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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas is entering uncharted territory.

The Razorbacks quickly fell into an early hole and suffered their most lopsided loss of the season, falling 13-6 to South Alabama on Friday.

The blowout runs their losing streak to five games, marking just the seventh time during head coach Dave Van Horn’s 18-year tenure the Razorbacks have lost that many in a row.

Unlike the first four games, which it lost by a combined six runs, Arkansas did not have a chance Friday.

South Alabama (8-7) came into the weekend ranked 271st out of 298 Division I teams with a .200 batting average and two-thirds of its lineup was hitting .200 or worse, but the Jaguars used Baum-Walker Stadium and Arkansas’ pitching staff for a nine-inning batting practice session.

They went 11 for 37 (.297), matching their season high for hits, and scored a season-high 13 runs. It was a breakout performance by a team expected to be playing much better, as they were the preseason favorite to win their division in the Sun Belt.

“I talked to Coach Mark Calvi before the game about it,” Van Horn said. “He said that he’s got three or four junior, senior type guys that are back that hit right around .300 last year and they weren’t getting it done yet, but you know that’s going to change.”

It is tied for Arkansas’ third-longest streak since 2003, matching four other stretches - in 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2010 - and trailing only the six straight it lost in 2015 and 13 straight to end the 2016 season.

Of the six previous years the Razorbacks have lost at least five games in a row, they’ve rebounded to reach the College World Series twice (2009, 2015) and the super regionals another time (2010), so Van Horn has not given up hope just yet.

“Even in the losing streak - which is amazing to me, because I didn’t see it coming - I’ve seen a lot of good things that we can build off of,” Van Horn said. “We’ve got tomorrow, that’s the good thing.

“We don’t have to wait a week to play and we still have a chance to win this series. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll come out and even this thing up.”

Game 2 is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday. Redshirt sophomore right-hander Caleb Bolden (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will be on the mound for Arkansas and he’ll face South Alabama junior right-hander Miles Smith (0-1, 6.92 ERA).

It will be streamed on SEC Network-Plus, meaning it can be watched online on ESPN3.com or on the WatchESPN app.

HR Derby for Jags

South Alabama came into the series with only four home runs as a team through 14 games and nearly doubled that total within the first four innings Friday.

Center fielder Michael Sandle got things started when he followed a two-out walk in the first inning by launching an 0-2 pitch by Patrick Wicklander into the right field bullpen.

The other two came off the bat of Ethan Wilson, the Jaguars’ star left fielder who earned National Freshman of the Year honors last season, when he hit 17 homers.

Both of his long balls in Friday’s game were moonshots, clearing the scoreboard each time. The first was a two-run shot in the second inning and the next was a three-run bomb in the fourth.

“Give South Alabama credit,” Van Horn said. “They came out swinging the bats and they knew the ball was going to really travel to right and they popped a couple out there.”

Sandle came close to giving the Jaguars a home run in four straight innings, but his leadoff shot in the third was tracked down and brought back in by Christian Franklin, who made the highlight reel catch.

On the flip side, the Razorbacks came into the game tied for 22nd nationally with 14 home runs and managed only one.

Matt Goodheart sent the first pitch of the fifth inning over the right field bullpen for his second home run of the season. It was too little, too late, though, as it brought Arkansas within just 10-4.

Redshirt freshman Zack Gregory looked like he might have his first career long ball in the ninth inning, but another great catch by a center fielder - this time by South Alabama’s Sandle - robbed him and turned it into a sacrifice fly.