Diamond Hogs fall to Missouri State, wrap up winless road trip
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Road trip woes continued Tuesday night for the Diamond Hogs at Hammons Field, coming in the form of an 8-4 loss to Missouri State.
The affair with the Bears went awry not too long after it got underway, and the visitors began their trek back to Fayetteville without a win in the four showings since their last home game.
Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said before the game that no regular starters were resting, except for second baseman Peyton Stovall, he clarified afterward. The new-look Razorbacks featured leadoff man Kendall Diggs, Brady Slavens’ first outfield appearance in over a year, Jace Bohrofen’s first Arkansas start in center field and the insertions of Jayson Jones and Peyton Holt at designated hitter and second base, respectively.
"It’s just being adaptable," Slavens said. "Being a player that can play anywhere. So if you can do that, you can be a good baseball player. We’ve got a lot of guys like that that can do that. Just try the best you can wherever you’re put."
Arkansas pitching picked up right where it left off Saturday in Georgia, as right-hander Cody Adcock surrendered a leadoff home run, the third in as many at-bats. Shortstop Nick Rodriguez’s sixth longball of the year gave the Bears a 1-0 lead, but it did not last long.
First baseman Ben McLaughlin opened the second inning with a double to left-center field and scored on Slavens’ opposite-field RBI knock. The third-year Hog scored the go-ahead run, unearned, with two away as second baseman Mason Hull’s throwing error cost Missouri State the chance to turn an inning-ending double play.
The Bears nearly leveled the score again in the home half of the second, loading the bases with one out. Nine-hole hitter Jake McCutcheon worked the count full, but a grounder to Holt kicked off a 4-6-3 twin killing to wrap up Adcock’s outing with just the one run allowed.
Left-hander Zack Morris inherited the 2-1 advantage in the third, and a late jump on a route in left field from Slavens potentially cost the Razorbacks the game.
What looked like a makeable play in left fell in for a game-tying RBI single instead of the second out and a sacrifice fly. Morris struck out the next hitter, but a pair of two-out hits gave Missouri State a 5-2 lead and chased the senior from the game after seven hitters.
Catcher Anthony Socci was the first batter Austin Ledbetter saw, and he took the righty deep to left for the fourth and fifth two-out runs of the third inning and a 7-2 cushion.
"The issue with that inning was all of those big hits were with two strikes," Van Horn said. "We were ahead in the count 0-2 and 1-2 on the home run, on the ball that was hit down the right field line. That was supposed to an expand up, and it was, I don’t know, belt high.
"Those are mistakes that you can’t make, especially when you’re facing a team that can hit. We competed at the plate, but we got down big early and it was a battle."
Ledbetter only managed two outs as well, and he was charged with a second run on a sacrifice fly to the second baseman in shallow center field after lefty Parker Coil took over in the fourth. The Bears appeared on the verge of another tally in the fifth, but a lineout with runners on the corners and one out shut the threat down.
While Missouri State continued to pester the Arkansas hurlers, the bats had no answers for reliever Trey Ziegenbein. The right-hander, who originally signed with the Razorbacks out of high school, went nine up, nine down during the middle innings, racking up three strikeouts.
The Hogs finally broke through against righty Scott Youngbrandt in the seventh with a Jones infield single, a Holt RBI triple and pinch hitter Harold Coll’s RBI groundout to third.
Those runs and the 4 ⅔ combined scoreless innings from Coil and righty Ben Bybee were not nearly enough fuel for a comeback, and the Arkansas losing streak grew to four games.
The Razorbacks will return to Baum-Walker Stadium for a three-game series against Texas A&M, which will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday. The series opener will be broadcast on ESPNU and stream live on the ESPN app.
"We’re fine," Slavens said. "Just need to focus on Thursday coming up against A&M and just play hard."
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