John & Tye discuss why Chad Morris is the right guy, where DVH ranks in the SEC, plus SEC Mike of Saturday Down South!
Morris, Yurachek can fix what Bielema, Long dragged down
It’s not hard to imagine Chad Morris and Hunter Yurachek looking at each other before Christmas in 2017 and asking exactly what they got themselves into.
In retrospect, though, it may not have taken them three weeks after being hired to ask the questions.
Oh, it’s doubtful either will ever admit it publicly. Neither appears to be the type to complain publicly about a situation neither created, but Morris had to be asking about Bret Bielema, “how did this guy get to three Rose Bowls?”
And Yurachek probably thought about Jeff Long, “how did this guy get a job with that complete lack of people skills?”
The truth is former chancellor John White, a very educated and intelligent person in the world of academics, was a complete idiot when he stuck his nose into athletics. His goal in athletics at Arkansas was apparently to try and put Frank Broyles in his place.
It took him a decade to complete that task.
And he left the UA with Long in charge of athletics and no adult supervision.
By the way. I’m not implying Jeffrey was a child. He was just totally in over his head trying to manage a program like Arkansas and had a disturbing knack of hiring people in the same position. It comes back to people above him that let him have so much rope he could hang an entire department.
As much as some want to give him credit for hiring Mike Anderson and Mike Neighbors, remember that he probably wouldn’t have made it as long as he did if he hired anybody else at that time in those positions.
Long hired Jimmy Dykes, a talking head in the world of men’s basketball, to be the women’s coach of all things right after hiring Bielema in football.
I was on an island by then in my critiques of Long that started with hiring Bobby Petrino. Yes, many fans will holler about back-to-back 10-win seasons. Fans basically traded short-term happiness for long-term misery, as I predicted when the hire was made.
Bringing in Bielema was the capping head-scratcher for me. On the surface to many, it looked like a quality hire, but if you ask anybody he basically inherited what Barry Alvarez built at Wisconsin and he didn’t completely step away.
Giving him a contract extension and a gigantic raise after a 6-6 season in 2014 rests squarely on Long and the UA Board of Trustees, who let him go without that adult supervision we were talking about.
According to some, the extension deal was basically put together celebrating the borderline erotic win over a 6-6 Texas team in Houston after the Texas Bowl. Some have said it was literally discussed at a postgame party in the hotel just a couple of hours after the game.
Then he basically wallowed around producing a couple of teams that finished one game above .500 for two straight years before nosediving. Bielema was thrown off the plane before it hit ground and Morris had to ride out the crash.
Now it’s up to Morris to get things headed in the right direction.
Yurachek has a bigger issue. He’s got to make an entire fan base of multiple sports feel more involved and actually appreciated.
We’ll see how Morris does. Another 2-10 season might not work out well for Morris, but the guess here is that won’t happen again.
No one thinks the Hogs will knock off Alabama this year, but with some addition by subtraction on the roster along with adding more talent the situation might not be as bleak as many will predict.
Yurachek’s issue may actually take a little longer.
Making hires like Bielema and Dykes that, at best, showed that Long didn’t do any in-depth research into what it takes to hire a coach at the SEC level. It’s part of the reason, we’ve been told, he got out of Pittsburgh before the firing squad rounded the corner.
Yurachek at least understands the goals in the biggest sports and appears to be almost as accessible as Broyles (you could just walk into his office unannounced at one time) and actually is relating to many of the fans he’s met. That’s what they tell me, anyway.
His handling of firing Anderson and bringing in Eric Musselman was how it’s done at the big-time level. Cries from some corners for transparency and explanations have been explained and, in hindsight, the way Yurachek handled it makes complete sense.
In a way, Yurachek and Morris’ jobs are tied to winning.
Morris’ is obvious. He’s got to win football games and I don’t care what fans say on social media or publicly, they don’t really care about the details … as long as the Hogs score more than the other team on Saturday.
Yurachek’s wins are more subtle.
Broyles lasted 50 years because he won with the fans for most of the time. Especially the ones that had a vote on his job.
My prediction back in December 2007 when Long hired Petrino was that was going to set back Razorback football for a decade has, sadly, come to pass.
Now we see if my prediction that the right to people are in place to build it back is correct.
But it may take a couple of years.
Razorbacks’ rally on back nine falls short, ending season in fifth place
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ record-setting season came to an end on a rain-soaked Tuesday with a 3-and-2 loss in the first round of match play at the 2019 NCAA Championship at Blessings Golf Club.
Arkansas finishes the season tied for fifth overall after reaching match play at the NCAA Championship for the first time in program history.
The Razorbacks mounted a comeback on the front nine after trailing early from their start on hole 10. Brooke Matthews was down big on the back nine, but she rallied to take a lead. Her opponent had an ace on the 17th hole of the round to tie it up.
Matthews, however, calmly hit her second shot on the final hole close to the pin to win. Matthews is a perfect 5-0 in match play this season.
“Well, it was just a great shot (by her opponent),” said Matthews. “I knew I had to hit a good shot and I did it. I knew I wasn’t going to match that (the hole in one) so I just had to move on and get the next one.”
NCAA Champion Maria Fassi was next with a win. She was even for much of the match before winning the 14th hole of her round, breaking the tie. She added a win on the next hole and hung on for the victory.
Kaylee Benton was down three at the turn against the 2018 NCAA Champion but chipped away at the lead moving within one at the 17th hole. Benton had a long putt to win 17 hole and stay in the match. She drained it and moved to the 18th hole.
Benton had a perfect shot to the pin but needed to birdie and had to hope that her opponent would shoot par or higher to force extra golf.
Senior Dylan Kim also played even with her opponent forcing a pressure-filled final two holes. Tied through 16, Kim lost No. 8 when her opponent counted a two on the par-3 hole.
The duo moved on to the 18th hole of the match and her opponent hit a perfect second shot close to the hole. Kim was in the rough but also spun her second shot near the flag. Both players made their shots as Wake Forest escaped with the win.
The four remaining teams return to the course at 7 a.m. for the semifinal matches. Those winners move on to the championship match following pairing selections. Duke faces Arizona while Wake Forest takes on Auburn.
Lineup
Brooke Matthews (Ark) def. Letizia Bagnoli (WF) 1-up
Maria Fassi (Ark) def. Vanessa Knecht (WF) 2&1
Siyun Liu (WF) def. Dylan Kim (Ark) 1-up
Emilia Migliaccio (WF) def. Ximena Gonzalez (Ark) 6&4
Jennifer Kupcho (WF) def. Kaylee Benton (Ark) 1-up
About the day
The day began with the completion of the third and final round at 6:45 a.m. Those players completed the round and the coaching staffs from the eight advancing teams met in the media center to make their selections for match play.
Arkansas hit the course in the second pairing starting at hole 10 at 8:50 a.m.
The Razorbacks got through a couple of holes when play was halted at 10:10 a.m. for weather. Teams made several attempts to restart only to retreat to the clubhouse.
Play finally resumed at 4:20 p.m. with Arkansas trailing early in four of the five matches. Only senior Dylan Kim had an advantage at the break.
Razorbacks start post-season play in SEC tourney against Ole Miss
HOOVER, Ala. — Arkansas Razorbacks opens if the 2019 SEC Tournament on Wednesday afternoon against Ole Miss.
First pitch is set for approximately 1 p.m. at Hoover’s Metropolitan Stadium and will be televised on the SEC Network.
You can also hear the game on ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
Arkansas (40-15, 20-10 SEC) is a top-four seed for the third-consecutive year, earning the first-round bye into the double-elimination rounds.
The Rebels (34-23, 16-14 SEC) defeated 10-seed Missouri, 2-1, to advance to the double-elimination portion of the tournament. Arkansas will be the home team in Wednesday’s game.
The Hogs lost two-of-three against Ole Miss earlier this season at Baum Stadium, its’ only home series loss this year.
The second, third and quarterfinal rounds are double elimination, while the semifinals and the championship game are single elimination.
Arkansas rolls into tournament play as co-champions of the SEC Western Division for the second-consecutive year. It’s the sixth division title in school history and fifth under coach Dave Van Horn.
It’s also the first time under Van Horn that the Razorbacks have won 20 or more games in conference play and second time in school history the Hogs have won 20 or more games in SEC play.
The Razorbacks are in search of its first SEC Tournament championship in program history. It will be making its 10th appearance in the tournament in the last 11 years and 24th overall.
The Razorbacks have made four SEC Tournament championship game appearances in their history, finishing runner-up in 1998 to Auburn, in 1999 to Alabama, in 2007 to Vanderbilt, and most recently, in 2017 to LSU.
Last year, the Hogs reached the semifinals for the second-consecutive year, defeating South Carolina and Florida along the way.
In its previous five appearances in the tournament, Arkansas has won at least two games and won three or more twice.
Wednesday’s game will be the first time Arkansas and Ole Miss have faced off in the SEC Tournament since the two teams played twice in 2014, both were one-run victories in favor of Arkansas.
The most tournament wins for Arkansas came in 1999 when it won four games before falling to the Crimson Tide in the championship game. Van Horn is 21-25 in 14 SEC Tournament appearances.
FOLLOW lIVE
Games one through 16 of the SEC Tournament are available on the SEC Network and SEC Network+ via the WatchESPN app.
The championship game will be aired on ESPN2.
As always, the Razorbacks can be heard on the Razorback Sports Network on the radio with Phil Elson and former Razorback Bubba Carpenter on the call on ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
RAZORBACK PRIME 9
• Arkansas makes its 24th appearance at the SEC Tournament this week in Hoover, Alabama and holds its third-straight top-four seed in the field.
• The Razorbacks won a share of the SEC Western Division title for the second-straight year, finishing with an 20-10 conference record. It’s Arkansas’ sixth division title in school history and fifth under Dave Van Horn.
• Nine different Razorbacks were named to the various All-SEC teams this week with six being named to the 12-man All-SEC Second Team. Overall, Arkansas had 11 selections among the All-SEC, All-Freshman and All-Defense Teams, a school record.
• Trevor Ezell, Casey Martin, Matt Cronin, Heston Kjerstad, Matt Goodheart and Dominic Fletcher were all named to the All-SEC Second Team. It’s the third-straight year with an All-SEC selection for Fletcher and second for Kjerstad and Martin.
• Isaiah Campbell was named a semifinalist for the 2019 Golden Spikes Award. He’s the first Razorback to be named a semifinalist since Andrew Benintendi in 2015.
• Campbell was left off the All-SEC lists, but had numbers that would rank among the best in the SEC and in Arkansas history. At 10-1, Campbell’s win total, innings pitched (90.0), ERA (2.50) and strikeouts (97) are all better than All-American Blaine Knight at this point a year ago.
• The Razorbacks weren’t expected to hit as many home runs as last year’s record-setting team (98), but have still set a good pace going into the last weekend of the year. As a team, Arkansas has hit 77 home runs, which ties for first in the SEC.
• Dominic Fletcher continues to be a doubles machine going into the SEC Tournament. Sitting at 22 two-baggers for the year, Fletcher is six off the school record and first in the SEC.
• Catcher Casey Opitz has been a baserunner’s worst nightmare in recent weeks as he caught eight would-be base stealers in the last three weeks, five against Kentucky and two against Texas A&M. Opitz has 21 caught stolen bases this year, which leads the SEC.
???? Tuesday Halftime Pod — Featuring Dominic Fletcher
Phil & Tye hit on the best recruiter on campus, interview OmaHog Dominic Fletcher, and more!
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Tuesday
John & Tye discuss SEC baseball snubs, SEC football strength of schedule, plus Matt Moscona joins the show!
Fassi wins individual women’s national championship; Hogs in fourth
FAYETTEVILLE — Maria Fassi is a national champion.
Fassi delayed her professional career last year to return to Arkansas’ team. That gamble paid off with an NCAA title at Blessings Golf Club on Monday.
Fassi and the teams endured weather delays and a shortened format but her final round was nothing short of spectacular.
Fassi started her round in second place and her day began at 11:55 a.m., ending at 7:25 p.m. During that time, Fassi had five birdies and 13 pars shooting 68. She finished the rain-shortened championship shooting eight-under par with a 211.
The complete team effort allowed Arkansas to finish in fourth place moving on to the eight-team match play portion of the championship to determine the team title.
Darkness closed fast as Fassi and the crowd began the celebration of her title. Six teams remain on the golf course when play was suspended for darkness.
Those teams resume play at 6:45 a.m. The top-8 finishing teams will then meet for a pairing selection with match play beginning shortly after.
If Arkansas is solidly in fourth place and would face fifth-place Wake Forest if the standings remain unchanged. Texas will be hard to displace in the top spot as they are currently +6 – eight shots better than Duke who is in second.
Top-ranked Southern California is currently third, but all three teams still have holes to play in the morning.
| 1 | Maria Fassi (1) | 72-71-68=211 | -8 |
| TBD | Kaylee Benton (2) | 74-73-80=227 | +8 |
| TBD | Dylan Kim (3) | 80-82-72=234 | +15 |
| TBD | Brooke Matthews (4) | 76-76-82=234 | +15 |
| TBD | Ximena Gonzalez (5) | 88-76-85=249 | +30 |
Notes – Team
• Ten team appearances in the NCAA Championship including 7 of the last 8 years.
• 2019 is the first appearance in the match play portion of the NCAA Championship for Arkansas.
• Former Razorback Stacy Lewis was the 2007 individual NCAA Champion.
• Best team finish is T5 in 2011 at Texas A&M.
• Five top-10 individual finishes including Stacy Lewis’ win in 2007.
Notes – Maria Fassi
• ANNIKA Award Winner | 2018
• Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Honorable Mention | 2016
• WGCA First-Team All-American | 2018
• 2019 SEC Medalist
• First-Team All-SEC | 2018, 2019
• Second-Team All-SEC | 2016
• SEC All-Freshman Team | 2016
• SEC Women’s Golf Player of the Year | 2018, 2019
• ANNIKA Award and WGCA Award Watch Lists | 2018, 2019
• Palmer Cup Selection (International) | 2018
• U.S. Women’s Open | 2016, 2017, 2018
• Arkansas Academic Honor Roll | Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2018
• Sponsor’s Exemption to the Walmart NW Arkansas LPGA Championship presented by P&G | 2016, 2018
Nine Razorbacks named to All-SEC teams, but none on first team
HOOVER, Ala. — With the 2019 SEC Tournament just one day away, the year-end All-SEC teams were released Monday afternoon after being voted on by the league coaches and they feature a school-record nine Arkansas players on either the second team, all-freshman team, or all-defensive team.
Six of the 12 All-SEC Second Team selections come from Arkansas as Trevor Ezell, Casey Martin, Dominic Fletcher, Heston Kjerstad, Matt Goodheart and Matt Cronin all made the list at their respective positions.
On the SEC All-Freshman Team, Christian Franklin, Connor Noland and Patrick Wicklander all earned their first all-conference honors of their career. Finally, Fletcher and Ezell both were named to the SEC All-Defense Team.
The 11 selections (nine players) leads all SEC teams and tops last year’s previous program record of nine selections.
Arkansas was also the only school with multiple players named to the all-freshman team and it was the third year in school history the Hogs have had two or more freshmen named all-conference.
1B Trevor Ezell | All-SEC Second Team, SEC All-Defense
• Played all 55 games with 50 starts at first base, his first year ever playing the position.
• Hit .314 with 65 hits, 29 for extra-bases, including eight home runs and 41 RBIs.
• It’s the fourth year of his career to hit .300 or higher when playing 20 or more games.
• The eight home runs are a career-best for a single season.
• Hit .256 in conference play with more than half (24) of his season’s RBIs coming against SEC opponents.
• Only made two errors all season in 442 chances (.995).
• Finished fourth in the SEC in runs scored (63), tied for fifth in doubles (19), tied for third in walks (45), 10th in on-base percentage (.436), and tied for seventh in stolen bases (17).
• The 17 stolen bases are the most by a Razorback since Andrew Benintendi stole 24 in 2015.
• Has 316 career hits over five years, which ranks fifth in the nation among all active players.
• Has started every game of his career (226-consecutive starts).
SS Casey Martin | All-SEC Second Team
• Hit .311 through 55 games with 74 hits, 37 for extra-bases, and is slugging a team-best .605.
• Hit .295 in conference games with nine homers and 22 RBIs.
• Currently leads the team with 15 home runs, two more than his total last year. Also ranks
• Ranks in a tie for sixth in the league in runs scored (58), tied for fifth in doubles (19), tied for second in total bases (144), fifth in slugging (.605), tied for seventh in hits (74), 10th in RBIs (53) and tied for third in home runs (15).
• Needs two more homers to crack into the Arkansas all-time top-10 for home runs in a single season and needs five more to crack into the career top-10.
• Has three inside-the-park home runs this year (Louisiana Tech, Grambling, Kentucky).
• Tied for the team lead with 23 multi-hit games and seven games with three hits or more. Also has 15 multi-RBI games and seven with three or more.
• In just league games, has top-10 totals in home runs (9), triples (2), total bases (74) and slugging (.574).
• Second-straight All-SEC Second Team selection.
CF Dominic Fletcher | All-SEC Second Team, SEC All-Defense
• Hit .320 for the year overall, third-highest average on the team. Hit .305 in conference play, his second-straight year batting .300 or higher in SEC games.
• Hit 10 home runs with 52 RBIs. It’s his third-straight year with 10 or more home runs and first year with 50+ RBIs.
• Leading the SEC with 22 doubles, six away from tying the single-season school record.
• His 27 RBIs were a personal best in conference play and tied for eighth in the SEC.
• Tied for the team-lead with 23 multi-hit games and 15 multi-RBI games.
• Top-10 totals in the SEC in doubles (22) and total bases (124).
• Only made one error in centerfield in 138 chances (.993).
• Second-straight year on SEC All-Defense Team and second career All-SEC selection (Freshman Team – 2017).
• Started all 55 games in centerfield.
RF Heston Kjerstad | All-SEC Second Team
• Hit .336 for the year in 54 games with 14 home runs and 44 RBIs. The batting average is the second highest on the team and he hit .319 in conference play.
• Hit 24 of his team-leading 75 hits for extra-bases (10 doubles, 1 triple, 14 home runs).
• Has now hit .312 over his two-year career in 59 conference games.
• Tied for fifth in the SEC in total bases (129), 12th in slugging (.578), sixth in hits (75) and tied for fifth in home runs (15).
• Hit eight home runs in the month of April and drove in a team-best 25 RBIs (18 games).
• Matched his home run total from a year ago (14) and did it in 15 less games.
• Second-straight year on the All-SEC Second Team.
• Has 21 multi-hit games with 10 games of three hits or more. Also notched 11 games with multi-RBIs, including three games with four or more (2 with 5+ RBIs).
LF Christian Franklin | SEC All-Freshman
• Played in 54 of 55 games, starting 48. Starting all 30 conference games in left field.
• Hit .281 overall in his first collegiate season with 48 hits, six home runs and 33 RBIs.
• Hit .262 in conference play with three home runs and 12 RBIs.
• Has eight multi-hit games in conference play and 14 overall.
• Notched nine multi-RBI games with six consisting of three or more RBIs.
DH Matt Goodheart | All-SEC Second Team
• Played in 47 games with 40 starts at either DH or first base and led the team with a .352 batting average.
• Also led the team with a .369 batting average in conference play totaling 11 doubles, two triples, one home run and driving in 20 RBIs.
• Top 10 totals in the SEC in overall batting average (.352) and on-base percentage (.455).
• Finished fourth in the SEC with a .369 average in conference games only and tied for fourth with 11 doubles. Also had the fourth highest on-base percentage (.463).
• Hit .309 in the final month, with five extra-base hits and 16 RBIs.
RHP Connor Noland | SEC All-Freshman
• Made 16 appearances in his first collegiate season with 15 starts; Second-most appearances among all freshmen pitchers on the team.
• Generated a 3.86 ERA over 63 innings with 49 strikeouts, 27 earned runs and 12 walks.
• Struck out 49 over 63 innings with only 12 walks.
• Made his first collegiate start on Opening Weekend against Eastern Illinois (Feb.16), striking out seven and working 4.2 innings.
• Has pitched 4.2 innings in an outing five times, but has gone 7+ in two of his last five starts.
• Hasn’t walked more than two batters in an outing this season.
• Struck out a season-high 10 against No. 18 Tennessee (April 28).
• Named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week after going a season-long 7.2 scoreless innings against No. 2 Mississippi State with five strikeouts.
• Notched his fourth scoreless outing two weeks ago against No. 15 LSU, giving up four hits over 5.1 innings and striking out three.
• His 15 starts ties for the most of any pitcher in the SEC.
• His 12 walks allowed ties for the lowest among any pitcher in the SEC. Only allowed seven walks in SEC play.
RHP Patrick Wicklander | SEC All-Freshman
• Went 5-2 as a first-year starter with a 4.69 ERA in 55.2 innings.
• Made 12 starts in 19 appearances; More appearances than any other freshman pitcher on the team.
• Has thrown three or more innings in seven of last eight outings.
• Struck out six or more in four of his six conference starts (at Auburn, vs. Miss. State, vs. Tennessee, at Kentucky)
• Struck out five or more in last six of last eight starts.
• Picked up first collegiate win vs. Charlotte (March 6) after throwing 5.0 scoreless innings with only one hit allowed.
• Six of 12 starts came against non-conference opponents.
• Has given up three or less hits in eight of last 11 outings.
• Won in consecutive starts for the first time since March 6 vs. Charlotte and March 12 vs. Western Illinois after working 5+ IP against No. 18 Tennessee (April 27) and at Kentucky (May 5).
• His 77 strikeouts were the 15th-most among all pitchers in the league and second among all freshmen pitchers.
LHP Matt Cronin | All-SEC Second Team
• Has a 2.25 ERA in 24 innings with only six earned runs allowed and 10 saves.
• Six of his 10 saves have come against SEC opponents, which ties for the third most.
• Has pitched at least one inning in 47 of his last 48 outings dating back to 2017.
• Thrown at least 1.1 innings in six of last 10 appearances.
• Began the year on a 11-inning scoreless streak (Feb. 17-March 26), saving six games.
• Earned a save on consecutive days against Missouri (March 15-16). Second instance this year (USC).
• Just five hits allowed in his last 6.1 innings (5 outings)
• One run or less allowed in last seven outings.
• Earned fifth win of career in first appearance of 2019 (vs. Eastern Illinois).
• Fourth in SEC in saves (10).
• Fifth in SEC in games finished (16).
• Ranks 2nd on Arkansas career chart with 25 saves (33 – Philip Stidham – 1989-91).
2019 SEC Baseball Awards
Player of the Year: JJ Bleday, Vanderbilt
Pitcher of the Year: Ethan Small, Mississippi State
Freshman of the Year: JT Ginn, Mississippi State
Coach of the Year: Tim Corbin, Vanderbilt
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Garrett Stallings, Tennessee
First-Team All-SEC
C: Philip Clarke, Vanderbilt
1B: Tanner Allen, Mississippi State
2B: Justin Foscue, Mississippi State
3B: Austin Martin, Vanderbilt
SS: Grae Kessinger, Ole Miss
OF: JJ Bleday, Vanderbilt
OF: Jake Mangum, Mississippi State
OF: Alerick Soularie, Tennessee
DH/UT: Nelson Maldonado, Florida
SP: Ethan Small, Mississippi State
SP: Emerson Hancock, Georgia
RP: Tyler Brown, Vanderbilt
Second-Team All-SEC Team
C: Cooper Johnson, Ole Miss
1B: Trevor Ezell, Arkansas
2B: LJ Talley, Georgia
3B: Aaron Schunk, Georgia
SS: Casey Martin, Arkansas
OF: Dominic Fletcher, Arkansas
OF: Heston Kjerstad, Arkansas
OF: Antoine Duplantis, LSU
DH/UT: Matt Goodheart, Arkansas
SP: TJ Sikkema, Missouri
SP: Zack Thompson, Kentucky
RP: Matt Cronin, Arkansas
Freshman All-SEC Team
JT Ginn, SP, Mississippi State
Kumar Rocker, SP, Vanderbilt
Doug Nikhazy, SP, Ole Miss
Cole Henry, SP, LSU
Cole Wilcox, SP, Georgia
Patrick Wicklander, SP, Arkansas
Connor Noland, SP, Arkansas
Ryan Bliss, 2B, Auburn
Christian Franklin, OF, Arkansas
Joseph Menefee, RP, Texas A&M
Kendrick Calilao, 1B, Florida
Brett Kerry, RP, South Carolina
SEC All-Defensive Team
C: Cooper Johnson, Ole Miss
1B: Trevor Ezell, Arkansas*
1B: Julian Infante, Vanderbilt*
2B: LJ Talley, Georgia
3B: Austin Martin, Vanderbilt
SS: Cam Shepherd, Georgia
OF: Dominic Fletcher, Arkansas
OF: Jake Mangum, Mississippi State
OF: Zach Watson, LSU
P: Garrett Stallings, Tennessee
*Tie (Ties are not broken)
???? Monday Halftime Pod — Featuring Kevin McPherson
Phil Elson & Tye Richardson hit on hit on takeaways from the regular season, interview Kevin McPherson, and more!
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Monday
John & Tye discuss why losing to A&M was a good thing, Chris Crutchfield hired, plus Tom Murphy!
Fassi, Razorbacks still in contention at NCAA Championship
FAYETTEVILLE — Strong finishes by Maria Fassi, Brooke Matthews and Ximena Gonzalez kept Arkansas near the top of the leaderboard at the 2019 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship at Blessings Golf Club on Sunday.
Fassi played the final four holes 2-under in the completion of the rain-suspended second round on Sunday morning. She eagled No. 7 — the 16th hole of her round — to finish 2-under, shooting 71.
The senior All-American is tied for second, shooting 72-71—143 (-3) with one round of stroke play remaining. She is one shot back of the leader with 18 holes remaining.
Matthews had a big par save to finish strong while Gonzalez birdied two of her final four holes helping the Razorbacks to a fourth-place tie when their round was complete.
Senior Kaylee Benton is also in the clubhouse in the top 10 at sixth, shooting 73-74—147.
The format for the national championship has changed this week after weather forced the suspension of the second round. The teams in the morning flight had nearly completed their round on Saturday when heavy rains pulled players off the course.
All 24 teams returned to the links Sunday at 10 a.m. as half of the field finished round two while the other half played the full round.
Teams will move on to a final round of stroke play Monday that will determine the individual national champion. The top eight teams after stroke play move on to match play Tuesday and Wednesday with the team champion crowned after the final match.
Fassi on her eagle on No. 7
“I would usually hit a 3-wood off the tee, but it was playing down wind, so I took a hybrid off the tee. I ended up in abut the same place I would have if I hit my 3-wood because of the wind. I hit it pretty good to the middle of the fairway and had about 200 yards to the pin. I knew I would still have a little bit of help from the wind, so I hit my 6-iron to the front of the green and it released to six or seven feet. I had a pretty easy putt straight up the hill and not much break. I took a good look at it and I was able to make that putt for eagle.”
Arkansas Lineup
Arkansas Lineup
T4 Arkansas
T2 Maria Fassi (1) 72-71=143 -3
T6 Kaylee Benton (2) 74-73=147 +1
T33 Brooke Matthews (4) 76-76=152 +6
T105 Dylan Kim (3) 80-82=162 +16
T114 Ximena Gonzalez (5) 88-76=164 +18
The Field
1 Duke 305-281=586 +2
2 Southern California 306-289=595 +11
3 Texas 302-294=596 +12
T4 Arkansas 302-296=585 +14
T4 Arizona 304-294=598 +14
6 Stanford 304-300=604 +20
7 Purdue 312-294=606 +22
8 Northwestern 313-294=607 +23
T9 Auburn 313-295=608 +24
T9 Wake Forest 309-299=608 +24
11 Ole Miss 314-297=611 +27
12 Arizona State 310-302=612 +28
13 Florida 321-294=615 +31
14 Illinois 320-296=616 +32
15 Florida State 321-298=619 +35
16 Virginia 314-307=621 +37
17 Washington 311-311=622 +38
18 UCLA 315-308=623 +39
19 San Jose State 324-302=626 +42
20 Central-Florida 321-309=630 +46
21 Kent State 325-308=633 +49
T22 Indiana 322-313=635 +51
T22 Vanderbilt 319-316=635 +51
24 Tennessee 328-311=639 +55
