Hogs get 58-point surge on last day to claim another championship

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Hogs get 58-point surge on last day to claim another championship

A surge of 58 points scored by the Razorbacks on the third and final day of the NCAA Indoor Championships secured another national championship.

The Razorbacks totaled 68 points to chase down the 16-point lead Texas A&M built over the first two days.

The Aggies finished as runner-up with 57 points with LSU third at 39. The rest of the top 10 schools included USC (35), Georgia (31), Florida (30), BYU (29), Texas (25), Baylor (24), and Auburn (20).

Arkansas’ total is the third highest winning score over the history of the NCAA Indoor Championships, dating back to 1983, trailing only 84 by Oregon in 2017 and 71 by Texas in 1988.

The Razorbacks also became the first women’s team to capture an indoor national title without an individual or relay victory.

“We started the day with 10 points and knew we had some scoring ability because of all the events that we covered for today,” Arkansas coach Lance Harter said later. “I met with the milers, being the first event, and reminded them a lot of times momentum starts with the first event and has a positive flow for the rest of the meet.

“They took it to heart, had a big scoring punch, and then it went to the next events, including a school record for Shafiqua in the 800m. Then all of sudden we’re only two points down and we knew we had the 3,000 and mile relay remaining.”

Scoring on the final day started with 14 points in the mile with a 2-3 combo for Krissy Gear and Kennedy Thomson behind the winning effort of Colorado’s Sage Hurta (4:30.58).

Gear posted a 4:32.37 while Thomson established a career best of 4:33.95, which is No. 6 on the UA all-time list.

Arkansas cut Texas A&M’s lead in half at that point after the Aggie total reached 34 points with a runner-up finish in the triple jump.

With a pair of points from Jada Baylark in the 60 off a 7.23, five points followed for the Razorbacks in the 400 as Tiana Wilson and Rosey Effiong placed sixth and seventh. Wilson hit another career best as her 52.02 moves her to No. 5 on the UA all-time list while Effiong followed in 52.50.

The Aggies picked up 13 points in the 400 off a 2-4 finish, putting their lead at 47-31 with five events remaining.

When Daszay Freeman clocked a career best of 7.99 as runner-up in the 60m hurdles, moving to No. 3 on the UA all-time list, the Razorbacks closed the gap to 47-39.

A school record from Shafiqua Maloney earned a bronze medal in a tight 800m final. Maloney registered a 2:01.22 behind Aaliyah Miller of Baylor, who won in a meet record of 2:00.69, with Clemson’s Laurie Barton runner-up in 2:01.21, just a fraction ahead of Maloney.

Maloney bettered the Arkansas record of 2:01.96 set by Aneita Denton in 2005 and improved her own national record for St. Vincent and the Grenadines. She also moved to No. 8 on the all-time collegiate indoor list.

Just as vital, her six points pulled the Razorbacks within two points of the Aggies, 47-45, with three events left.

Neither team had anyone in the final of the 200m, but Arkansas had four entrants in the 3,000m.

Three Razorbacks scored in the race, combing for 17 points to secure the national champion prior to the final event, the 4×400 relay.

“We met with the 3k girls and said let’s take the pressure off the mile relay and make a statement here,” said Harter. “If we can get ahead by 3 or 4 points, then we can put this meet away. They obviously over-achieved and the meet was over.”

Lauren Gregory led the charge, placing second in 9:01.67 behind BYU’s Courtney Wayment (9:01.47).

Katie Izzo and Abby Gray followed in fourth and fifth place, posting times of 9:03.85 and 9:05.52. The mark by Gray is a career best and ranks eighth on the UA all-time list. Logan Morris just missed adding a point in ninth place with a time of 9:10.40.

Following that strong showing the Razorbacks launched into the lead, 62-47, to defend the 2019 NCAA Indoor championship they won, but were unable to defend in 2020 with the national meet was canceled due to the pandemic.

In capping the championship in style, Arkansas set a school record in the 4×400 relay with a 3:28.07, topping the record of 3:28.50 they set to win the SEC title two weeks ago.

The Razorback foursome included Paris Peoples (52.83), Morgan Burks-Magee (52.17), Wilson (52.24), and Maloney (50.83). Texas A&M won the relay in a meet record of 3:26.68 while USC placed second in 3:27.91.

Hogs win another to keep streak alive, but need extra innings

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Hogs win another to keep streak alive, but need extra innings

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Senior infielder Braxton Burnside hit the second of her two homers on the day to left field in the top of the 10th inning, sending No. 19 Arkansas to a 7-5 win in 10 innings over No. 20 South Carolina.

The Razorbacks (19-2, 2-0 SEC) pushed their program-record win streak to 18 games and claimed the first two games of the series against the Gamecocks.

Trailing 4-2 entering the sixth inning, the Hogs scored a pair of two out runs in the stanza to tie the game and took a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh before finishing the job in extras.

Senior infielder Danielle Gibson had a career day at the plate, going 5-for-5 with a pair of doubles and a walk.

How it happened

Making her first career start against an SEC foe, freshman pitcher Lauren Howell allowed a walk and hit by pitch in the first inning but buckled down and left runners on second and third by striking out back-to-back hitters.

Burnside gave the Razorbacks an early lead in the top of the third, launching her first tank of the day for an opposite field solo home run to right.

The Razorbacks increased their lead to 2-0 as Gibson doubled to left and was plated the next hitter on catcher Kayla Green’s two bagger to left.

South Carolina (13-5, 0-2 SEC) answered immediately by putting up a four-run bottom half to take a 4-2 lead.

A walk and error got the inning started, and the Gamecocks sent eight batters to the plate totaling four hits.

After two quiet innings, Arkansas’ offense went to work with two outs in the top of the sixth and tied the game, 4-4.

All five hitters in the stanza reached with two outs as outfielder Sam Torres reached on an error, Burnside singled and Gibson walked, setting up Green’s bases loaded walk and outfielder Linnie Malkin’s infield single to tie it.

The Hogs grabbed a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh with designated player Aly Manzo’s leadoff single to center table setting the inning.

Infielder Nicole Duncan laid down a sacrifice bunt and pinch runner Audrie LaValley went all the way to third on an errant throw that went wide of second base. Infielder Keely Huffine then lifted a sacrifice fly to center and LaValley slid home, beating the throw.

South Carolina sent the game to extras tied at 5-5 in the home half of the seventh after two singles and a safety squeeze single.

Torres walked in front of Burnside before she tomahawked her second homer of the day to left, her SEC-leading 14th homer of the year and the team’s 51st, giving Arkansas a 7-5 lead it would not relinquish.

Howell went the first 2.0 innings allowing just one hit and two earned runs with two strikeouts.

Fellow freshman hurler Allie Light was next in line, throwing 3.0 innings and allowed one run and four hits while fanning two. Mary Haff (12-1) built on her national lead in victories, working the final 5.0 innings and allowed three hits and one earned run with four strikeouts.

The Gamecocks used a quartet of arms with Karsen Ochs (2-2) taking the loss in 3.0 innings. She allowed three runs and struck out one.

Arkansas has won both of its extra inning games this season at true road sites and defeated McNeese on Feb. 20, 6-4, in 14 innings.

The team’s 13 hits tied its season-high. Arkansas has now won four of its last five games in the all-time series against South Carolina.

The Razorbacks and Gamecocks wrap up the series at noon Sunday on the SEC Network.

Razorbacks drop series opener at home to Tennessee

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Razorbacks drop series opener at home to Tennessee

Arkansas was off to a hot start on Saturday in Barnhill Arena, jumping to an early 1-0 lead over Tennessee with a 25-18 set-one win.

But the Lady Volunteers responded with a set win of their own and Arkansas could not overcome the Vols momentum, falling to Tennessee, 3-1 (18-25, 25-20, 25-13, 25-21).

Arkansas recorded a team-best 15 kills on 30 attempts in the first set, committing only five errors for an impressive .333 hitting percentage. The Razorbacks defense held Tennessee to a team-low 12 kills in the first set, forcing eight attack errors on 34 attempts.

Tennessee answered Arkansas’ impressive first set with a cleaner attack in the second set. The adjustments made by the Volunteers proved to be enough for the Lady Vols to push ahead and take a 2-1 match lead.

Arkansas and Tennessee were tied early in the fourth set, trading side out points until the 6-6 mark. The Volunteers posted back-to-back kills to take the lead, and despite a valiant late effort by the Hogs, Tennessee managed to hold on to the lead and come out with the four-set victory.

Freshman Taylor Head was a key part of the Razorback offense, registering 15 kills and swinging .324 across the four sets. In combination with her 13 digs, Head posted her team-leading 12th double-double of the season.

Working with Head at the net was senior middle block Liz Pamphile, who recorded a match-best .417 hitting percentage among players with 10 or more kills.

Pamphile’s 11 kills and lone attack error made for her second-most efficient performance of the season, just behind her career-best .452 hitting percentage at Mississippi State last fall.

Arkansas posted more attacks than Tennessee but led by the SEC Defensive Player of the Week, Madison Bryant, the Lady Volunteers turned 71 of the Razorbacks’ 147 attempts into successful digs, a notable 48%.

Junior setter Gracie Ryan notched her 10th showing of 40 assists or better against Tennessee, accounting for 42 of the Hogs’ 43 assists.

Ryan has now accumulated 1,476 career assists, just 24 away from eclipsing the 1,500 mark.

Sunday’s rematch between the Razorbacks and Lady Vols will be available to live stream on SEC Network+ and will begin at 2 p.m.

Slavens’ homer, Vermillion’s pitching gives Hogs 8-1 win

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Slavens’ homer, Vermillion’s pitching gives Hogs 8-1 win

RUSTON, La. — Another day, another game, another win.

No. 1 Arkansas scored two in the top of the first and never looked back, beating up on Louisiana Tech, 8-1, to clinch the series win on Saturday afternoon at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.

The Razorbacks, now 12-0 on the year, are off to the best start of the Dave Van Horn era and the second-best start in program history. Arkansas won a program-record 18 games in a row to begin the 1996 campaign.

The Hogs have won 16 consecutive dating back to the final four contests of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Arkansas came out swinging and put up two runs in the first on Saturday. First baseman Brady Slavens drove home designated hitter Matt Goodheart and right fielder Cayden Wallace with a two-run double to left.

Supported with early runs, righty Zebulon Vermillion went to work and was magnificent. The big right-hander ultimately tossed eight innings of one-run ball, striking out two while allowing three hits and three walks.

The Hogs scored twice more in the fourth, including a run on Wallace’s second solo shot in as many days. The Bulldogs scored their one and only in the bottom of the fourth, but Arkansas quickly responded.

Slavens’ hot day at the plate continued as he ripped a double to right, scoring Christian Franklin and extending the advantage to 5-1 in the fifth. Vermillion, gifted with a four-run lead yet again, resumed his dominance on the mound, shutting out Tech the rest of the way.

The Razorbacks put the ballgame away for good in the eighth. Two runs came across on wild pitches before Wallace, who had three hits on the day, delivered his second RBI on a single to center.

Righty Kole Ramage locked down the final inning of the ballgame, striking out one to seal Arkansas’ 8-1 series-clinching win.

Tomorrow’s finale, originally scheduled for 1 p.m., will now start at 11 a.m. due to forecasted rain in the area. The Hogs go for their third straight series sweep of the season on Sunday.

Hogs scramble to finish seventh at NCAA Indoor Championships

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Hogs scramble to finish seventh at NCAA Indoor Championships

Scoring 22 points, 16 of which were accomplished on the final day, enabled Arkansas to finish in a tie for seventh place in team scoring at the NCAA Indoor Championships hosted inside Randal Tyson Track Center.

“We battled all weekend, and James Milholen’s anchor leg on the 4×400 typified what we’ve been going through all year, coming from behind and trying to eek out every point we could,” said Arkansas coach Chris Bucknam. “I’m really happy with how our kids fought. We never gave up and finished in the top 10.”

Oregon claimed the national team title with 79 points while LSU was runner-up at 56 points and Georgia placed third with 35 points.

The rest of the top 10 included Florida (34), North Carolina A&T (30), Florida State (23), Alabama (22), Arkansas (22), Tennessee (21) and Ole Miss (20).

“We just didn’t have anything go our way,” added Bucknam. “We had some injuries, and some misfortune. It’s tough to see those points slip away.”

In placing fourth in a very competitive 60m hurdle final, Phillip Lemonious set another career best this weekend in clocking a 7.54 to improve upon the 7.60 he ran in the prelims. LSU’s Damion Thomas won the race in 7.51, the collegiate leader for 2021, with Iowa’s Jamal Britt runner-up at 7.52 and Florida State’s Trey Cunningham third with a 7.53.

Behind Lemonious in fifth place was LSU’s Eric Edwards in 7.58 while another Razorback in the race, Tre’Bien Gilbert, placed eighth in 7.79.

“Phillip is just an outstanding athlete, improving like he did over the past few weeks,” said Bucknam of the January transfer. “It shows his upside and we’re very proud of him as well as Tre’Bien Gilbert, who had a big breakthrough this year. It wasn’t the final he wanted, but it will go a long way going forward.”

Another Razorback claiming fourth place points was Amon Kemboi in the 3,000m as he posted a time of 7:50.54 while teammate Gilbert Boit finished 11th in 7:57.90.

“That 5k the previous night is on me,” said Bucknam. “We did not think it was going to be that hot in the first mile. Our goal was to run with the leader, since we knew he was the king pin and the guy to beat. Our goal was to run with that athlete. It just went out in a torrid pace and ruined Amon.

“To see him come back and run like he did was very encouraging. Again, it shows you the type of athlete he is. He was very disappointed with the 5k, and for him to rally in one day and come back, along with Gilbert, shows you the character of those guys.”

In the 4×400 relay, the Razorbacks placed sixth overall, finishing as runner-up in the second of three sections, clocking a 3:06.35 just behind Florida’s 3:06.31 and ahead of Texas A&M’s 3:06.77.

An anchor leg split of 45.64 by James Milholen nearly had Arkansas knocking off the Gators. The first three legs for UA included Jeremy Farr (47.56), Jalen Brown (46.88), and Rhayko Schwartz (46.27).

North Carolina A&T won the final section in 3:03.16 over Kentucky (3:03.61) and Tennessee (3:04.10).

Kieran Taylor finished seventh in the 800m with a 1:50.79, joining his father Gary as an individual Razorback All-American.

“KT ran a really smart prelim,” said Bucknam. “Any time you get into a final like that in that race, it’s a danger race. For him to do that shows his experience. I know that he wished he had a little faster time and faster run in the final.

“To go along with his dad Gary, that doesn’t happen very often in the world of sports, certainly in track and field. So glad to see it and so happy for them. It was a big two points for us today.”

Competing in the pole vault after contesting the heptathlon the past two days, Etamar Bhastekar tied for 12th at 17-4½ (5.30).

Collegiate record holder KC Lightfoot of Baylor cleared 19-5½ (5.93) in winning the event while setting a meet and facility record. The previous NCAA meet record was 19-4¾ (5.91) set by Akron’s Shawn Barber in 2015 while the facility record of 19-5 (5.92) was established by LSU’s Mondo Duplantis in 2019.

Musselman says Hogs ‘just didn’t have enough gas in tank’

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Musselman says Hogs ‘just didn’t have enough gas in tank’

Arkansas’ run at the end of the season was halted in a 78-71 loss to the Tigers on Saturday in the SEC Tournament on quick turnaround.

Moody on struggles with free throws, Tigers’ defense

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Moody on struggles with free throws, Tigers’ defense

Razorbacks’ guard Moses Moody (28 points, 9 rebounds) on “one of those things” on 57.9 percent game shooting free throws in loss.

Smith on Razorbacks’ problems falling to LSU in tournament

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Smith on Razorbacks’ problems falling to LSU in tournament

Arkansas’ winning streak came to an end Saturday, falling in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament to the Tigers, 78-71.

Listen to Hogs-Tigers online here or on ESPN Arkansas stations

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Listen to Hogs-Tigers online here or on ESPN Arkansas stations

• Who: No. 8 Arkansas Razorbacks (22-5) vs. LSU Tigers (17-8)
• What: Arkansas looks to advance to SEC final game.
• When: Saturday, March 13, 2:30 p.m. (pregame starts at 2 p.m.).
• Where: Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
• TV: ESPN (Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes) CLICK HERE
• ONLINE: HitThatLine.com LISTEN HERE
• Radio: ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home (Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman)

Razorbacks get another win with Battles’ homer in 10th

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Razorbacks get another win with Battles’ homer in 10th

RUSTON, La. — Never a doubt.

No. 1 Arkansas’ flair for the dramatic made another appearance on Friday night as the Razorbacks staged a thrilling come-from-behind 9-7 win against Louisiana Tech at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.

Shortstop Jalen Battles launched the game-winning two-run homer in the top of the 10th, rocketing the baseball deep over the left-field wall and into the night.

His blast helped the Hogs earn their seventh comeback victory of the 2021 season, overcoming a three-run deficit in the eighth to stay undefeated.

The Razorbacks are 11-0 for the first time in the Dave Van Horn era and for only the second time in program history.

Arkansas also jumped out to an 11-0 start during the 1996 campaign, winning a program-record 18 games in a row to begin that year.

The three-game series rolls on Saturday afternoon. First pitch at the ballpark is set for 2 p.m.

Arkansas stuck at 16th in NCAA Indoors headed to final day

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas stuck at 16th in NCAA Indoors headed to final day

Arkansas produced a pair of sixth place efforts on the second day of the NCAA Indoor Championships while three Razorbacks advanced to Saturday finals during qualifying prelims inside Randal Tyson Track Center.

Through seven scored finals, LSU and Georgia are currently tied with 20 points each, followed by Florida State (17), USC (16), North Dakota State (15) and Oregon (13).

In qualifying for Saturday finals, the Ducks lead with five while three schools followed with four each for LSU, Florida and North Carolina A&T.

Arkansas currently has six points and is tied for 16th place.

The distance medley relay posted a time of 9:33.65 to place sixth and earn three points for Arkansas. The foursome included Reese Walters (2:58.61), James Milholen (45.85), Jadon Bartholomew (1:49.98) and Andrew Kibet (3:59.21).

Oregon won the race in a meet record of 9:19.98, topping the 9:27.27 clocking the Ducks set in 2016.

Finishing behind Oregon were Ole Miss (9:20.75) and Texas (9:23.73).

Ryan Brown reached a distance of 25-8¼ (7.83) in the third round of the long jump to collect three team points with a sixth-place finish.

After winning the high jump at 7-6½ (2.30), LSU’s JuVaughn Harrison had a career best of 27-8¾ (8.45) to claim the long jump as well over Florida State’s Isaac Grimes (27-4¾ | 8.35) and Carey McLeod of Tennessee (27-1¼ | 8.26).

Just missing an opportunity to score in the heptathlon, Daniel Spejcher survived the seven-event competition with a score of 5,630 points to place ninth, just 23 points out of eighth place.

Second day events included marks of 8.31 in the 60m hurdles (905), a pole vault of 15-3 ½ (807) and a 2:47.20 in the 1,000m (795).

Etamar Bhastekar hit a pair of hurdles, posting a time of 10.00 (541), as three entrants did not finish the race. Then Bhastekar missed his only attempt at 16-3 ¼ (4.96) and retired from the competition.

In a super-fast 5,000m final, won by Iowa State’s Wesley Kiptoo in a meet record of 13:23.77, the top 11 finishers all set career best times.

This included Razorback Jacob McLeod in 10th place with a 13:39.50, which ranks him No. 5 on the UA all-time list.

Finishing 12th and 13th were Gilbert Boit (13:46.48) and Amon Kemboi (13:50.10) while Matt Young did not finish.

A pair of Razorbacks qualified for the final of the 60m hurdles as Phillip Lemonious cruised to a career best of 7.60, making him the second-fastest performer in Arkansas history behind the school record of 7.45 set by Omar McLeod.

Also reaching the final was Tre’Bien Gilbert, who ran 7.43.

Kieran Taylor earned an automatic qualification to the 800m final as his 1:49.01 placed him second in his prelim heat.

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