June 7, 2015 Box Score | 
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Missouri State's dream season and bid for its second College World Series berth came to an end Sunday afternoon at the Fayetteville Super Regional, as Arkansas made a three-run first inning stand for a 3-2 victory in the deciding game of the best-of-three series.
With the loss, the Bears (49-12) conclude their 2015 campaign with a school-record 49 wins, including 40 in their last 46 games since March 15, while UA advances to an opening-round matchup with Virginia next Saturday in Omaha.
Three Arkansas pitchers, led by Zach Jackson's 3.2 innings of shutdown relief, limited the Bears to single runs in the third and sixth innings. Jackson allowed an RBI single to the first batter he faced after taking over for Lance Phillips (2-3), then retired the final 11 batters of the game--six coming via strikeouts--to lock up the Razorbacks' eighth trip to the College World Series.
Tyler Spoon singled home the first of UA's three first-inning tallies and finished the day 2-for-4 to lead Arkansas, which pulled out the victory despite being outhit by the Bears, 8-7.
Justin Paulsen paced the Bears' attack with a pair of hits and an RBI, while Dylan Becker singled home a run and drew his school-record 55th walk of the season for MSU.
After being held to one hit in Saturday's Game 2 loss, the Razorbacks (40-23) wasted little time in kicking their offense into gear in the deciding contest, striking for three runs on three hits in the first against MSU starter Jordan Knutson. Bobby Wernes' one-out single got the ball rolling for the Razorbacks, before Andrew Benintendi coaxed a four-pitch walk. Spoon followed with a base hit through the left side to chase home Wernes, and Rick Nomura's sacrifice fly to center brought in Benintendi. Next, Spoon recorded what would prove to be a key steal of second, setting up Brett McAfee's run-scoring single to right that stretched the UA lead to 3-0.
The Bears, who went just 3-for-24 with runners in scoring position in the first two games of the series, generated a first-inning scoring chance of their own, as Joey Hawkins singled and Tate Matheny lined a double off the left-field foul line. But UA starter James Teague wiggled his way out of harm's way, retiring Eric Cheray on a liner to shortstop before getting Jake Burger to bounce out to second to keep the Bears off the scoreboard.
MSU's struggles with runners in scoring position continued in the second when a two-out walk to Becker loaded the bases after singles by Paulsen and Matt Fultz set up another threat. Teague came up with another big out, however, inducing a pop up to short with his first offering to Hawkins.
It would take a two-out rally fueled by an Arkansas error to break the scoring seal for the Bears in the third. After Teague dispatched the first two hitters of the inning, Burger's tap to third scooted under the glove of Wernes to give the Bears new life. Next, Spencer Johnson drew a walk and Paulsen's base hit to left bring in Burger for the first MSU tally of the day.
Then, with runners on first and second, Graham's liner down the first base line initially appeared to sneak inside the bag, but first base umpire John Haggerty ruled otherwise, taking at least one MSU run off the scoreboard. Three pitches later, Teague froze Graham with a 2-2 pitch on the outside corner, ending the Bears' threat with the potential tying run still on first.
Neither club threatened again until the sixth, as Knutson settled into a groove to retire 14 of 16 UA hitters after the first, and Teague worked a 1-2-3 fourth inning before yielding to Phillips in the fifth. In all, Teague would allow just one unearned run on five hits while fanning four batters, while Knutson (6-2) shut out the Razorbacks after the first, allowing three runs on six hits and a pair of walks in his 6.0 innings.
The Bears best chance to even the score came in the sixth after Graham's one-out single landed clearly fair in right-center field, and Fultz drew a walk to force an Arkansas pitching change. Becker stroked a run-scoring single into right field to make it a 3-2 game and bring up Hawkins with runners on the corners.
Jackson delivered for UA, however, getting Hawkins to look at a called third strike, then inducing a fly ball to right on a 2-2 pitch to Matheny to escape the inning with the one-run lead intact.
The right-hander cruised down the stretch, striking out a total of four batters in the seventh and eighth frames, before working a perfect ninth that was punctuated by a game-clinching strikeout of Matheny.
In addition to setting school record for victories in a season, the Bears also surpassed previous program standards for strikeouts by a pitching staff (553), walks drawn (317), sacrifice hits (60) and team fielding percentage (.976).
