No. 22 Alabama Baseball Falls in Final Game at No. 1 Arkansas, 3-1

After soundly defeating No. 1 Arkansas on Friday, No. 22 Alabama baseball dropped its three-game series on Sunday with a 3-1 loss in Fayetteville.

“With the wind blowing in, it was a really tough day to score at Baum-Walker Stadium," Crimson Tide coach Brad Bohannon said. "Both starters pitched really well. Arkansas took advantage of their opportunities to score and were better than us out of the bullpen today.”

The Razorbacks' pitchers dominated the mound for the duration of the game, allowing the Crimson Tide's only run off of four hits split between three pitchers.

Grad-student left-hander Lael Lockhart started on the mound for the Razorbacks and pitched four and two-thirds innings. In 20 batters faced, Lockhart allowed no runs off of two hits and struck out nine batters.

In the fifth inning with two out, redshirt-senior right-hander Kevin Kopps took control. Through his three and one-third innings on the mound, Kopps gave up just one hit and struck out four.

In the ninth, freshman closer Jaxon Wiggins allowed Alabama's only run of the game, but stifled the Crimson Tide comeback attempt with two strikeouts.

Arkansas led off the scoring in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run by junior first baseman Brady Slavens. In the sixth, the Razorbacks added to its lead with a two-RBI single by senior catcher Casey Opitz.

Crimson Tide redshirt-sophomore catcher Sam Praytor hit a solo home run over the left field fence in the top of the ninth, but the Alabama lineup was unable to produce any more runs.

Kopps (4-0) was credited with the win for the Razorbacks while sophomore lefty Antoine Jean (2-1) was saddled with the loss.

Wiggins (3) picked up the save.

With the loss, Alabama drops to 15-5 overall and is 1-2 in SEC play. Arkansas is 14-3 and 2-1 in the conference.

Alabama returns home to Sewell-Thomas Stadium and will take on Southern Miss on Tuesday (6 p.m. CT, SEC Network+).