Missouri State's Six-Run First Inning Dooms Hogs 10-5
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Jake Dugger homered for the third consecutive game and Lee Land pitched 6.2 innings of hitless relief, but No. 12 Arkansas fell to Missouri State, 10-5, in front of 4,147 fans at Baum Stadium.
Missouri State (16-9) jumped on Razorback starter James Gilbert early, racing out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning. Gilbert (2-1) lasted just a third of an inning, giving up six runs on five hits, striking out one and walking one.
The loss snaps a 23-game home non-conference winning streak for the Hogs. The last time the Razorbacks lost a non-conference game at Baum Stadium was April 13, 2004 against Oral Roberts. Arkansas is 19-2 this season in non-conference action and is 81-13 out of the league since Dave Van Horn took over the program in 2003.
Arkansas (23-7) got on the board in the third when center fielder Craig Gentry lined a one-out single, making the score 6-1.
The Hogs scored again in the fourth on shortstop Matt Willard’s two-out singles to center to close the gap to 6-2. Arkansas had a chance to tighten the gap further, but the Razorbacks left the bases loaded.
The Razorbacks struck again in the fifth on Dugger’s two-run home run over the left-field fence. It was the right fielder’s sixth of the season and the third consecutive game in which he has homered.
Logan Forsythe slapped an opposite-field solo home run in the bottom of the sixth to make the MSU lead 6-5. It was the freshman’s third home run of the season.
Jake Shafer (2-1) started and worked five-plus innings for the Bears, allowing five runs – four earned – on five hits. He struck out six, walked four and hit a batter.
The Razorbacks threatened in the seventh after Clint Arnold led off the inning with a double, but was caught stealing with one out and the SEC’s leading RBI-man, Danny Hamblin, at the plate before Hamblin was fanned by MSU reliever Matt Frevert.
Lee Land replaced Gilbert in the first and was brilliant in relief, holding the Bears’ at bay for 6.2 innings, allowing one earned run and no hits, striking out five and walked just one.
Missouri State touched reliever Devin Collis for two runs in relief of Land in the eighth and added another in the ninth to boost its lead to 10-5.
Willard led the Hogs at the plate with two hits and an RBI, while Dugger added a pair of RBI’s. Matt Weglarz paced the Bears with thre RBI’s, while Brayden Drake belted a home run and had two RBI’s.
Arkansas is back in action this Friday for a three-game series at Vanderbilt. The Hogs and Commodores open their set Friday night at 6 p.m.
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