Story from Chase Snider–Missourinet affiliate KTTS.
The Missouri State Bears postseason dreams fell apart as their road to Omaha came to an end Sunday afternoon with a 3-2 loss in the Super Regionals finale to Arkansas.
The Bears battled back Saturday after a rough start in the best-of-three series but couldn’t find the win in the final game.
“Hats off to Arkansas and congratulations. They have a fine team,” Bears head coach Keith Guttin said. “It was a great weekend and a great atmosphere. Our guys competed hard and came up a little bit short.”
Guttin said he was hoping their second appearance in a Super Regional would be more like their first in 2003, where the team advanced to the College World Series
“I really wanted this for our players more than anything. We have a great group of seniors, and we are going to lose some juniors,” Guttin said. “I’ve been in this for a long time, and they are probably the most unselfish group I’ve ever been around.”
Arkansas put up three runs early in the first inning. The Bears would come within one run but couldn’t find it at the plate to advance to Omaha.
Final notes:
In addition to setting school record for victories in a season (49), the Bears also surpassed previous program marks for strikeouts by a pitching staff (553), walks drawn (317), sacrifice hits (60) and team fielding percentage (.976).