of regulation, he rushed the 39-yard attempt wide right.

Then he missed a 35-yard attempt wide left after the Pirates began overtime on offense.

“It seemed like they went all over the map,” East Carolina Coach Skip Holtz said. “I brought him over and said, ‘Ben, we’re going to need you to win this before it’s all over, so don’t hang your head. Those are over. The next kick is a new kick. Go through your routine. We’ll be fine.’ ”

But Hartman didn’t get another chance after Alex Tejada hit a 37-yard field goal to win it for the Razorbacks.

“You think, ‘What could I have done more? What could I have done to put us over the top to win?’ ” said Pirates senior tailback Dominique Lindsay, who did plenty with 151 rushing yards on 31 attempts. “That’s the worst way to lose.”

Senior linebacker Chris Mattocks, who forced a fumble and had eight tackles, said he wished the Pirates could play the Razorbacks again.

“If we could go back out there for another 15 minutes, I think we could come out with a win,” Mattocks said. “But we can’t do that.”

Hartman, who didn’t do interviews after the game, finished his career with 288 points, one more than Kevin Miller, East Carolina’s kicker from 1999-2002.

“If you had said you’re going to have your all-time leading scorer go out there to kick it, who’s had a bunch of game-winners for you during his career here, he’s the one I would have picked,” Holtz said. “I think that those are the first game-winners he’s ever missed.”

Holtz said he never considered using another kicker and that he figured that with each attempt Hartman missed, the odds increased he’d hit the next one.

“It’s just unfortunate,” Holtz said. “It’s hard. It’s painful. Our football team wanted this one bad. That’s what makes it hurt so bad.”

The Pirates dominated all over the stat sheet, outgaining the Razorbacks 393 to 283 yards in total offense, having possession for 37:55 and holding Arkansas without a first down on 13 third-down attempts.

“I don’t know that I could have asked this team to do a whole lot more,” Holtz said. “I certainly can’t fault their effort, their heart.

“I thought they played their tails off. I’m really proud of this team.”

Along with the three missed field goals late in the game, East Carolina was hurt by two Patrick Pinkney interceptions in the third quarter that resulted in 10 points for the Razorbacks, including a 37-yard touchdown return by safety Tramain Thomas.

“It was just unfortunate we made those mistakes,” Holtz said. “I wouldn’t change a thing in that game - and I’d call it a dang near perfect game - outside of those five plays.”

Sports, Pages 32 on 01/03/2010