Arkansas Drops Regular Season Finale
COLUMBIA, Mo. – No. 12 Arkansas (38-16) dropped its regular season finale to Missouri, 7-6, Sunday afternoon at Mizzou Softball Stadium.
Going into the series, the Hogs had won 11 consecutive SEC road series. It’s Arkansas’ first SEC road series loss since March 6-8, 2020, at No. 9 Alabama.
The Razorbacks finish the regular season 38-16 overall and 14-10 in conference play. Despite the loss, Arkansas has wrapped up SEC play with a top-four finish for the third consecutive season. Arkansas is the only conference team to record a top-four finish in each of the last three seasons.
Freshman Atalyia Rijo paced the Hogs offensively with a grand slam. The Horseheads, N.Y., product drove in a career high four runs with the shot. Junior Cylie Halvorson blasted a two-run home run in the first. Halvorson has homered in back-to-back games.
Fifth-year senior Kristina Foreman, sophomore Raigan Kramer and freshman Lauren Camenzind each added to Arkansas’ hits column tally.
The Razorbacks used four arms on the day. Freshman LHP Robyn Herron made the start and tossed 2.0 innings, surrendering two earned runs on two hits. Herron struck out one and walked two batters. Freshman RHP Nikki McGaffin took over for Herron in the third. McGaffin tossed an inning and gave up a run on two hits while fanning one.
Freshman LHP Hannah Camenzind and redshirt senior RHP Chenise Delce threw 1.2 innings each. Camenzind succumbed two runs on one hit. Delce suffered the loss, giving up one run on two hits while striking out two.
Arkansas jumped on board in the first on Halvorson’s two-run home run for a 2-0 lead.
Missouri plated an unearned run in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly, trimming the lead to 2-1.
The Tigers scored two more runs in the bottom of the third to take its first lead of the ballgame.
The Hogs responded with four runs in the top of the fourth via Rijo’s two-out grand slam for a 6-3 edge.
Missouri chipped away in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run to cut Arkansas’ lead to 6-4. The Tigers poured on another two runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie it at 6-6. A walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh gave the Tigers a 7-6 win.
Up Next
Arkansas earned the No. 4 seed at the 2023 SEC Tournament and will play at 4 p.m. CT Thursday, May 11, at Bogle Park. The opponent is TBD. The game will air on SEC Network with Jessica Mendoza, Beth Mowins and Michele Smith on the call.
For schedule updates and other news, go to ArkansasRazorbacks.com, or follow @RazorbackSB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.