No. 7 Arkansas (40-10, 17-8 SEC) suffered a late-night walk-off loss to the No. 3 LSU Tigers (39-11, 16-9 SEC), 5-4, in 10 innings on Friday night in Baton Rouge, La., at Alex Box Stadium. The Razorbacks still hold sole possession of second place in the Southeastern Conference standings.
Arkansas baseball vs LSU: Game 1
Zach Root proves that pitchers are athletes, too
LHP Zach Root found himself in some trouble early after allowing a leadoff double to DH Ethan Frey to begin the bottom of the second inning. RF Josh Pearson moved the runner over to third base on a sacrifice bunt, and C Luis Hernandez was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners. 3B Michael Braswell III laid down a safety squeeze to try and drive in Frey.
The ball barely rolled past the dirt in front of home plate, and Root had to make a decision whether or not he was going to toss the ball to C Ryder Helfrick. Root fielded the ball and leaped forward to tag Frey on the leg to make the second out of the inning and keep the game scoreless. The southpaw followed up by making SS Steven Milam ground into a force out at second to end the frame.
Pitchers are athletes 😤 pic.twitter.com/gJTAf5JnAr
May 10, 2025LSU struck first in the bottom of the third with CF Chris Stanfield leading off the frame with a double and advanced to third on a ground out by LF Derek Curiel. 1B Jared Jones blooped an RBI single to right field to score Stanfield to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. 2B Daniel Dickinson grounded into a double play to end the frame.
Arkansas immediately tied the game on a solo shot by 2B Camden Kozeal with one out in the top of the fourth for his 12th home run of the year. LSU took the lead back on a leadoff solo shot by Frey in the bottom of the fourth on the first pitch he saw to make it 2-1.
The Hogs opened up the top of the fifth with a leadoff double by Helfrick and a single by CF Justin Thomas Jr. to place runners on the corners. CF Charles Davalan tied the game on an RBI sacrifice fly to center field to cash in Helfrick while Thomas advanced to second on the throw.
Arkansas seized the lead, 3-2, in the top of the sixth on a solo homer by DH Kuhio Aloy to left center on the first pitch of the inning for his 13th bomb and SEC-leading 66th RBI of the season.
The Razorbacks extended the lead to two in the top of the seventh with Thomas leading off the frame with a single to center. He moved up to second base on a ground out by Davalan and advanced to third on a wild pitch. SS Wehiwa Aloy pushed Thomas across on an RBI groundout to third to give Arkansas a 4-2 lead.
Root put up his fifth quality start of the year in his 13th start of the season. He threw six innings while allowing two runs, five hits and no walks with six strikeouts on 91 pitches (66 strikes). RHP Aiden Jimenez relieved him to begin the bottom of the seventh.
After striking out Hernandez to begin the inning, Jimenez allowed a pinch-hit single to Jake Brown and walked Milam and Stanfield to load the bases. Curiel singled through the left side to score Brown and Milam to tie the game. Jimenez was taken out of the game for RHP Gabe Gaeckle, who struck out Jones and Dickinson to end the rally. Gaeckle came back out for the bottom of the eighth and fired a perfect frame and blanked the Tigers in the bottom of the ninth while allowing a single to Milam to keep the game tied, 4-4.
Arkansas had a chance to take the lead in the top of the 10th after Wehiwa Aloy led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kendall Diggs, who came into the game as a defensive replacement for Logan Maxwell in right field in the bottom of the seventh. After Kuhio Aloy struck out, Kozeal was intentionally walked, and 3B Brent Iredale was hit by a pitch to load up the bases. RHP Zac Cowan struck out 1B Reese Robinett to end the threat and keep the game knotted up.
Jones led off the bottom of the 10th with a single to left field on the first pitch he saw and moved up to second base on a wild pitch. Dickinson moved the runner over to third on a groundout to first base. Frey drove in Jones on an RBI sacrifice fly to center field to give LSU the walk-off victory.
The Razorbacks and the Tigers will meet back up in Alex Box Stadium for the second game of the three-game series on Saturday. The first pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.