Nivens gave the Bears a 2-0 lead in the third inning with his fifth home run of the season, blasting one off the batter’s eye in center after Mason Hull took a leadoff walk. Arkansas rallied with a leadoff single home run in the bottom half to tie it 2-1, and the MSU pitching staff reacted by retiring 19 of the next 20 Razorback batters to force extra innings.
Reece Lang (2-2) pitched five innings, striking out five and allowing two hits; Eric Loomis retired all six hitters he faced; and Trey Ziegenbein dismissed the first four batters he saw before the Hogs rallied. Meanwhile, MSU’s Hayden Moore doubled and scored on a Nivens groundout in the fifth inning to take a 3-1 lead, Drake Baldwin smashed his ninth home run of the season over the scoreboard in right-center in the ninth, and Mason Greer doubled and scored on two wild pitches following that to take a 6-1 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth, the home club made a statement, scoring three runs on a combination of two singles, two errors, a walk, and a hit batter to make it 6-4 with two outs. Jake McMahill entered and secured the save with the last out.
