Missouri State University

The ninth-ranked Arkansas baseball team scored 11 runs in the first two innings and cruised to a 16-2 non-conference victory over Missouri State Wednesday evening at Hammons Field in Springfield.

The Razorbacks improved to 30-10 overall, while the Bears dropped to 19-18 after losing their sixth straight game.

Arkansas loaded the bases with no outs in the first, bringing home its first run on a catcher’s interference and plating a second run when Jake Shafer (1-5) hit Danny Hamblin, ending the starters’ day after only five batters faced. Reliever Austin Todd walked the first two batters he faced before inducing a double play ball and a ground out, but not before the Razorbacks scored five runs on just one hit with four walks and a hit batsman.

The Bears got a run back in the bottom half of the inning when Nolan Keane tripled and scored on Kyle Paul’s two-out single.

The Razorbacks again loaded the bases with no outs in the second. Todd walked in the first run and Hamblin ripped a two-run single for an 8-1 lead. Pat Doyle entered for Todd with two outs and walked one run home before an error cost the Bears two more runs as the MSU deficit grew to 11-1.

Arkansas scored a run in the fourth and four more in the eighth, and Dallas Hord knocked an RBI single in the ninth for the 16-2 final, matching the worst loss Missouri State has suffered in four years at Hammons Field.

Josh Mazzola and Paul recorded three hits apiece, and Hord notched his first career two-hit game.

Six Missouri State pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts but also issued 10 walks.

The Bears return to Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend with a three-game set against 10th-ranked Wichita State. The series begins Friday at 7 p.m.