Arkansas shut out Murray State on Sunday evening, 6-0, to finish a sweep and stay undefeated, which Dave Van Horn likes considering it’s been against good teams.
Lockhart on solid five innings shutting out Murray State
Hogs’ pitcher Lael Lockhart (5 innings, 6 strikeouts, 1 walk, 0 runs) on his performance in sweep-clinching 6-0 win over Racers.
Nesbit makes first hit of season big one with three-run homer
Hogs’ Jacob Nesbit talked with the media about his home run in the fourth that broke open a 6-0 win in the final part of a sweep over Murray State.
Moody’s defense (plus 28 points) leads Hogs win over Texas A&M
For the second straight game, Moses Moody tied his season high with 28 points.
However, it was his blocked shot on a Texas A&M dunk attempt with the game tied and 1:49 left to play that led Arkansas to an 87-80 victory over Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon at Bud Walton Arena.
The win closes the regular season for both programs and the Razorbacks improve to 21-5 overall, 13-4 in the SEC.
The win was the 11th in a row in SEC play for the Razorbacks, the best streak in the SEC this season and ties the 1993-94 national championship team for most consecutive league wins. The 1994-95 team also won its final 11 SEC games that season. Texas A&M fell to 8-9 overall, 2-8 in the SEC.
Moody made a career-high five 3-pointers (5-of-8) with two assists, two steals and the crucial block.
Graduate senior Jalen Tate and freshman Davonte Davis also made key plays down the stretch to lead to the win.
Down two (71-69) with 4:58 left, Arkansas outscored the Aggies 18-9 down the stretch.
However, Texas A&M was up one, 76-74, with two minutes left. Justin Smith got an offensive rebound and put-back to tie the game. On the ensuing possession, Moody had his blocked shot.
Then Arkansas, on an apparent old-fashion 3-point opportunity, had a call reversed after review changing a block to a charge to give the Aggies the ball. Savion Flagg capitalized with a put-back to give his team the lead, 78-76, with 1:13 left.
Undaunted, Moody drained a 3-pointer to put his team up one, 79-78, a lead the Hogs would not relinquish.
Texas A&M called a timeout once crossing half-court with 48 ticks left. On the inbounds play. Davis tipped the pass.
Tate corralled the loose ball and tipped the ball back to Davis. Davis then threw the ball ahead for a Justin Smith dunk and a 3-point lead.
A&M had a good look at 3-pointer in the right corner but missed. JD Notae came down with the rebound, was fouled and he sank both free throws for a five-point cushion.
Emanuel Miller was fouled with 14 seconds left and he made both free throws. Notae was once again fouled and made both to put the Hogs back up by five. Davis then sealed the game with a steal and a dunk.
Tate finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Davis had 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Smith, who played all 40 minutes, added 11 points.
Miller and Quentin Jackson each scored 23 points for the Aggies with Miller adding 10 rebounds.
Arkansas will be the #2 seed at next week’s SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. The Razorbacks receive a double-bye and will not play until the quarterfinal round on Friday at 6 pm.
Moody looking forward to tourney time after comeback over A&M
When the Hogs were down by 14 to Texas A&M, Moses Moody said it was looking like it could get ugly, then they whittled it down quickly.
Musselman says Hogs played as well as they had to for win
Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said later the Hogs didn’t play particularly well, but figured out what they had to do to down A&M, 87-80.
Hogs bomb four homers for fifth time for 15th straight win
Hitting four home runs, the No. 20 Arkansas softball team coasted to its 15th straight win overpowering Northwestern State, 13-2 in six innings, at Bogle Park on Saturday afternoon.
Entering the day, the Razorbacks (15-2) led the SEC with 41 home runs and registered their fifth game with at least four bombs this season.
Infielder Danielle Gibson continued her otherworldly week at the plate hitting two more dingers, which included a grand slam, and registered RBI.
For the week, she hit .421 (8-for-19) with five home runs (two grand slams), two doubles and drove in 14 runs.
How it happened
Gibson hit the first of her two bombs in the first inning, spanking a solo shot to center that sparked an eight hit day for the bats.
The Razorbacks blew the game open in the second and scored five two out runs, pushing their lead to 6-0.
Outfielder Keely Huffine and infielder Hannah Gammill each lifted RBI base hits down the left field line and both scored on infielder Braxton Burnside’s three-run tater. Burnside has 11 bombs in just 18 games played this season.
Arkansas added seven more in the bottom of the fourth to move ahead, 13-0, as Burnside drew a bases loaded walk, allowing Gibson to smash her second grand slam of the weekend to center.
Pinch hitter Lauren Graves hit her first career jack, driving in two to cap off Arkansas’ scoring.
Mary Haff (9-1) hummed along inside the circle and faced one over the minimum in her 4.0 innings. She allowed a two out single up the middle in the second and struck out six.
Haff lowered her season ERA to just 0.87 in 56.1 innings pitched. Freshman Kaitlyn Howard made her collegiate pitching debut in the top of the fifth and allowed two earned runs on four hits.
Jensen Howell (3-3) took the loss for Northwestern State (6-6), surrendering six earned runs in 1.2 innings.
Batting from the leadoff spot, Gammill went 2-for-3 and increased her weekly batting average to .500 (5-for-10).
With two outs, the Razorbacks hit .667 (6-for-9) as a team and scored eight of their 13 runs.
Arkansas finished the week outscoring its Wooo Pig Classic competition, 46-17.
The Razorbacks travel to Central Arkansas for a 6 p.m. first pitch on Tuesday.
The game will air on CST and ESPN+. Later in the week, Arkansas opens SEC play at South Carolina with a three-game set Friday, March 12 through Sunday, March 14.
Tate on bouncing back from bad game for big finish against A&M
Razorbacks senior Jalen Tate (22 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) had his worst game against the Gamecocks, but finished season strong.
Van Horn after Hogs’ dominating 11-6 win over Murray State
Arkansas got 12 hits and big days at the plate from several players and used five pitchers to lock up the series’ win over Murray State.
Hogs overcome four-run deficit to down Murray State, 11-6
There’s no deficit too big for the Razorbacks.
Down four runs after the top of the second inning, No. 1 Arkansas once again fought its way back to a win, taking down Murray State, 11-6, on Saturday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium.
The Razorbacks improve to 9-0 for the third time in the Dave Van Horn era (19 seasons) with the victory.
Third baseman Cullen Smith got the party started in the bottom of the second after the Racers jumped out to a 4-0 lead.
The East Tennessee State transfer launched his first homer as a Razorback, sending a three-run shot off the scoreboard in right.
Blake Adams, meanwhile, gave Arkansas exactly what it needed after the Racers’ explosive start.
The right-hander, who eventually earned the win, came out of the bullpen in relief of starter Caleb Bolden and tossed 2.1 innings, allowing only one run and striking out two.
Murray State extended its lead to 5-3 in the top of the fourth, but outfielder Christian Franklin did not let the two-run deficit last long.
The consensus preseason All-American had three hits and four runs batted in on the day, including a bases-clearing double to center in the bottom half of the fourth, to put the Razorbacks ahead, 6-5.
The Hogs never looked back after taking their first lead of the ballgame. Left fielder Zack Gregory launched his first collegiate homer in the bottom of the sixth, hitting a two-out solo shot over the wall in right to grow the lead to 7-5.
A few batters later, Franklin picked up his fourth RBI on a single to right and gave the Razorbacks a three-run lead. Murray State added one in the top of the seventh, but Arkansas still had more runs left in the tank.
Shortstop Jalen Battles’ run-scoring fielder’s choice in the bottom of the seventh made it 9-6 before first baseman Brady Slavens put the game away for good.
The Olathe, Kan., native hit his fourth homer of the year in the bottom half of the eighth, going the opposite way to left field with a two-run shot. His blast put the Razorbacks ahead by five.
Right-hander Zebulon Vermillion provided much-needed stability out of the bullpen to close out the game. He tossed a scoreless 2.1 innings of work while striking out one and allowing only two hits to earn the save.
The Razorbacks go for their second series sweep of the young season at 1 p.m. tomorrow. A win in Sunday’s contest would move Arkansas’ record to 10-0, which the program has only achieved once before in the Van Horn era (2003).
Listen to Hogs-Aggies online here or on ESPN Arkansas stations
• Who: No. 12-13 Arkansas Razorbacks (20-5, 12-4 SEC) vs. Texas A&M Aggies (8-8, 2-7 SEC)
• What: This is the regular-season finale for both programs before heading to the SEC Tournament next week.
• When: Saturday, March 6, 4 p.m. (pregame starts at 3:30 p.m.)
• Where: Nolan Richardson Court at Bud Walton Arena, Fayetteville, Ark.
• TV: SEC Network (Dave Neal and John Sunvold) 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)
The No. 12-13 Arkansas Razorbacks play their final regular-season game of the year on Saturday against the Texas A&M Aggies.
Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. and the game will be televised on the SEC Network.
Pregame coverage starts at 3:30 p.m. and you can LISTEN HERE or on the radio at 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 will have all the coverage.
• This will be the 161st meeting between Arkansas and Texas A&M. The Razorbacks own a 103-57 advantage in the series and the series is tied, 38-38, in games played at A&M. The Hogs have a slight 8-6 advantage in games since A&M joined the SEC for the 2012-13 season.
• Texas A&M is one of six teams that Arkansas has played over 100 times and one of three teams the Razorbacks have at least 100 wins against.
• The Aggies are the Razorbacks’ most common opponent with 160 games played in the series. The teams met in Arkansas’ first season of basketball (1923-24) until 1990-91. The teams met once in 2010 in Dallas then the series resumed when A&M joined the SEC in 2012-13.
• After a 28-point road win at South Carolina, Arkansas climbed seven spots to 12th —the program’s highest ever NCAA NET Rankings.
• Arkansas has clinched a double-bye for the SEC Tournament and the #2 seed, meaning the Razorbacks will not play until the quarterfinals on Friday – Mar. 12 – at 6 pm.
• Arkansas’ 12 wins are the most since the 2016-17 Hogs won 12 (12-6).
• The second-place regular-season finish is the program’s best since finishing 2nd in 2014-15.
• Arkansas has won 20 games for the second straight season and Coach Musselman has won at least 20 games in each of his six seasons as a collegiate head coach.
• Not only was Arkansas 6-0 in the month of February, the Razorbacks tallied five Quad 1 wins in the month vs Alabama, at Missouri, vs Florida, vs LSU and at Kentucky.
• Arkansas has won 10-straight SEC games, its best since winning 11 straight SEC games to close the 1993-94 season.
Overall, Arkansas won 13 straight during that stretch with a regular-season win over Montevallo mixed in the SEC games and an SEC tourney win over Georgia. The Hogs won 11-straight Southwest Conference games in the 1990-91, 1989-90 and 1980-81 seasons.
Arkansas was a perfect 16-0 in the SWC in 1976-77 as part of an 18-game overall league win streak (final SWC game of 1975-76, all 16 SWC games in 1976-77 and first two SWC games in 1977-78).
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
