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Hogs sweep Boston University on final day of ‘Woo Pig’ at Bogle Park

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — On the final day of the Wooo Pig Classic, Arkansas claimed a double-header sweep over Boston University in a 4-2 victory and an absolute shoot-out 12-7 game-two win.

Arkansas (17-3) wasted no time firing up the bats in game one, jumping out to a four-run lead after one inning with a single-RBI double from senior Katie Warrick and a three-run home run from sophomore Nicole Duncan. The long ball was Duncan’s second of the season.

Boston (8-5) scored two in the top of the sixth off a two-run shot from Terrier catcher, Alex Heinen, but the Razorbacks halted the action there and held onto the 4-2 win.

Sophomore Mary Haff pitched the complete seven innings for the Hogs, dishing out 12 strikeouts and allowing no free bases. The walk-less win is the fifth for Haff this season.

Moving on to game two, the Razorbacks again used the bats to dominate the diamond, outscoring Boston, 6-1 through five frames.

Autumn Storms earned the start for the Hogs in the game two, but after the Terriers scored four in the top of the six, Arkansas called on Haff for relief in the circle. Storms’ time in the circle was well done, as she racked up 11 strikeouts and allowed only one walk – throwing 75 strikes in 103 total pitches.

Boston stacked on two more runs in the sixth to take a 7-6 lead under Haff, but the Hogs responded well, fighting fire with fire in the bottom of the inning and scoring each of the six runs scored upon them in the top of the inning.

As if it was written by the stars, both teams scored six runs on six hits in the sixth inning.

With Julia Handfield on the mound for Boston, Duncan and Aly Manzo went back-to-back on opposite sides of the field with hard hit doubles to the warning track. Manzo’s double scored Duncan and the Hogs and Terriers were all tied up 7-7. What Boston was unprepared for was the ensuing rally to follow.

The Hogs kept rolling in the runs and scored five more Razorbacks after Duncan with runs batted in by Danielle Gibson, Ashley Diaz, Kayla Green and Duncan.

Arkansas needed only to secure three outs in the top of the seventh and they did just that; Haff struck out the first Terrier looking, then Duncan snagged a line drive off the bat of Boston’s Killebrew and Green followed with a mask-off sliding catch behind the plate to end the game.

Haff’s time in the circle is good for another win, making her 9-3 on the season.

The 14 hits by the Hogs in game two is the seventh time this season the team hit in double-digits, improving their overall average to .342 – an increase of nearly .100 since game one of the season (.241).

The Razorbacks closed out the Wooo Pig Classic with two more wins, giving them a clean 6-0 record on the weekend. The Hogs will be traveling to Missouri State on Wednesday (March 13) before starting SEC play next weekend in Oxford, Miss. at Ole Miss.

Hogs unleash bats in 15-7 win to complete series sweep over Stony Brook

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas hit four home runs and had seven of its 15 hits go for extra bases on Saturday as it slugged its way to a 15-7 win over Stony Brook, sweeping the series at Baum-Walker Stadium.

Junior Jack Kenley hit two of Arkansas’ home runs, his first multi-home run game of the year and was the first Razorback to hit two home runs in a game this year.

Trevor Ezell and Christian Franklin also went deep for their second home runs of the season. Kenley finished the game 2-for-4 with a career-high five RBIs and three runs scored to lead all Razorbacks.

It’s the second time this year Arkansas has hit four home runs in a game and the trio of Kenley, Ezell and Franklin make up seven of the Hogs’ 10 home runs through the season’s first 10 games.

Arkansas (9-1) was down to Stony Brook (3-6) early after the Sea Wolves scored twice in the first inning, but the Hogs’ responded with four runs of their own in the bottom half as their first five batters of the game reached base and three runs scored before Stony Brook recorded its first out.

From there, the Razorbacks went on to score five runs in the fourth, breaking the game open with Ezell’s two-run home run to right-center field. Then, three more runs came in during the fifth followed by another two in the sixth as Arkansas had the long ball working.

Razorback starting pitcher Connor Noland ended up throwing three innings and giving up three runs on six hits, but threw well in the second and third innings with some help from his defense.

Sophomore Zebulon Vermillion picked up his second win of the year after throwing the fifth and sixth innings with only one hit allowed and two strikeouts. In his five appearances this year, Vermillion has allowed no more than one hit in any outing and given up just one earned run in 5.2 innings.

Putting it to ‘em

After winning both games of the doubleheader with Stony Brook on Friday by two runs or less, Arkansas jumped out to a 15-3 lead going into the ninth inning and looked primed for its largest victory of the year.

The Sea Wolves did strike for four in the ninth, but Saturday’s game marked the fourth time this year Arkansas has scored 10 or more runs and the Hogs are 4-0 in those games.

Jacked times two

Junior infielder Jack Kenley had not hit a home run in 77 career games prior to the 2019 season. Now, he has three through the season’s first 10 games, which not only leads the team, but is well within the top-six of all SEC players.

Kenley’s two home run day was the first for a Hog this year and the first since Heston Kjerstad did it against Oral Roberts in last year’s NCAA Regional opener (June 1, 2018).

Franklin earning his stripes

Freshman outfielder Christian Franklin has started eight of Arkansas’ 10 games this year and has consistently produced in the nine-hole of the lineup.

After going 3-for-5 at the plate on Saturday and totaling three RBIs with a home run, Franklin leads the team with five multi-RBI games with nine of his 12 RBIs coming in the last six games.

Franklin has also been a tough out as he has reached base in six of 10 games and is second on the team with a .485 on-base percentage.

Trevor Ezell, Mr. Consistent

Once again, Trevor Ezell found his way into the hit column as he went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a home run in the 15-7 win.

Ezell has reached base safely in all 10 games and recorded at least one hit in nine games with five of the multi-hit variety.

ust in the series against Stony Brook, Ezell hit .455 (5-for-11) with a triple, a home run and four RBIs. In the seven home games, the redshirt senior is batting .500 (13-for-26) and slugging an astounding .885.

Razorback Quotables

“I thought the team responded pretty good today. I was a little concerned after yesterday. We’d already won the series along with the weather and the temperature. I knew Stony Brook would come out and give us a good big game. It was a big game for them. They wanted to get out of here with a win. They jumped on us for a couple of runs in the first inning, but we came out and did a great job scoring. We ended up scoring four, but we just needed to cut that lead in half. We changed the momentum a little bit and we ended up getting the lead. They battled pretty good.” — Coach Dave Van Horn on getting the sweep over Stony Brook

“It’s nice to have that down there. Obviously, we know the guys up top are going to get their RBIs. It’s just a matter of when they’re going to get it rolling. It’s what I told the guys, ‘We’ve played 10 games and we haven’t played our best baseball by any means.’ We’ve played just good enough to win in some and pitched really well in most. We’re not swinging the bats great yet. We’re just swinging it okay, but we’ve gotten some timely hits. Franklin’s been in the nine hole, like our second leadoff guy. But a guy that I like having on base for (Casey) Martin and Heston (Kjerstad) to hopefully knock them in at some point in the game. He’s done a tremendous job there.”  — Van Horn on the bottom of the lineup producing

Up Next

Arkansas returns to Baum-Walker Stadium to continue its homestand on Tuesday and Wednesday with a midweek series against Charlotte.

Both games are scheduled for a 3 p.m. first pitch and will be televised on SEC Network+.

Anderson on stopping losing streak, National Championship players back

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Hogs’ coach Mike Anderson talked with the media after Arkansas’ 74-73 win over Ole Miss on Saturday on a day the 1994 National Champions were being honored.

Harris, Gafford on game-winning layup late to beat Ole Miss on Saturday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Razorbacks Jalen Harris (10 points, 9 assists) and Daniel Gafford (17 points) talked about Harris’ driving shot with five seconds left that broke the Hogs’ losing streak.

Davis on Ole Miss’ lack of energy, production in loss to Razorbacks

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Rebels coach Kermit Davis talked with the media after the Rebels’ 74-73 loss to Arkansas and said his team didn’t played like they had earlier and on the final turnover.

Richardson recalling 1994 National Championship, name on floor

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson met with the media Saturday morning before the game with Ole Miss and covered a wide variety of topics from the title to his name on the floor at Bud Walton.

National championship Razorback team of 1994 had far-reaching effects

Nate Olson
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I know the 1994 University of Arkansas men’s basketball team touched you. You had season tickets and took your young sons to Charlotte for the Final Four.

You and your UA buddies piled in a car and road tripped to Charlotte coasting in on fumes. You watched the national championship game with others on the big screen at Bud Walton Arena. You were in grade school watching on a small television in your living room with a large group of family. You partied on Dickson Street after.

Arkansas fans will never forget the 1994 team that won the school’s first national championship.

But that team and coach Nolan Richardson was more far-reaching than just the state borders. I was a college freshman at Northwest Missouri State University and a basketball junkie. If I wasn’t in class or at the student newspaper I was playing pickup basketball or watching it on TV (My college dorm room had cable which my family never had – bonus!).

I became familiar with Richardson and the Hogs when the 1989-90 team made a national splash with a Final Four appearance. I was intrigued by the back court of Todd Day and Lee Mayberry and the colorful trailblazing Richardson being one of the few African-American coaches across the college basketball landscape.

I really began paying attention to the 1993-94 team when they hosted the University of Missouri Dec. 2, 1993 on ESPN. All of my buddies were Mizzou fans, and I hated the Tigers being raised a die-hard Iowa State fan less than an hour from Ames.

So, I took delight in the Hogs’ 120-68 dismantling of the Tigers at Bud Walton Arena. I paid close attention to them after and read as many articles as I could. Of course, I was a fan of star Corliss Williamson and was sure he was going to be the next NBA star. But, I also loved the roll players on the team.

Corey Beck’s willingness to play tenacious defense, Al Dillard’s pig-snout range, exchange student Davor Rimac, and Dwight Stewart, with the stature of an offensive lineman, being able to step out and drill 3-pointers. There was a cast of talented, colorful characters and their games were must-see TV.

When it came time to pick the NCAA Tournament pool, I was all-in on the Hogs. I had them beating Duke in the National Championship game.

“There is no way, Arkansas is going to beat Duke,” one of my journalism compadres said one day before class. “I said, “How many games have you seen them play? Just watch.”

And on that night in April, I sat perched on my bed watching every second of that game with Duke. It was one of the more thrilling title games, and Scotty Thurman’s rainbow three-pointer to seal the win elicited a scream from me that brought my dorm RA scrambling and was etched in NCAA Tournament history forever.

I won $150 in the bracket pool and made sure to rub it in that dude’s face.

Four years later, I stood face-to-face with Richardson at The Bud. I was a cub reporter covering the old Holiday Hoops Tournament at the Bud. I was the only one in the media room when Richardson sauntered in. I told him about how I enjoyed watching his teams. He smiled and chuckled and welcomed me to Arkansas. I was in awe.

I got to cover the Hogs that year and enjoyed the little bit of magic that still remained in his era. Since them I have gotten to know Thurman and had dinner with Dillard and Reggie Merritt, a walk-on on that team. It was cool to hear in their words how much Richardson and that season meant to them, now far removed from 1994.

The team, especially now, realizes the social significance of a black coach with a team majority black team beating blue-blood program that featured some white players and a legendary white coach in Mike Kryzewski.

The 1994 Hogs will be honored at a ceremony tomorrow when Arkansas takes on Ole Miss at noon Bud Walton Arena. It may be the only game this season that will come close to a sellout, but this celebration should attract fans who haven’t felt like watching the current up-and-down Hogs play this season.

Twenty-five years later, the 1994 Hogs are still memorable, especially those who grew up here but even to those who didn’t.

Razorbacks fall to No. 3 Florida at Barnhill Arena in final SEC match

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas fell to third-ranked Florida inside 197.225-196.350 inside Barnhill Arena to end its Southeastern Conference campaign for the 2019 season.

The Razorbacks will return to action next Friday for Elevate the Stage in Birmingham, Ala.

First Rotation: Florida Bars: 49.425, Arkansas Vault: 49.050
Sophomore Jessica Yamzon and junior Michaela Burton led the rotation off with a pair of 9.775’s. The scores were followed by a 9.850 from sophomore Sarah Shaffer in the third spot.

The Razorbacks would be able to post another vault rotation score of 49 with a 9.850 from senior Sydney McGlone and a 9.800 from freshman Amanda Elswick off of her Yurchenko 1.5 in the anchor position. The Razorbacks have now posted a 49 or higher in seven-of-nine meets this season on vault.

Second Rotation: Arkansas Bars: 49.125, Florida Vault: 48.950
The Razorbacks would make up some ground in the second rotation, coming within two-tenths of the Gators after a high Bars scores. The Gymbacks posted a season high bars score off of four scores of 9.800 or higher.

Yamzon led the rotation off with a 9.875 that was followed up with a 9.825 in the three spot from freshman Kennedy Hambrick. Junior Hailey Garner posted a 9.800 in the in the four position as junior Michaela Burton anchored the rotation with a 9.850.

Third Rotation: Florida Floor: 49.475, Arkansas Beam: 48.800
The Gators created some separation in the third rotation after a strong floor series while the Razorbacks were forced to count a low score in rotation three. Yamzon again led off with a strong 9.850.

Hambrick followed that up with one of two 9.775’s on the beam, the other coming from anchor Burton. The highlight of the rotation was a career high 9.850 from freshman Katarina Derrick to tie for the rotation lead.

Fourth Rotation: Arkansas Floor: 49.375, Florida Beam: 49.375
For the third-consecutive rotation, Yamzon led off with a score of 9.800 or higher with a 9.825. Hambrick followed that up with a 9.825 of her own.

The rotation ended strong with a 9.925 career high score from senior McGlone, a 9.875 from Shaffer and a 9.925 from sophomore Sophia Carter. The 9.925 from Carter was her seventh 9.900 or higher on the event this season and led to a season high floor score for the Razorbacks for the second-consecutive week.

Hicks on first day talking what he’s found after transferring to Hogs

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Graduate transfer quarterback Ben Hicks is missing the warmer temperatures in Dallas, but likes being reunited with Chad Morris and Joe Craddock in Fayetteville.

Razorbacks sweep pair of games on second day of Wooo Pig Classic

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas is finding its groove again, after sweeping the competition on day two of the Wooo Pig Classic.

The Razorbacks started the afternoon with a 9-0 run-rule victory over Omaha, followed by a hard fought 9-6 battle win over Nevada.

Omaha (1-12) managed only one hit against starting pitcher Mary Haff in game one. Haff faced 16 batters, recorded four strikeouts and giving up no free bases on balls.

Arkansas (16-3) took a 2-0 lead after one frame, as sophomore Hannah McEwen led off with a single up the middle and was brought in with an absolute rocket into the parking lot by Katie Warrick.

The home run was Warrick’s third of the season and 17th of her career.

The third inning rolls around and this time, sophomore Danielle Gibson and Ashley Diaz take their swing at the Maverick pitcher each sending a solo home run over the wall, giving the Hogs a 4-0 lead.

Diaz home run is her first of the season and now makes eight of nine starting Razorbacks to hit dingers this season.

Arkansas would bat around in the fourth inning and score its final five runs with RBI from senior Haydi Bugarin, Gibson, Diaz and sophomore Kayla Green.

The shutout victory by the Hogs is their sixth of the season and their fifth run-rule win.

Nevada wouldn’t go down so easily for the Razorbacks, and despite jumping out to a 6-0 lead in the third inning, Arkansas would find themselves tied at six runs a piece headed into the fifth inning.

The Hogs used the batting power of Gibson and McEwen to take a 2-0 lead through two innings, then took advantage of back-to-back walks, a double by Aly Manzo, and two more runs off the bat of Parr to build their six-run lead.

After the Wolf Pack tied the game with a four-run fifth inning that including consecutive lead-off singles, Haff would return to the circle to relieve storms starting in the sixth inning.

Back at the plate, the Razorbacks rose to the occasion, batting in the go-ahead lead in the bottom of the fifth inning with the help of Warrick, then continued to rally with two more runs in the sixth.

Those two runs, courtesy of a double from Bugarin and a single from Parr, would be the lead that Arkansas needed to secure the win.

The Hogs return to Bogle for another day of play in the Wooo Pig Classic, with a double-header against Boston University scheduled for 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Harris on defense after first day of spring practice Friday afternoon

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas linebacker De’Jon Harris talked with the media after a cold start to spring football practice on Friday and said the defense was getting back to basics with young guys.

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