Razorbacks Finish Midweek Slate Unscathed with Sweep of Missouri State

Hogs take advantage of Bears sloppy defense, caps off back-to-back wins against Bears
Arkansas Razorbacks pitcher Ben Bybee throws during the game with Missouri State on Wednesday at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayeetteville, Ark.
Arkansas Razorbacks pitcher Ben Bybee throws during the game with Missouri State on Wednesday at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayeetteville, Ark. / Craven Whitlow-allHOGS Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas finished its midweek slate 12-0 after an 8-5 win over the Missouri State Bears. It's the first time the Razorbacks finished the midweeks undefeated since 2005.

"They’ve done a great job of showing up in the middle of the week," coach Dave Van Horn said. "Coming off a big series, getting ready to play another one. You can say what you want, it’s just the way the mind works, a lot of times you’re not all there."

Arkansas took advantage of a litany of errors in the field for the Bears. The first Hogs' run came home on an error that got past third baseman Logan Chambers in the third inning. A second run came across in the fifth on another error this time from Nick Rodriguez, his third in two games breaking a 1-1 tie at the time.

The bats came alive late. Despite the continued struggles of Kendall Diggs, a sac fly to right doubled the lead to 3-1.

Razorback pitching was stretched thin after using eight different pitchers Tuesday night, Ben Bybee, Dylan Carter and Koty Frank got Van Horn through all nine innings. Bybee given the start, went four scoreless innings and struck out six. Carter gave up two runs across 2 1/3 innings of work in just his sixth appearance of the year.

"I felt great today going out there," Bybee said. "I did a good job in my pre-outing bullpen with [catcher] Parker [Rowland]. Us two kind of connected, figuring out what pitches were working today. When we went out there, I thought his pitch calling was awesome and I got a lot of confidence in Parker".

Arkansas picked up two more runs in the sixth with RBIs from the pair of Peyton's. Peyton Holt continued his hot streak with a solo homer to left on the first pitch. Peyton Stovall singled to center as part of a 5-for-5 day with five singles.

"[I'm] just trying to keep it simple," Stovall said. "[I'm] not trying to do too much and stay in the middle of the field."

Stovall got some help on a two-run single in the seventh when center fielder Caden Bogenpohl lost a can of corn fly ball in the sky.

Despite giving up three runs in the ninth, Frank capped off his fourth save of the year in 2 2/3 innings of work.

Arkansas hits the road against Kentucky for a weekend series starting Friday 5:30 p.m. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+.

HOGS FEED:

Calipari putting staff together with previous Kentucky coaches

Recent portal moves in multiple sports show state of college sports

• Aloy's bat starts offensive explosion for Razorbacks in downing Missouri State to open midweek series

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Daniel Shi

DANIEL SHI