I loooked around at all the alternate possibilities before calling Southwest.
It looks like there are a few options, but instead of a 5 hour flight from Oakland with 1 stop, they would all involve 8 to 10 hours with 3 stops.

I will definitely use the tips described in the future, but for this trip I have to arrive early (family member having surgery) so I will have to go the OAK route.

Thanks so much for the info. I will DEFINITELY be making use of it in the future when I don't have to be in LIT by a certain time.