COLLEGE BASEBALL

Hogs take rare loss vs. Bears

Arkansas pitcher Weston Rogers delivers a pitch during the Razorbacks' game against Missouri State on Tuesday, May 3, 2016, at Hammons Field in Springfield, Mo.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Missouri State took out some frustration on Arkansas.

The Bears pounded the Razorbacks 14-6 on Tuesday night at Hammons Field before an announced crowd of 1,609 to break a five-game losing streak.

It didn't make up for Arkansas beating Missouri State in an NCAA super regional last season at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville, but it was the Bears' first home victory over the Razorbacks since 2005.

The Bears (29-14) scored their second-most runs in 74 games against Arkansas, surpassed only by a 15-4 victory in 1978.

"Yeah, they wanted to beat us," Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn said. "It looked like they wanted to win a little more than we did, and that was one thing that disappointed me.

"Really, it all started on the mound."

The Bears roughed up Arkansas' first seven pitchers for 12 hits -- including two home runs and three triples -- and drew eight walks along with having a hit batter.

Arkansas' only pitcher who didn't allow at least one base runner was Jordan Rodriguez, who retired the Bears in order in the eighth inning.

"You can't sugarcoat it," Van Horn said. "It's not real pretty what we're seeing come out of that bullpen right now."

Things got especially ugly for the Razorbacks in the fifth inning, when Missouri State scored eight times -- including a three-run home run by Jake Burger off Josh Alberius -- to take a 12-0 lead.

"It took the cloud out from above us," Missouri State Coach Keith Guttin said of beating Arkansas after being 1-7 the previous eight games. "It's been a really rough couple of weeks, and we beat a good team and a great program.

"It was good to see us break out."

The Bears batted 13 times in the fifth inning when they had 7 hits, 2 walks and 1 hit batter against Alberius, Hunter Hart and Anthony Dahl.

"It was tough to watch that," Van Horn said. "We're pitching some guys we don't use much on the weekends and trying to give them an opportunity, and it didn't go real well.

"Then we went with some guys to give us an inning here or there, and it didn't go very well for them, either.

"Give credit to their offense. They just got after our pitchers tonight."

Alberius came into the game in the fifth and failed to retire any of the four batters as he allowed four earned runs. He has allowed nine earned runs in his past four innings after holding opponents to two earned runs during his first 27 innings.

"He's struggled his last four or five outings," Van Horn said. "It's just about location with him.

"He's never had overpowering stuff. It's about not leaving the ball in the middle of the plate."

Burger, a sophomore third baseman who leads the nation with 19 home runs, went 3 for 5 and drove in 4 runs.

"Burger's one of the best hitters in the country," Van Horn said. "He's going to be a high draft choice and first-team All-American type guy."

Arkansas scored five runs in the sixth inning against Missouri State starter Austin Knight (4-1) to pull within 12-5, including a leadoff home run by Carson Shaddy when the ball hit off the left-field foul poll.

It was the eighth home run this season for Shaddy and third in the past four games. He hit two home runs against Texas A&M last weekend.

"That was a good offensive inning," Van Horn said. "Hats off to some of those hitters for not shutting it down. They just kept battling and put together some good at-bats."

Missouri State took a 3-0 lead with three runs in the third inning against Arkansas starter Weston Rogers (1-1) and made made it 4-0 in the fourth when Blake Graham hit a home run off James Teague.

"It got away pretty early," Van Horn said. "We didn't do a very good job, obviously, of throwing enough strikes."

Knight (4-1) shut out the Razorbacks during the first five innings.

"Their starting pitcher did a really nice job of keeping the ball out of the middle of the plate for the first three or four innings," Van Horn said. "Then when we finally got to him, the game was already pretty much in hand for them."

SUN BELT

UALR 7, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 2

UALR (22-20) used a three-run seventh inning to take control of Tuesday’s game against Stephen F. Austin (23-22) at Jaycees Field in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Dalton Thomas singled up the middle on a 1-1 pitch to begin the seventh inning for the Trojans. Nik Gifford grounded out, then Zach Baker walked. Ty Gunter walked on four pitches to load the bases before Hunter Owens hit a three-run double to give UALR a 5-2 lead. Owens advanced to third on a wild pitch but did not score as Jonathan Davis grounded out to end the inning.

Owens finished 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI to lead the Trojans, while Thomas was 3 for 5 with a run scored and Davis was 2 for 3. Conner Fikes was 2 for 3 with a run scored and was the only Lumberjacks player with multiple hits. Dylan Slayton earned the victory for UALR after allowing four hits in four innings.

Up next

ARKANSAS AT NO. 15 LSU

WHEN 7 p.m. Friday

WHERE Alex Box Stadium, Baton Rouge

RADIO Razorback Sports Network statewide network. Not all games will be carried by all affiliates. Check local listings.

TELEVISION None

INTERNET SEC Network-Plus

THE WEEK AHEAD

TODAY Off

THURSDAY Off

FRIDAY at LSU, * 7 p.m.

SATURDAY at LSU, * 6:30 p.m.

SUNDAY at LSU, * 1 p.m.

MONDAY Off

TUESDAY Off * SEC game

Sports on 05/04/2016