Arkansas evens series with Kentucky

A combination of Arkansas’ impressive outfield defense and Kentucky’s inability to find hits with runners in scoring position saw the Razorbacks even the series at a game apiece with a 5-4 win on Friday night at Kentucky Proud Park.

The Wildcats stranded 13 runners in Game 2, going 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position. They won Friday’s series opener 4-3 despite going 0-for-9 with RISP.

Part of the issue was Arkansas’ defense. Each member of the Razorbacks’ outfield made a sliding catch during the game to take away a potential UK hit. Centerfielder Maika Niu also chased down a double into the right-center gap in the eighth inning to keep the Cats’ Tyler Bell from coming around as the tying run from first base.

“I give their defense credit,” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said. “They made at least five awesome plays… We had our chances, but tip your cap. They made some super plays.”

The Arkansas pitching staff was also strong with 16 strikeouts on the night. Starter Gabe Gaeckle and reliever Ethan McElvain (5-0) each recorded seven punchouts.

Six of the Razorbacks’ hits on the night went for extra bases, including four doubles and two home runs. Camden Cozeal and Zack Stewart each went deep for Arkansas.

By contrast, the Cats had just three extra-base hits. Hudson Brown had a solo home run.

Ben Cleaver started and worked 4.1 innings for Kentucky, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks. Five men worked in relief for the Cats with Leighton Harris (0-1) taking the loss after allowing a leadoff walk in the eighth inning.

An RBI double by Nolan Souza brought home the winning run for the Razorbacks. He went 2-for-4 with a walk on the night.

No. 10 Arkansas (35-19, 16-13 SEC) and Kentucky (31-19, 13-16 SEC) will close the regular season on Saturday at KPP. Both teams are expected to be in the NCAA Tournament now, but a win could improve the outlook for each club.

Scary Situation for Young Cat:

Kentucky freshman right fielder Braxton Van Cleave was forced out of the game in the bottom of the third after his two-out RBI single up the middle tied the game at 1-1. The ball split the shortstop and second baseman, but was not hard enough to reach the centerfielder quickly, so Van Cleave hustled to second base.

About 8 feet short of the bag, however, he collided violently with shortstop Camden Kozeal and did not get up. Trainers for both teams examined Van Cleave for several minutes before he was carted off for further examination at the UK Hospital.

“They’re doing some imaging and things on his face,” Mingione said. “The left side of his face was extremely numb when we were out there, so they’re doing imaging to figure out the results… We’ll know more as the swelling continues to go down.”

Pitching Picture for Saturday Unclear

Kentucky used its ace starter, Jaxon Jelkin, to close out its Game 1 win on Thursday night. That left an opening for the series finale.

Mingione said it was unclear who would take the ball to start Game 3.

“We’ll go talk, map it out,” he added. “We’ll figure it out, sooner hopefully than later.”

The Cats’ mid-week starter for the second half of the season, Connor Mattison, is one potential candidate. The junior right-hander is 2-2 with a 6.63 ERA.

Up Next:

The series concludes on Saturday with a 2 p.m. ET first pitch at Kentucky Proud Park.

FINAL BOX: Arkansas 5, Kentucky 4 pic.twitter.com/2HszltH7vf

— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) May 16, 2026