College softball games are scheduled for seven innings, but sometimes it takes only one to know it’s not your day.

Arkansas used a pivotal third inning to silence an LSU sellout crowd and extend the Tigers’ tailspin with a 4-1 victory at Tiger Park on Saturday.

An apparent double play that would have gotten the Tigers out of the inning with only one run scored was overturned on a replay challenge. In the bottom half of the inning, the Razorbacks recorded a double play to kill a bases-loaded rally for LSU.

The turnabout seemed to sap the energy from the ballpark and sent the No. 6 Tigers (35-13, 11-12 SEC) to their eighth loss in 11 Southeastern Conference games. The Tigers, who won their first 24 games of the season, have lost six of eight series while Arkansas (34-12, 13-7) clinched its sixth SEC series with one to play.

“It’s tough when you’re not playing well, it feels like nothing goes your way ever,” LSU coach Beth Torina said. "It feels like you don’t ever get a break. If we were in the winning streak in the beginning, everything goes our way. It’s definitely a double play and every ball we hit falls.”

Arkansas already had nudged ahead 2-1 and had the bases loaded against LSU pitcher Kelley Lynch. With one out, Hannah Gammill hit a grounder to third right at the bag. LSU third baseman Madyson Manning fielded the ball, stepped on third and threw to first to seemingly end the inning.

But Arkansas challenged the play, and it was ruled a foul ball. Gammill fouled off five two-strike pitches before drawing another run-producing walk. Kennedy Miller singled to score another run and finished Lynch, who walked four in the inning. LSU might have been out of the inning even earlier, but shortstop Taylor Pleasants booted a potential double play ball that also could have ended the inning.

LSU appeared ready to answer in the bottom half of the inning. Walks to Ciara Briggs and Karli Petty and a single by Raeleen Gutierrez loaded the bases for Ali Newland. On an 0-2 count, Newland smoked a low line drive that Gammill snagged just above the bag and tagged it in one motion for an unassisted double play.

“Sometimes that happens. It was an unlucky one for us,” Gutierrez said. “We have the mentality to flush it.”

LSU put runners on base in each of the four remaining innings, but none got past second base. Newland came to the plate as the tying run in the seventh, but Arkansas went to Game 1 winner Morgan Leinstock in the circle. Newland hit a drive to deep center field, but Reagan Johnson easily ran back under it for the final out.

The game crystallized the Tigers’ recent struggles. LSU matched Arkansas’ seven hits but left 10 runners on base and got its only run when Gutierrez, who had four hits, scored on a wild pitch in the second inning. LSU has scored eight runs in its last eight SEC games.

“We did have runners on the entire day,” Torina said. “We felt competitive. There were a few innings in the middle where I felt we lost that competitive fight. We could never come up with the timely hit.

“We have to keep our confidence up. It’s not even about getting hits, it’s about finding ways to score. We’ve got to get creative and figure out how to score.”

Some good did come out of the game. Rae Chaffin had her best outing by far in SEC play with 4⅔ innings of shutout ball, allowing four hits and no walks with three strikeouts.

“She needed that, we needed that,” Torina said of Chaffin's performance. "That will play really well for us down the stretch, having all three of them throwing really well.

"I think Kelley was right around it all day. It was a tough strike zone. It was fair the whole day, but it limited our options.”

The teams wrap up the series at 1 p.m. Sunday.