Razorbacks running backs coach Jeff Traylor talked Thursday about some of the new players coming in and how injured players recovered and an energizing start to spring practice next week.
Chavis ‘not frustrated, but humbled’ with Razorbacks’ finish last year
Arkansas defensive coordinator John Chavis has had decades of success in the SEC, but admitted Thursday he was humbled in the 2-10 record last year, but excited to get going again.
Fry on how newcomers anxious to get to work and looking to spring
Arkansas offensive line coach Dustin Fry talked with the media Thursday and said the newcomers are contacting him a lot and are ready to get to work and he likes that.
???? Thursday Halftime Pod — featuring Bob Holt
Phil & Tye discuss the Arkansas loss, USC this weekend, plus Bob Holt joins the pod!
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Thursday
John & Tommy discuss Mike Anderson’s thoughts, take calls, plus Richard Davenport joins the show!
No explanation will suffice after Hogs’ embarrassing loss to Auburn
Mike Anderson didn’t necessarily have to win Wednesday night’s game at Auburn.
But he did need to avoid the embarrassment that happened.
The final score of 79-56 was terribly deceiving. The game was never that close.
The Tigers jumped on the Razorbacks from the start, racing to a 22-1 lead. Yes, that’s not a typo.
And that was the highlight for the Hogs. With some questioning whether his job should be in jeopardy before the plane left Fayetteville, there will be considerably more now.
Fans will justifiably question being so flat at the start that you’re out of the game before it really got started. Anderson may take a shot at answering, but this isn’t a question of youth and inexperience. Not when you’re trying to keep from getting run out of the gym by 30 points with five minutes gone in the second half.
Some close to the program tried to say back in December and even January this team was just young. We now know that was either an outright lie or a hilariously poor evaluation. This team can’t shoot (32.8 percent in this one, 26.7 percent in the first half), struggles at the free-throw line and rebounding.
Anderson has juggled having a talented player or two with some role players before and it’s worked well enough to at least make the NCAA Tournament. Those teams seldom were out-hustled and the defense at least kept them with a prayer of getting a win.
At Auburn hope left the building about the time the official tossed the ball up at midcourt to start the game. In the first part of this game, the Hogs had zero aggressiveness, zero focus and appeared bewildered at times.
Daniel Gafford, a projected first-round NBA draft choice, was a non-factor to help stem the early bleeding. To making things more embarrassing for him, he tried a showboat dunk late in the game … and missed it … badly.
It was bad enough even Anderson’s most vocal supporters are going to have a tough time defending this one.
Anderson can’t explain it, no matter how hard he may try.
All season while giving up double-digit leads, Anderson has tried to explain that is how things go in college basketball now. He credits the shot clock and 3-point shot as being key components of that, which is true in a lot of respects.
But you wonder when the Hogs are going to cut into somebody else’s big lead. The result is now they’re 14-12 overall and 5-8 in the SEC with five to play. One of those is on the road against Kentucky.
No, this is not an experienced team, but it’s hard to see them making enough improvement to be much better, even next year If they were good it would show more than what was shown in a horrific loss against the Tigers.
In the end, Auburn was ready to play from the start.
Arkansas wasn’t.
And it never got much better.
When Anderson was hired in 2012, most — including me — thought it was what Arkansas needed to get back to a team consistently ranked. Deep into an eighth season, Anderson’s teams have been ranked in the Top 25 for 10 weeks … and nine came in the 2014-15 season.
Maybe the worst stat of all is only one time in those eight years has a team finished in the Top 25 final ranking … a No. 21 ranking in that 2014-15 season.
Would a Hogs’ football coach survive that?
Arkansas basketball has turned into a program not even consistently making the NCAA Tournament.
And it leads to an ever-increasing number of folks asking if it’s going to get better.
Arkansas heads west for series with Southern Cal starting Thursday
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas takes its first road trip of the 2019 season this week as it makes its first trip in program history to historic Dedeaux Field, the home of the USC Trojans.
The Razorbacks and Trojans will start their three-game series on Thursday with a 9 p.m. first pitch.
The Razorbacks (3-0) are coming off a three-game season-opening sweep of Eastern Illinois after getting a strong offensive showing in a Saturday double-header, followed by a walk-off single by sophomore Heston Kjerstad in the final game on Sunday.
Winning all three games by a combined score of 30-12, Arkansas opened the year with a series sweep for the sixth-straight season.
USC (2-1) comes into the weekend after opening the season with a series win over Omaha. The Trojans looked primed to sweep the Mavericks after wins of 6-5 and 11-0 in games one and two, but could not complete a huge comeback in game three after scoring eight unanswered runs. USC fell in the final game, 12-9.
This is the second-straight year that Arkansas will take on USC. Last year, the Trojans visited Baum-Walker Stadium and it was the Hogs that walked away with the series win in dramatic fashion.
With the series tied 1-1, the two teams were locked in tight contest in game three and the game was subject to a curfew due to the Trojans having to catch their flight back to California. The umpires determined that the eighth inning would be the final frame of the game and Arkansas came through with a bottom of the eighth walk-off hit by Dominic Fletcher, winning 7-6.
Follow Live
All three games this weekend will be available on PAC-12 Network-Plus, which can be viewed online on Pac-12.com. Phil Brame (PXP) will have the radio call on the Razorback Sports Network.
Fans can listen to the radio call via the Razorback Gameday app and on ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
Pregame coverage begins 30 minutes prior to first pitch.
Important Links
Game 1 – WATCH | LIVE STATS
Game 2 – WATCH | LIVE STATS
Game 3 – WATCH | LIVE STATS
Probable Starters
Thu. | 9 p.m. | (ARK) RHP Cody Scroggins (0-0, 9.00 ERA) vs. (USC) LHP Quentin Longrie (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Fri. | 8 p.m. | (ARK) RHP Isaiah Campbell (1-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. (USC) RHP Kyle Hurt (0-0, 3.60 ERA)
Sat. | 8 p.m. | (ARK) RHP Connor Noland (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. (USC) LHP John Beller (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Hogs Blast Panthers On Opening Week
For the sixth-straight season, Arkansas opened its campaign with a series sweep dating back to 2014. The Razorbacks swept Eastern Illinois by a combined score of 30-12, scoring 10+ runs in each of the first two games.
The Hogs completed the sweep on Sunday with a walk-off single by sophomore Heston Kjerstad in the bottom of the ninth, his second walk-off of his career.
No K’s On Opening Day
On Opening Day, Arkansas achieved more than just scoring 15 runs on 18 hits en route to its 25th-straight season-opening win. The Hogs also did not strike out in 46 batters, a feat that hadn’t been achieved since 7-6 victory over Troy on Feb. 28, 2010.
Washington, Jr. Coming Through In A Pinch
West Memphis, Arkansas native Curtis Washington, Jr. came through when his name was called on Sunday in helping Arkansas finish off the sweep of Eastern Illinois.
Making just his second appearance of the weekend off the bench, Washington pinch hit for Jordan McFarland in the seventh inning and was asked to drop a sacrifice bunt. He did one better and drew the walk to put two on base with no outs and eventually led to Arkansas’ second run.
In the ninth inning, Washington saddled his first career hit with a lead-off single. He later scored the winning run on Kjerstad’s walk-off hit.
Ezell Owns Eastern Illinois
Following his four-hit day in the doubleheader on Saturday, graduate transfer Trevor Ezell added another hit to his already growing total against the Panthers in his career on Sunday.
Dating back to his four years at Southeast Missouri State, which played in the same conference (Ohio Valley Conference) as EIU, Ezell is now 21-for-44 (.477) against the Panthers in 12 games.
He finished last weekend leading all hitters with a .500 average (5-for-10) with two doubles, four runs scored, one home run and five RBIs.
Near Immaculate Inning
Freshman Patrick Wicklander nearly achieved a feat that some pitchers only dream of when he came out of the bullpen in the sixth inning to relieve Jacob Kostyshock last Sunday against EIU.
Wicklander struck out the heart of EIU’s lineup consisting of Jimmy Govern, Hunter Morris and Ryan Knernschield and did it on 10 pitches, just one shy of the near immaculate nine-pitch, three-strikeout inning.
Wicklander finished his first career outing with 2.1 innings thrown, one run allowed and four strikeouts on 31 pitches.
Early Season Streaking
Trevor Ezell, Heston Kjerstad, Casey Martin and Jack Kenley are the only Razorbacks to record at least one hit in each game this season, earning them a three-game hitting streak going into the road series at USC.
Combined the top three of Arkansas’ lineup plus Kenley are hitting .391 with eight extra-base hits, three home runs and 12 RBIs.
They’re also slugging at a .717 clip as a group. Ezell leads all Hog hitters with an even .500 average (5-for-10) with four runs scored, two doubles, one home run and five RBIs.
Up Next
Arkansas will return home after this weekend’s series with USC and will stay home for nearly the whole month of March.
The Hogs will kick off a 14-game homestand with a single midweek game against Memphis on Wednesday, Feb. 27.
First pitch between the Razorbacks and Tigers is set for 3 p.m. at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Neighbors looks ahead to road game at Georgia, home with Rebels
Arkansas women’s coach Mike Neighbors met with the media Wednesday for the first time in a few days to preview upcoming games against the Bulldogs and Ole Miss.
Arkansas opens home schedule with Razorback Invitational on Thursday
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas kicks off its 2019 home slate on Thursday when it faces Southeast Missouri State in the first of six games for the Hogs during the Razorback Invitational.
SIU-Edwardsville, Drake and IUPUI will also be participating in the tournament with a total of 13 games to be played in Bogle Park across four days.
Admission to all games at Bogle Park are free of charge, all seats are general admission.
Tournament Schedule
| Thursday | vs Southeast Missouri State | 5:00 p.m. (SECN+) |
| Friday | vs Southeast Missouri State | 4:45 p.m. |
| Friday | vs SIU-Edwardsville | 7:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | vs Drake | 2:30 p.m. |
| Saturday | vs SIU-Edwardsville | 4:45 p.m. |
| Sunday | vs IUPUI | 12:15 p.m. |
Mexican Roundup
Arkansas made its first trip out of the country last weekend, visiting beautiful Mexico for the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge. The Razorbacks claimed wins over North Dakota State, Northern Colorado and Sacramento Stats, while dropping a 3-2 heartbreaker to #5 Washington.
Holding Steady Ground
The Razorbacks remained at No. 12 in the USA Today/NFCA Polls in Week 2, holding strong at No. 12 in the Softball America poll as well. The Hogs did drop from #11 to #12 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.
Back in Bogle
Arkansas returns to Bogle Park for the first time since hosting the Fayetteville Regional, 275 days ago. In 2018, the Razorbacks were 27-2 at home, winning every series and dropping one game to Missouri (Mar. 24) and Alabama (Apr. 13). Since her arrival in Fayetteville, Coach Deifel is 47-28 in Bogle Park.
The Week One ⇒ Week Two Upgrade
The Hogs closed out week one with a .290 average at the plate, tallying 38 hits on 32 runs and gave up 21 strike outs. With slight changes, the team regrouped and in week two batted .371 (+.081), recorded 43 hits (+5), rattled off 14 multi-base hits (+2) and gave up only 15 Ks (-6).
Storms and Haff: The One-Two Punch
With Storms and Haff working for the Hogs, Arkansas is fifth in the nation and first in the SEC in team ERA (.83). Arkansas is only one of two teams in the SEC with an ERA less than 1.00. The power duo has combined to pitch the most innings by two pitchers from the same team in the SEC (59.1)- they also have the most wins by two pitchers from the same team (8).
Multi-Hit Monsters
Through nine games, 11 different Razorbacks have recorded multi-hit games. Five Hogs have recorded ten plus multi-hit games in their careers: Ashley Diaz, Hannah McEwen, Haydi Bugarin, Kayla Green and Katie Warrick. Diaz has accumulated 41 multi-hit games in the cardinal and white.
Scouting the Competition
Southeast Missouri State
Southeast Missouri leads the Ohio Valley Conference in several categories through two weeks of the 2019 softball season. The Redhawks are first in batting average (.333), slugging percentage (.552), hits (87), triples (8) and total bases (144). Southeast Missouri leads the nation with eight triples this season.
Senior right-handed pitcher Haley Thogmartin was named Ohio Valley Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 18. Thogmartin put together a 2-0 record with a 1.38 ERA in three appearances and two starts at the Louisiana Tech Invitational (Feb. 15-17). She combined on two shutouts and recorded 20 strikeouts to just three walks in 13 innings.
SIU-Edwardsville
The Cougars are headed to Fayetteville with a three-game win streak in tow, after downing host-team Southeastern Louisiana, 2-1 at SLU’s Lion Classic II. SIUE finished the tournament with a 4-1 record, with its only loss being to Prairie View A&M.
As a team, the Cougars are batting .284 with a .310 on base percentage. Leading the pack is Alyssa Heren, the senior outfield is batting .533 through five games, tallying eight hits in 15 at-bats. In the circle, SIUE looks to Corrina Rivas, who has a team-best 2.42 ERA. With a 2-1 record, Rivas has pitched 17.1 innings, giving up 11 hits, 11 walks, and recording 15 strikeouts.
Drake
Picked as the MVC Preseason favorite, the Bulldogs sit at 5-4 overall, returning from the Plainsman Invitational where they matched up against SEC opponent #20 Auburn and lost, 2-0 after holding the Tigers scoreless through four innings.
With nine games under their belt, the Bulldogs are batting .266 as a team, recording 58 hits and 46 runs scored. Drake’s top hitter, Macy Johnson is batting a .480 with 12 hits and three doubles. Nicole Newman is a both a top performer at the plate and on the rubber for Drake, leading the team with 11 RBI and with a 0.79 ERA through 26.2 innings pitched.
IUPUI
The Jaguars visit Arkansas with the Horizon League’s Pitcher of the Week, freshman pitcher Lexi Lucas. For the week, Lucas went 2-1 with a 3.06 ERA, allowing 12 hits in 17.2 innings pitched. Lucas took a no-hit bid in to the seventh inning against Mount St. Mary’s before giving up a double in the final inning. She threw the one-hitter using only 73 pitchers with 51 being strikes, striking out two batters and not issuing a walk.
Against the Field
The Razorbacks are a combined 19-6 against the four teams, being most familiar with Drake, who the Hogs boast a 10-5 record against. Arkansas has only seen SIU-Edwardsville once before, in 2010, when the Razorbacks defeated the Cougars, 9-3 in Fayetteville.
???? Wednesday Halftime Pod — featuring Nashville Sports Radio’s Bill King
Phil Elson & Tye Richardson discuss Connor Noland’s future, Arkansas-Auburn, plus Bill King of Nashville Sports Radio joins the pod!
Schultz defends second title while Razorbacks set two more records
ATHENS, Ga. — In the second day of the SEC Championships, Arkansas set two more records and sophomore Brooke Schultz took the 1-meter title for the second consecutive year.
In the 500 freestyle relay preliminary round, Alyssa Lemon set a personal best with a time of 4:54.37 to finish in 44th place while Rachel Rodriguez finished in 47th place with a time of 4:55.40.
Peyton Palsha finished in fifth place (4:40.54), setting a personal best and advancing to the A-finals where she finished in eighth place (4:44:45).
The 50 freestyle saw nine Razorbacks compete in the preliminaries, with Cris Roberts setting a personal best (25.02) and finishing in 63rd place.
Kenedy Thaman placed 50th with a time of 23.48, while Brittney Pike finished 48th (23.44) and set a personal best.
Andrea Sansores set a season-best time of 23.35 to finish 46th and Annah Carney set a season-best time to tie for 42nd place (23.26) with Kiera Michailoff-Russell.
Erin Kelly finished in 35th place, setting a personal best time of 22.93.
Molly Moore set a personal best time of 22.72 to finish in 25th place and qualify as first alternate. Anna Hopkin earned a second-place finish with a time of 21.70 to advance to the A-finals.
Hopkin’s personal best of 21.58 earned her a second place finish and set a school record.
On the springboards, Marissa Green placed 31st on the 1-meter with a 210.70 while Caroline Welch finished 24th with a 231.05.
Maha Amer finished ninth with a 273.45, 4.30 points shy of advancing to the finals. Schultz placed second with a 325.75 to advance to the finals, where she won her second title of the meet with a score of 359.35.
The final event of the day was the 200 yard freestyle relay, where Kobie Melton, Hopkin, Moore, and Kelly set a school record (1:28.83).
The fourth-place finish was the highest SEC Championship finish for the Razorbacks in the event since 2015. After the second day of competition, the Razorbacks sit in sixth place with 294 points.
The Hogs will return to the pool for the third day of the SEC Championships tomorrow morning with the 400 yard IM preliminaries at 9 a.m.
