Arkansas set HR record in SEC Tournament quarterfinals
HOOVER, Ala. — Cam Kozeal’s inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the second inning set the Razorbacks’ single-season program home run record but was not enough to power No. 5 Arkansas past No. 17 Mississippi in a 5-2 loss last Friday afternoon in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
With Kozeal’s 13th home run, the Hogs (43-13) tallied their 110th home run in their 56th game of the season, eclipsing the program’s single-season home run record total of 109, which was set over 63 games during the 2021 campaign.
Arkansas fell behind after the Rebels capitalized on a series of defensive miscues, to go up 5-0.
Kuhio Aloy’s teamleading 69th RBI on a groundout in the bottom of the first cut the Hogs’ deficit to 5-1 before Kozeal’s leadoff insidethe- park home run in the second shrunk the Rebels’ lead to 5-2.
Following the first inning, Root and the Razorback pitching staff posted eight consecutive scoreless frames to give the offense an opportunity to punch back.
Root (6-5), who took the tough-luck loss, struck out four and was charged with only an earned run over his four innings of work before turning the ball over to the bullpen. Gabe Gaeckle went three innings with four strikeouts, followed by Cole Gibler going 1.2 innings with four Ks. Christian Foutch got the last out on a strikeout. The three relievers combined for five shutout innings with nine Ks.
Arkansas had opportunities to score in the sixth and seventh innings. The Razorbacks loaded the bases with two outs in sixth and put runners on second and third with one out in the seventh but came away empty-handed both times.
The Razorbacks were awarded the third overall seed and were named the host team in the Fayetteville Regional with second-seeded Kansas (43-15), third-seeded Creighton (41-14) and fourth-seeded North Dakota State (20-31).
The Razorbacks will meet the Bison at 2 this afternoon, followed by Kansas and Creighton at 7 tonight. The regional title game is slated for 8 p.m. Sunday, with the if-game set for Monday.
