Arkansas won Wednesday at the Southeastern Conference Softball Tournament for the first time since 2001.
The No. 18 Razorbacks defeated No. 19 Kentucky 3-1 in Columbia, Mo., to advance to a Thursday matchup with No. 8 Georgia. The game is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. and will be televised by SEC Network.
Arkansas (38-14) snapped an eight-game losing streak in SEC Tournament games. The program failed to qualify for the tournament 10 times since its most recent win.
The Razorbacks took a 3-1 lead when pinch-runner Carley Haizlip scored from second base on a two-out error by Kentucky All-SEC shortstop Katie Reed. All three of Arkansas' runs were unearned.
"Wins all look a little different and today we got lucky with them booting the ball around a little bit," Arkansas coach Courtney Deifel said. "That's uncharacteristic of Kentucky, but I give our team a lot of credit for putting the ball in play and forcing things to happen."
The Wildcats put the tying runs on base in the top of the seventh, but the game ended when Reed was caught in a rundown between first and second base.
Kentucky (31-19) took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Lauren Johnson homered off Arkansas starter Mary Haff. Haff, a freshman right-hander, pitched a complete game, allowed 6 hits and struck out 5 batters to record her 25th win.
Haff worked around multiple base runners in three of the final four innings, including in the sixth when the Wildcats left the bases loaded with a foul out. Kentucky out-hit Arkansas 6-4, but the Wildcats stranded seven runners.
"She mixed her speeds really well," Deifel said. "She got into some jams and she worked her way out of them. I'm just really proud of her efforts today."
The Razorbacks took the lead with a pair of unearned runs in the third inning. Hannah McEwen led off with a single and scored on a fielder's choice error by Kentucky third baseman Abby Cheek. Autumn Buczek scored on a one-out wild pitch by Kentucky freshman starter Grace Baalman.
The Wildcats had the league's third-best fielding percentage during the regular season.
"We typically are a very good defensive team," Kentucky coach Rachel Lawson said. "Arkansas did a good job of putting the ball in play and we just didn't come up with the stops when we needed to. I just believe when a team doesn't play to its strengths it's typically an uphill battle."