PALO ALTO, Calif. — Simon says, “ Game over !”

And for Arkansas, it was.

Because like the childhood game “ Simon Says, ” Pepperdine center fielder Nate Simon said it was over, 4-3 for Arkansas with his sensational, game-ending, diving ninth-inning catch in Friday’s firstround game of the four-team double-elimination Stanford Regional.

Simon’s snag of Casey Coon’s liner slicing away left of left-center stranded Razorbacks at first and third in Friday’s ninth and dumped Arkansas into today’s 3 p. m. loser’s bracket at Stanford’s Sunken Diamond.

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Arkansas faces top-seeded Stanford, which was upset 4-2 Friday night by fourth-seeded California-Davis. Cal-Davis will face Pepperdine at 7 p. m. (CDT ).

The Razorbacks, scoring in the ninth on Chase Leavitt’s RBI single and with Leavitt on third and Logan Forsythe on via a two-out walk, knew they would have been tied or ahead had Coon’s liner eluded Simon’s diving grasp.

“ If he doesn’t catch it, ” Leavitt said, “ I score and maybe Logan scores and maybe we get a couple of more runs. You just have got to tip your hat to their center fielder. ”

And to Pepperdine’s Waves (37-19 ), who went errorless afield, pitched 12 strikeouts (including a career-high 10 by winning starter Nathan Newman ), outhit the Hogs 10-6, and had a clutch sixth-inning home run by Chase d’Arnaud that snapped a 2-2 tie.

Arkansas had scored one in the second on Brett Eibner’s 1-out single tallying Andy Wilkins, who had doubled. The Hogs scored one in the fourth when catcher Ryan Cisterna singled home Eibner, who had walked and stolen second.

“ They played better than us, ” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said.

All that against the Razorbacks and there they were, still battling until Simon said, “ Game over. ”

Good for them, Van Horn said, but take a closer look, he advised.

“ We can pat ourselves on the back and say, ‘ Boy, if he hadn’t caught that ball we would have scored two runs and had the lead going into the bottom of the ninth, ’” Van Horn said. “ But you know what ? We should have scored more runs. ”

Simon’s great play stranded Razorbacks at first and third. But it took just a foul pop and a strikeout to strand Leavitt at third with one out in the first, and Tim Smalling, whiffed four times, looked at Strike Three with one out and a runner at third in the sixth ended by Cisterna popping to short with runners at first and third.

“ We left 10 out there, ” Van Horn said of Hogs LOB, “ and we left two runners at third base with less than two out. That was definitely the killer. That kind of stings when you lose by one run. We didn’t get it done. ”

Well, Pepperdine coach Steve Rodriguez replied, his Waves often didn’t get it done either against losing starter Cliff Springston — who gave up just four hits in 5 1 / 3 innings — and Mike Bolsinger. The Waves stranded nine and were thwarted by a couple of run-saving defensive gems by Razorback center fielder Brett Eibner and second baseman Ben Tschepikow.

“ We had some opportunities with guys in scoring position, ” Rodriguez said. “ We had a couple of chances to extend the lead from two runs to four runs but couldn’t get the hit. But that’s what great about baseball — there can be those opportunities when you get those hits. ”

Pepperdine got one from d’Arnaud’s homer after Springston had missed with a ball on his first pitch to the Pepperdine shortstop with one out in the sixth.

“ The guy knew a fastball was coming, ” Springston said of falling behind in the count, “ and he got the meat of the bat on it. ”

It was the game’s lone home run.

“ I was lucky enough to get my hands inside of it and get the barrel on it, ” d’Arnaud said.

Smalling, regularly a shortstop but considered to be Arkansas’ best defensive first baseman, erred as a first baseman on Simon’s “ in between hop, ” Van Horn said. It was the first of two gaffes that scored the ultimate winning run.

Simon stole second on reliever Bolsinger’s first pitch and continued to third as Cisterna’s errant throw sailed into center. Simon scored on Denny Duran’s single.

Pepperdine’s Tyler Hess, relieving Newman to strand Hogs at first and second in the seventh, had been worked for a leadoff ninthinning walk by pinch-hitter Jacob House when Rodriguez summoned closer Nick Gaudi.

Gaudi gave up the 1-out RBI single to Leavitt and saw the potential tying run advance to third on a passed ball and infield out before Simon said, “ Game over. ”

Van Horn said lefthander Dallas Keuchel will start for the Razorbacks against Stanford in today’s 3 p. m. loser’s bracket game.