FAYETTEVILLE — Christian Franklin hit three RBI to lead the No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks past the Missouri Tigers 4-3 Saturday at Baum-Walker Stadium.
The freshman went 1-of-2 at the plate and hit a two-out single up the gut in the fourth inning that established the Hogs’ 4-0 lead that they rode to their first Southeastern Conference series win of the season.
Franklin also came up with a fly ball in foul territory that sealed the win and staved off the Tigers’ comeback. Franklin caught the final out in front of the stands.
“What a great catch,” said Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn. “You never know what is going to happen. That was a big strong kid at the plate. I was watching BP both days and he was launching balls. Anything could happen on a day like this when the wind is blowing out and the air is thin and you can still miss-hit a ball, but if you catch it just right, it can get out of the park.”
The freshman had a pretty good idea that the ball was going to be close and took off.
Said Franklin: “It was right in front of my face. Running over there, I had an idea it was going to be a close play maybe so I wanted to get over there and give myself the best chance to catch the ball. As it was coming down that fan was reaching over with his glove and luckily it went a little bit over his glove and I was able to make that catch so that was good.”
The Razorbacks improve to 16-2 on the season with a 2-0 mark in the SEC. It is their best start since 2012 and they have won eight-straight in SEC-opening series going back to 2017.
Arkansas goes for the sweep Sunday at 1:30 p.m. from Baum-Walker Stadium with pregame at 1:00 p.m. on Fox Sports Radio 1400 AM.