Van Horn Finally Got the Break Arkansas Had Been Waiting On

Baseball has a way of evening things out.

It doesn't always do it on your schedule or in the way you planned, but it tends to come around. On Sunday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium, it finally came around for Arkansas in a big way.

Freshman Christian Turner stepped into the batter's box in the bottom of the ninth inning with Nolan Souza on first base and the Hogs trailing No. 17 Ole Miss 4-3.

What happened next was the kind of thing kids dream up when they're swinging a bat in the backyard. Turner fought through a seven-pitch at-bat and drove a pitch to right-center field for a two-run walk-off home run.

Just like that, No. 22 Arkansas had a 5-4 victory and a series win over the Rebels.

It was the kind of break coach Dave Van Horn had been waiting on.

The Razorbacks had been on the wrong end of late-game moments throughout the season and were due for one to go their way.

A Hero Nobody Saw Coming

The story of how Turner got to that at-bat is almost as good as the swing itself. He hadn't recorded an official at-bat in an SEC game since April 11 against Alabama.

He hadn't even gotten a hit since April 10. He entered Sunday's game as a pinch runner in the seventh inning for Zack Stewart and didn't get his first plate appearance until that ninth inning.

None of that mattered when it counted most.

Souza set the stage with a leadoff single to right field, his second hit of the day, giving Turner a runner to work with.

Ole Miss had closer Walker Hooks on the mound and Hooks had been tough.

He'd pitched a clean eighth inning and retired the Rebels out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh. But Hooks was already working on 24 pitches coming into the ninth after throwing 23 the day before.

Turner kept fouling pitches off to stay alive and when his pitch came, he didn't miss it.

The walk-off gave Arkansas its sixth straight series victory over Ole Miss and its first SEC home series win since March.

Arkansas Razorbacks Nolan Souza at the plate against the Ole Miss Rebels. | Nilsen Roman-allHOGS Images

The Game Looked Very Different an Inning Earlier

There's no ignoring how close the Hogs came to another tough loss before Turner's heroics.

Everything seemed to be trending the wrong way heading into the ninth.

Arkansas had a golden chance in the bottom of the seventh with the game tied 3-3.

Souza and Stewart had gotten on base and Damian Ruiz laid down a sacrifice bunt to move them to second and third with one out.

Ole Miss walked Ryder Helfrick intentionally to load the bases. It looked like a chance for Arkansas to take the lead, but Camden Kozeal and Maika Niu both struck out against Hooks, stranding all three runners.

Then in the top of the eighth, Jud Utermark, who'd hit two home runs earlier in the weekend, led off against Ethan McElvain and launched a solo shot to center on just the second pitch he saw.

It was the 19th home run of the season for Utermark and the first long ball McElvain had allowed all year. Ole Miss led 4-3 and had their closer rested and ready.

When McElvain took the mound for the bottom of the eighth, Arkansas went down in order.

Things weren't looking good.

Arkansas Razorbacks Kuhio Aloy runs down the line after homer aainst Ole Miss. | Nilsen Roman-allHOGS Images

The Power That Kept Arkansas in It

Before Turner's moment, it was Kuhio Aloy who'd carried the Razorbacks through the first eight innings of Sunday's game and through the entire series.

Aloy opened the scoring in the first inning with an RBI single to left field that plated Ruiz.

Then in the sixth inning, with the game tied 3-3 after Stewart had cut the deficit to one with a solo shot in the fifth, Aloy stepped up and launched a fastball over the Hog Pen to dead center.

The measured distance was 469 feet at 117 miles per hour off the bat — one of, if not the hardest-hit home runs in Baum-Walker Stadium history.

It also one-hopped into the BBQ trailer out in the Hog Pen that's probably the best place in the stadium for food.

It was Aloy's third home run of the series. He went 7-for-12 over three games and finished tied with Ruiz for the team batting average lead at .314.

Stewart's solo shot in the fifth (his eighth of the season) came off a hanging cutter and pulled Arkansas within one run at 3-2 before Aloy's blast knotted things back up.

Ole Miss had jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second inning when Owen Paino hit a three-run homer into the left field bullpen off starter Gabe Gaeckle.

Gaeckle had returned to the weekend rotation for the first time since April 2 and gave the Hogs four innings of work, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits with five strikeouts and just one walk.

Arkansas Razorbacks Parker Coil against Ole Miss. | Nilsen Roman-allHOGS Images

Parker Coil Bridged the Gap

When Van Horn pulled Gaeckle to start the fifth, Parker Coil came on and delivered three hitless innings that kept Arkansas in the game.

Coil allowed only two baserunners, a walk and a hit by pitch, and he didn't give up a run. His ERA on the season dropped to 2.70. Without those three innings from Coil, there's no walk-off moment in the ninth.

McElvain ultimately got the win in relief after yielding the Utermark homer.

He responded well after giving it up, retiring the side in order in the top of the ninth to give his offense one final chance.

The Bigger Picture

The win keeps Arkansas firmly in the conversation to host an NCAA Regional when the postseason arrives at the end of the month.

At 32-17 overall and 13-11 in SEC play, the Razorbacks are still above .500 in conference play after what's been a grind of a year.

That's not nothing. It's actually a testament to how this team has hung together through difficult stretches.

Van Horn made notable lineup changes heading into Sunday's game, including sliding Aloy up in the order to fifth after his strong series start. The adjustments paid off.

There's still work left to do.

Oklahoma comes to Fayetteville for the final home series of the regular season next weekend and then Arkansas closes things out with a road trip to Kentucky.

The path to a regional host bid runs through those remaining games.

Sunday's series win over a rival by coming back from a deficit in the ninth and winning on a walk-off from someone most fans wouldn't have picked as the hero is exactly the kind of thing that gives a team confidence heading into the postseason.

For the Razorbacks, it's the break they'd been waiting on all season long.

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