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Burnham blanks No. 12 LSU, No. 2 Arkansas nabs crucial series win

Screenshot 2025-02-05 152517by: Cooper Taylor05/03/25
Screenshot 2025-05-03 at 1.28.35 PM
Photo courtesy of Arkansas Athletics

Payton Burnham earned her first start of the series for Arkansas, and it was a good one. She tossed a complete game shutout, leading No. 2 Arkansas to a 6-0 rubber match win over No. 12 LSU.

To open the game, the freshman right-hander worked around a one-out double, notching a pair of strikeouts to keep LSU off the board in the first.

LSU head coach Beth Torina gave Tatum Clopton her first start of the weekend. Clopton walked the leadoff batter. An LSU error and another walk loaded the bases with no outs. After a fielder’s choice recorded the first out of the inning, Kailey Wyckoff put the Hogs on the scoreboard with an RBI groundout. A flyout held Arkansas’ lead at 1-0 after one inning.

In the top of the third, another 1-2-3 inning from Burnham held the Hogs’ lead.

A pair of walks and a single loaded the bases for Arkansas, chasing Clopton from the game. On in relief, LSU’s ace Sydney Berzon took over. On a wild pitch, Arkansas plated its second run of the game. A groundout then ended the inning, but Arkansas had jumped ahead 2-0 after three innings.

Arkansas loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth via an error, a bunt single and an intentional walk to Bri Ellis. The free pass came back to bite the Hogs though, as the next pitch was a wild one, scoring the Hogs’ third run of the game. A groundout ended the inning, but Arkansas extended its lead to 3-0.

Burnham continued to roll in the away fifth, retiring three of the four batters she faced. In the bottom half, a two-out LSU error extended the inning and Kennedy Miller laced an RBI single to right field and added to the Arkansas lead. Reagan Johnson kept it going, singling through the left side to push the lead to 5-0. The back-to-back singles ended Berzon’s outing. On in relief was the freshman Jayden Heavener. Out of the gates, Heavener issued a free pass to load the bases with Ellis coming to the plate. Facing Ellis, a consecutive full-count walk scored another Razorback run. A flyout preserved the frame for LSU, but the Tigers trailed 6-0 after five innings.

Another scoreless inning worked by Burnham in the sixth ended in a strikeout of Tori Edwards. Heavener responded with a shutout inning in the home half, working around a leadoff walk to avoid the run-rule. A double play ended the game, giving Burnham a complete game shutout win as the Razorbacks win their sixth consecutive SEC series. Arkansas’ 6-0 win also guarantees the Razorbacks a top-six seed heading into the SEC Tournament.

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