#12 Arkansas Clinches Series at Kentucky with Wild Win in Regular Season Finale

LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 12 Arkansas (36-19, 17-13 SEC) let an 11-run lead slip away before outslugging Kentucky (31-20, 14-17 SEC) with a pair of ninth-inning home runs to secure a 16-12 series-clinching win Saturday at Kentucky Proud Park.

The Razorbacks concluded the regular season with their fourth SEC road series win of the year, their most in a campaign since the 2021 squad won all 10 of its conference series. With Saturday’s win, Arkansas locked down the No. 7 seed for the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., where the Hogs will play the winner of Tuesday night’s first round game between 10th-seeded Tennessee and 15th-seeded South Carolina at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 20. at The Hoover Met.

Following a 40-minute weather delay to begin game, the Razorbacks brought 16 batters to the plate in a 10-run top half of the first inning that featured eight hits, including four doubles, three walks, two hit batsmen, an error and a wild pitch. Arkansas’ first 10 batters reached base before Kentucky’s third pitcher of the inning recorded the game’s first out.

When the top of the first was all said and done, Arkansas had opened a commanding 10-run lead. Damian Ruiz led off the game with a single and collected a three-run double in his second at-bat of the inning to give the Razorbacks a 9-0 lead before Zack Stewart’s first of two doubles – and his second base knock of the frame – plated the 10th and final run.

Stewart’s second RBI double of the afternoon came in the third inning, extending the Hogs’ advantage to 11-0. Kentucky would cut into its deficit with a two-run home run in the bottom half of the third, but a run-scoring wild pitch with two outs in the top of the fourth brought home Camden Kozeal from third after his triple and put Arkansas back up by 10.

From there, however, the Wildcats went on to score 10 unanswered runs, including nine in the bottom half of the fifth inning, to tie the game. After Razorback starter Tate McGuire (2.1 IP, 2 R, 4 SO) departed the ballgame, Kentucky broke through against relievers Cole Gibler (2.0 IP, 7 R, 3 SO) and Steele Eaves (0.0 IP, 3 R, 1 ER) to even things at 12-12.

Parker Coil (1.2 IP, 1 SO) and James DeCremer (SV, 3.0 IP, 2 SO) would fare much better in relief for the Hogs, combining for 4.2 shutout frames with three strikeouts to help Arkansas to surge past Kentucky in the game’s later innings. Kozeal’s two-RBI single through the right side in the top half of the sixth put the Hogs ahead, 14-12, before Stewart and Souza each launched solo shots in the top of the ninth to put the finishing touches on the wild series-clinching win.

Stewart finished with a team-leading four hits, including his two doubles and his third home run in as many games, to go along with four RBI. In addition to Ruiz (3-for-5, 2R, 2B, 3 RBI) and Kozeal (3-for-5, 3 R, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI), he was one of three Arkansas players to record multiple hits as well as multiple RBI in Saturday’s victory at Kentucky Proud Park.

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