With Alabama on Arkansas'mind, the Hogs tuned up for the Tide with a 14-6, slugfest win over Missouri State in front of 3, 577 at Baum Stadium Wednesday night.

The Hogs rallied from a 4-0 deficit with 10 runs in the third, fourth and fifth frames to surmount the early deficit.

Both teams went to their bullpens early and often and Missouri State struggled with walks and hit batters to allow Arkansas to climb back in the game after falling down in the third.

" We did a good job of scoring three runs without a hit after they got four early, " Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. " You could kind of tell it was going to be a strange game with both teams focused on the weekend. They have a chance to win their league and we're battling in our league.

" I knew this had a chance to be a little sloppy with the wind and the elements but we turned it around, making them throw a lot of pitches and working the count for some walks. "

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Much of the Hogs' production came from the bottom of the lineup. Nine-hole hitter Scott Lyons went 4 for 5 with 2 RBIs and 3 runs scored. Eight-hole batter Ryan Cisterna cracked an eighth-inning homer to give Arkansas an 8-run lead and walked twice and scored three runs to aid the Hogs' overall cause.

" Scott had a really nice hitand-run to get it going and had a double with the bases loaded, " Van Horn said. " He hit it well and used to the whole field. It's nice to get that kind of production from the bottom of the order. "

Missouri State (30-14 ) went down 1-2-3 in the first two frames but awakened in the third inning. Seven-hole hitter Matt Welch torqued a double down the left-field line. Ryan Mantle bumped a perfect bunt down the third-base line for a single and nine-hole hitter Josh Mazzola pumped a 3-run homer over the AT & T sign in left. The Bears scored another run on the second bunt single of the inning, this time by Ben Carlson for a 4-0 pad.

The Hogs (27-18 ) took advantage of the Bears' charity in the bottom of the third to erode the gap to 4-3. Lyons reached on an error to lead off the inning. Chase Leavitt walked and Ben Tschepikow was the first of three hit batters in the inning. Jeff Nutt and Casey Coon were each plunked to force in a pair of runs and Tim Smalling plated another on a 4-3 ground ball.

The Razorbacks jumped in front, 8-4, with a 5-run fourth. Cisterna walked, Lyons singled past second and Leavitt walked to load the bases. Logan Forsythe punched a 2-run single up the middle to pull the Hogs in front, 5-4.

Jeff Nutt tagged an RBI single and Casey Coon jettisoned a 2-run homer to left to complete the damage.

An infield single by Missouri State's Ben Woodbury to deep short and a hit batter led to consecutive sacrifice flies by Brayden Drake and Carlson to chop the difference to 8-6 in the fifth.

Arkansas expanded the lead to 10-6 in the fifth. Brett Eibner walked and Lyons single past first. Both runners scored on a fielder's choice in which Leavitt's ground ball was fielded by first baseman Mazzola and promptly bounced past Kyle Paul at home plate.

Arkansas plated three runs in the sixth to increase its advantage to 13-6. Lyons roped a 2-run double past third and Tschepikow smoked a line-drive, RBI single to right. Cisterna added a solo homer in the eighth.

Arkansas next hosts Alabama in a three-game SEC series beginning Friday. The first pitch is slated for 6: 35 p.m.