Gabe Gaeckle needed only 12 pitches to get through the second inning with a strikeout and a couple of groundouts.
Missouri 2, Arkansas 1 — End 1st Inning
Wehiwa Aloy hit a 1-out infield single and scored on Cam Kozeal’s deep sac fly to right-center field.
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Logan Maxwell (hit by pitch) and Brent Iredale (walk) were stranded in scoring position when Kuhio Aloy struck out at a high 3-2 fastball. It was his fifth strikeout of the weekend.
Missouri 2, Arkansas 0 — Middle 1st Inning
The Tigers’ first 3 hitters reached safely on 2 hits and an error by second baseman Nolan Souza.
Cameron Benson’s RBI single scored Keegan Knutson after his leadoff single. Kaden Peer, who reached on the error, scored on a 2-out RBI single by Cayden Nicoletto.
The inning ended when Nicoletto was caught stealing at second base.
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Gabe Gaeckle needed 35 pitches to get through that inning.
Pregame
Arkansas and Missouri are set to get underway at 1 p.m. on another cold, overcast day in Fayetteville.
Both of today’s games will be 7 innings in regulation. The second game will begin 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
The Razorbacks won a 7-inning game 21-3 on Saturday. It was the most runs allowed by Mizzou in an SEC game and its worst loss as an SEC team.
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Gabe Gaeckle will be on the mound for Arkansas today, opposite Mizzou lefty Brady Kehlenbrink.
Here is Arkansas’ starting lineup:
LF Charles Davalan
SS Wehiwa Aloy
RF Logan Maxwell
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3B Brent Iredale
1B Cam Kozeal
DH Kuhio Aloy
C Ryder Helfrick
2B Nolan Souza
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CF Justin Thomas
Matt Jones
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Matt Jones is the managing editor of WholeHogSports.com and hosts the Hawgs Sports Network Daily Podcast. He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, and voter for the Heisman Trophy. He has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas.
John Thomas Shepherd of El Dorado has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be a U.S. District judge in the Western District of Arkansas, according to the offices of U.S. Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton, R-Ark.
Shepherd is a native of El Dorado and graduate of Rice University and the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville, where he was managing editor of the Arkansas Law Review.
He was a partner at Shepherd & Shepherd in El Dorado and also served as a prosecuting attorney, and later judge, for the Arkansas Circuit Court’s 13th Judicial District. He is a member of the Federalist Society, according to a press release from Cotton’s office.
His brother, Matthew Shepherd, is a partner in the El Dorado law firm and is a former speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives. Their father is Federal Judge Bobby Shepherd who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
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“I am pleased to congratulate John Thomas Shepherd on his confirmation and am confident he will serve with the same integrity, professionalism and sound judgment he has demonstrated throughout his career,” noted a statement from Boozman’s. “We are grateful for his deep commitment to public service and the rule of law.”
Judge John Thomas Shepherd
Shepherd succeeds U.S. District Court Judge Susan Hickey who has been on the bench since October 2011. She was chief judge of the district between 2019 and 2025. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas includes 34 counties stretching from Texarkana and El Dorado to Fayetteville and Fort Smith.
Shepherd is the second Western District judge to be confirmed so far in 2026. David Clay Fowlkes, the former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, was confirmed in early February to be a federal judge in the Western District of Arkansas. He succeeded U.S. District Court Judge P.K. Holmes III, and will be in the Fort Smith office.
Other judges now in the Western District are Chief Judge Timothy Brooks (Fayetteville bench), Magistrate Judge Christy Comstock (Fayetteville), Magistrate Judge Mark Ford (Fort Smith), and Magistrate Judge Spencer Singleton (El Dorado).
Pitching for Alabama baseball had been fine for much of this season. Then the Crimson Tide ran into an Arkansas Razorbacks team that got hot at the plate over the weekend at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
Arkansas scored 25 runs in a three-game sweep of the Tide, snapping a string of three straight SEC series victories for Alabama. In all three games, the Razorbacks’ bats came alive late. Arkansas used a six-run eighth inning on Friday for a 7-5 win, then plated 11 runs over the final three innings Saturday in a 15-6 rout.
Alabama had a 2-0 lead in after five innings in Sunday’s series finale, but the Razorbacks scored single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to complete the sweep. The Crimson Tide had won 11 of their last 12 games entering the weekend, including SEC series victories over top 25 teams Florida, Auburn and Oklahoma.
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After a 1-3 week in Week 9 of the 2026 NCAA baseball season, here’s where Alabama ranks in Monday’s new USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
Alabama sees modest drop in Baseball Coaches Poll after Arkansas sweep
In Monday’s new Coaches Poll, Alabama (26-11 overall, 8-7 conference) fell four spots to No. 13. The Crimson Tide are ranked one spot above the West Virginia Mountaineers and one spot below Oklahoma.
Alabama is one of five teams to drop at least four spots in this week’s top 25 rankings. Florida State had a four-spot fall to No. 10, and Mississippi State tied Nebraska for the biggest slide. The Bulldogs fell eight spots to No. 16; the Cornhuskers eight spots to No. 25.
SEC slides, ACC rises in top 5 of NCAA Baseball Coaches Poll
Both Georgia Tech and North Carolina rose in the top five of the Coaches Poll after impressive weekend series against Florida State and Clemson, respectively. Texas and Georgia dropped in the top five after series losses to Texas A&M and Florida, respectively.
Here’s a look at the full top 25 rankings in the USA TODAY Sports Baseball Coaches Poll for April 13.
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Rank
Team
Record
PTS
1st
Prev
Chg
Hi/Lo
1
UCLA
33-2
750
30
1
–
1/2
2
Georgia Tech
30-5
719
0
3
1
2/5
3
North Carolina
30-6
680
0
5
2
3/14
4
Texas
27-7
621
0
2
2
2/4
5
Georgia
29-8
618
0
4
1
4/13
6
Oregon State
28-7
611
0
7
1
6/18
7
Texas A&M
27-7
516
0
15
8
7/NR
8
Coastal Carolina
26-9
511
0
11
3
7/25
9
USC
30-7
506
0
10
1
8/NR
10
Florida State
24-11
437
0
6
4
6/17
11
Auburn
24-11
402
0
12
1
4/12
12
Virginia
26-11
383
0
14
2
11/NR
13
Alabama
26-11
325
0
9
4
9/NR
14
Oklahoma
24-11
319
0
18
4
8/NR
15
West Virginia
24-8
306
0
19
4
12/NR
16
Mississippi State
26-10
305
0
8
8
3/16
17
Arkansas
24-13
272
0
22
5
5/22
18
Florida
27-10
233
0
24
6
8/25
19
Oregon
26-10
216
0
20
1
10/NR
20
Southern Miss
25-11
176
0
13
7
7/20
21
Kansas
26-10
153
0
NR
12
21/NR
22
Arizona State
26-11
138
0
21
1
21/NR
23
Ole Miss
26-11
125
0
NR
3
18/NR
24
Boston College
26-12
111
0
25
1
24/25
25
Nebraska
27-9
93
0
17
8
17/NR
Schools Dropped Out
No. 16 UCF; No. 23 North Carolina State
Others Receiving Votes
North Carolina State 74; UCF 49; Jacksonville State 33; Miami (FL) 15; Tennessee 14; California Baptist 13; Missouri State 6; Wake Forest 5; Kentucky 4; UC Santa Barbara 3; Vanderbilt 2; UTSA 2; LSU 2; Liberty 1; Dallas Baptist 1
Alabama baseball 2026 schedule: When do Crimson Tide play next?
Alabama will face the UAB Blazers (23-13) at Regions Field in Birmingham on Tuesday in midweek play. First pitch for Alabama-UAB is 6 p.m. CT.
The Crimson Tide visit Austin for their next series in SEC play beginning Friday. They take on the Texas Longhorns (27-7, 9-5) at 6:30 p.m. CT Friday.
Here’s a look at Alabama’s 2026 baseball schedule. All start times Central.
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Feb. 13-15: vs. Washington State (L, 8-4; W, 8-1; W, 11-1)
Feb. 17: at Samford (W, 3-2)
Feb. 18: vs. Alabama State (W, 2-1)
Feb. 20-22: vs. Rhode Island (W, 19-4; W, 8-5; W, 11-1)
Feb. 24: at Southern Miss (L, 14-4)
Feb. 27: vs. Iowa at Frisco College Baseball Classic (W, 12-2)
Feb. 28: vs. Oregon State at Frisco College Baseball Classic (W, 8-7)
March 1: vs. Houston at Frisco College Baseball Classic (L, 8-2)
March 3: vs. Jacksonville State (W, 6-5)
March 4: at Alabama State (W, 13-4)
March 6-8: vs. North Florida (W, 7-2; W, 9-3; W, 12-2)
March 10: vs. Troy (W, 7-3)
March 13-15: at Kentucky (L, 7-4; L, 8-7; L, 6-4)
March 17: at South Alabama (L, 6-3)
March 20-22: vs. Florida (W, 6-0; W, 8-4; W, 14-7)
March 24: vs. Austin Peay (W, 6-2)
March 27-29: vs. Auburn (W, 11-1; W, 3-2; W, 3-1)
March 31: at Jacksonville State (W, 4-3)
April 2-5: at Oklahoma (W, 10-7; L, 4-2; W, 3-2)
April 7: vs. Samford (W, 16-2)
April 10-12: vs. Arkansas (L, 7-5, L, 15-6, L, 3-2)
April 14: at UAB, 6 p.m.
April 17-19: at Texas (6:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday)
April 21: vs. UAB, 6 p.m.
April 23-25: at Tennessee (6 p.m. Thursday, 5:30 p.m. Friday, noon Saturday)
April 30-May 2: vs. Vanderbilt (6 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday)
May 5: at Troy, 6 p.m.
May 8-10: at South Carolina (4:30 p.m. Friday, noon Saturday, 12:30 p.m. Sunday)
May 14-16: vs. Ole Miss (6 p.m. Thursday, 6 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday)
May 19-24: SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama
Record: 26-11 overall, 8-7 SEC.
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