Hogs get share of SEC West title, but Omaha is Van Horn’s main goal

Andy Hodges
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Hogs get share of SEC West title, but Omaha is Van Horn’s main goal

Arkansas and Mississippi State are splitting the SEC West regular-season title this year and mainly because neither team won its way to an outright title.

The Razorbacks lost to Texas A&M on Saturday, dropping two out of three games, and the Bulldogs lost to South Carolina, but won two of three.

That resulted in a tie that leaves neither fan base particularly thrilled, but Hog fans do like the No. 2 seed headed into the SEC Tournament this week.

“Our division is the toughest division in the country by far this year,” Dave Van Horn said last week at the Swatter’s Club meeting.

Arkansas finished the season 20-10 in league play. It’s the sixth division title since joining the SEC with conference titles in 1999 and 2004, outright division crowns in 2007 and 2011 and split the division title with Ole Miss last season when both teams were 18-12 in conference games.

It is the most regular-season conference wins since a program-best 22 during its SEC championship season in 1999.

Van Horn got his fifth division championship.

Arkansas will open play in the tournament Wednesday next week, heading straight there from College Station. The Hogs will play either Ole Miss, Missouri or Auburn in a double-elimination game.

Winning games at Hoover, Alabama, next week might excite fans, but Van Horn said Monday it’s not the biggest goal.

“Yeah, I want to win that tournament, but I want to go to Omaha, too,” he said. “We’re going to do everything we can (to win).”

It requires some management of players, much like playing in Omaha. Tournaments tests a team’s pitching depth and catching at times, Van Horn pointed out to boosters at the Swatter’s Club.

“You don’t want to wear people down to where it affects you during the regional,” he said.

The Hogs will likely host an NCAA Regional in a couple of weeks at Baum-Walker. Hosting a Super Regional is probably a notch or two above possible, but far from definite at this point.

But they did win a share of the SEC West title, over a time where they held the tiebreaker advantage, outscoring the Bulldogs 27-10 in a sweep earlier in the year. The Hogs were picked third in the preseason behind LSU and Ole Miss.

That tournament seeding is more important than an outright title, mainly for an extra day of rest as the planning is in full mode for something bigger.

And that, of course, is going to Omaha again.

Aggies stop Hogs’ bats, win series finale, 6-1, on Saturday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Aggies stop Hogs’ bats, win series finale, 6-1, on Saturday

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — A first-inning solo home run from Casey Martin wasn’t enough for Arkansas on Saturday as they dropped their third of their last four games, falling to Texas A&M, 6-1, in the final game of the regular season.

Arkansas completes the 55-game regular-season schedule with a 40-15 overall record and a 20-10 record in SEC play. It’s the first time its won 40 or more games in the regular season since 1991 and the fastest its won 40 games since 1989.

The 20 conference wins remain only the second instance in school history that the Razorbacks have won 20 or more games in league play and first under coach Dave Van Horn.

The Razorbacks won 11 three-game series this season, seven in SEC play, including three sweeps. They also won four of their final five conference series, which includes sweeps over current No. 5 Mississippi State and Tennessee.

With its loss on Saturday, Arkansas sits a half-game behind Mississippi State, which is currently playing the final game of its series with South Carolina.

A Bulldog win will give the SEC Western Division title to Mississippi State and the two-seed in the SEC Tournament. A loss results in Arkansas and Mississippi State sharing the division title and Arkansas claiming the two-seed due to tiebreaker rules.

Martin’s solo blast off Aggie starter Christian Roa was one of just five hits in the game for the Razorbacks. It was Martin’s team-leading 14th home run of the year, one more than his total from his freshman season.

It was also his third home run of the series, but only his third RBI as all three of his long balls this weekend were solo home runs.

Arkansas struggled as a team with runners in scoring position for the second-straight day. Including a fourth-inning bases-loaded situation where the Hogs were unable to score with a 1-0 lead, the Razorbacks left seven runners on base in the game and only one reached base in its last 17 at-bats.

Martin finished the game 2-for-4 as he had a single in the fifth to go along with his first-inning home run. That single made him the last Razorback to reach base in the game, but he now has 23 multi-hit games this year, tying him with Dominic Fletcher for the team lead.

Matt Goodheart and Jack Kenley were the only other Hog batters to garner a hit in Saturday’s game as the strikeout bug struck again to the tune of 11 punch outs as a team.

On the mound, freshman Connor Noland had one of his most efficient outings this year, working 4.1 innings with just five hits scattered, three strikeouts and only one earned run.

Noland only threw 45 pitches, but the defense behind him suffered a season-high four errors, matching its total from a 17-7 loss to Little Rock back in April.

Cody Scroggins, Kevin Kopps and Zebulon Vermillion followed Noland out of the bullpen and did a tremendous job holding A&M to only four hits over the final 3.2 innings, but again, two unearned runs were scored off Scroggins during the sixth and seventh innings due to errors and helped the Aggies push their lead to 6-1.

Arkansas can’t overcome slow start as Aggies tie series

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas can’t overcome slow start as Aggies tie series

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Arkansas got off to a slow start Friday night in Blue Bell Park, struggling to string hits together against Texas A&M’s pitching staff before falling, 6-2, and evening the three-game series with a rubber match set for Saturday.

Arkansas (40-14, 20-9 SEC) drops its third game in its last six and with the Mississippi State victory earlier in the night, the Hogs and Bulldogs are now tied atop the SEC Western Division with one game to play.

Aggie lefty John Doxakis had a great outing against Arkansas, holding the Hog hitters to just two runs, both off a home run in the fourth inning, five hits scattered and eight strikeouts.

Even after Texas A&M (35-19-1, 15-13-1 SEC) went to the bullpen, the Razorbacks continued to struggle to put the bat on the ball, striking out 15 times, their second-straight game with 10 or more strikeouts.

Arkansas’ best chance to tie the game came in the sixth inning as Doxakis was struggling in what would be his final inning of work. The Hogs got their first three batters on base via two singles and a fielding error and was sending the go-ahead run to the plate.

Unfortunately, Doxakis struck out his final two batters of the night in Christian Franklin and Casey Opitz and then Texas A&M’s first man out of the bullpen, Bryce Miller, struck out pinch hitter Jordan McFarland to end the inning and leave the bases jammed.

The Razorbacks never had the lead in Friday’s game as Texas A&M got solo home runs from each of its first two batters of the game off freshman Patrick Wicklander.

The two-run lead became a four-run lead after a Braden Shewmake two-RBI double, his second extra-base hit in as many innings. Wicklander’s night was finished two batters later as he was relieved by sophomore Kole Ramage.

It was Wicklander’s shortest outing of the season in a starting role as he went 1.2 innings, giving up four runs on three hits with two strikeouts.

However, Ramage was very strong out of the bullpen, holding the Aggies to just two runs on three hits over 4.1 innings with five strikeouts. The 4.1 innings was his second longest this year and the five strikeouts tied for the second most as well.

Offensively, Heston Kjerstad and Jack Kenley combined for five of Arkansas’ eight hits in the game. Kjerstad went 3-for-4 with a run scored, while Kenley went 2-for-4 with his two-run home run the only run-producing hit of the night.

Kenley has been on a tear with the bat lately, hitting three home runs in his last four games and seven RBIs. His home run tonight was his 12th of the year and the first long ball given up by Doxakis this season.

As for Kjerstad, he now has 10 games with three or more hits this year and is on a five-game hitting streak. He’s got nine hits over the last five games, but has only driven in two runs during that stretch.  

Up next

Arkansas will conclude the 2019 regular season on Saturday against Texas A&M with a rubber match scheduled for 11 a.m. at Blue Bell Park

The game time was originally set for 2 p.m., but was moved up to an earlier time due to potential inclement weather later in the day.

You can hear the game on ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.

The game will be broadcast online only via SEC Network+.

Fassi, Benton lead Razorbacks into tie for first place at NCAA Championship

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Maria Fassi birdied two of her final three holes, while Kaylee Benton finished with a birdie leading Arkansas into a tie for first place after round one of the 2019 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship at Blessings Golf Club on Friday.

Fassi played her way to a T2 with a 1-under 72 on the par 73, 6,397-yard course with Benton, who was celebrating her birthday, 1-over with a 74 to finish T5 after round one.

The duo paced Arkansas to a 10-over 302 and a tie for the lead with Texas after first round action. Two shots back at 12-over are Arizona and Stanford with a 304, followed by Duke at 305 to round the top-5 team scores.

Freshman Brooke Matthews was steady all day and finished T19 shooting a 76 while senior Dylan Kim finished T67 with an 80. Ximena Gonzalez rounds out Arkansas’ scores with an 88.

A late start

The morning flight got backed up early in the round on Friday.

As a result, Arkansas had about a 45-minute delay in its afternoon start time. The 6,397-yard course was challenging in and of itself, but hot temperatures and strong winds were also factor’s in Friday’s scores.

Some numbers

Arkansas finished the round with 55 pars (second most), and 10 birdies (T8). Fassi had 12 par holes and four birdies while Benton led the field led the field playing the par-4s 2-under for the day.

Fassi was one of only four players who were under par for the day.

What’s next

Arkansas tees off at 8:06 a.m. playing with Florida and Auburn and starting on the No. 10 tee. Teams will play a third round of stroke play on Sunday before cutting the 24-team field to 15 teams.

The individual stroke play champion will be crowned on Monday and the low eight teams move on to match play Tuesday and Wednesday.

Musselman hires Oklahoma assistant as associate head coach

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Musselman hires Oklahoma assistant as associate head coach

FAYETTEVILLE — Chris Crutchfield, who spent the past eight seasons as associate head coach at Oklahoma, has been hired in the same position at Arkansas, Eric Musselman announced today.

“We’re excited to have Coach Crutchfield on staff,” Musselman said. “He’s one of the best recruiters and coaches in the country as proven by the Sooners being a mainstay in the NCAA Tournament.

“He has worked for an all-time great coach in Lon Kruger. Coach Crutchfield and Coach (Corey) Williams will make a great team at the University of Arkansas.”

Crutchfield has over 20 years of experience in the profession including two years as a head coach at Tyler (Texas) Junior College. This past November, TheAthletic.com named him to its list of 30 up-and-coming coaches to keep an eye on.

At Oklahoma, Crutchfield helped the Sooners compile a 160-105 (.604) overall record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in six of the past seven seasons, including a Final Four berth in 2016. That year, the Sooners racked up 29 victories, which tied for sixth-most in program history.

On the recruiting trail at Oklahoma, Crutchfield was instrumental in the signing and subsequent mentoring of Buddy Hield and Trae Young.

In his four years at Oklahoma, Hield was twice named the Big 12 Player of the Year (2015, 2016) and was crowned the 2016 national Player of the Year by four entities (John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith Award, Sporting News Player of the Year and the Oscar Robertson Trophy).

Hield was be the sixth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.

Young, the first five-star player to join the Sooners during the Kruger tenure, was a consensus All-American, Wooden Award finalist and 2018 Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year.

Prior to Oklahoma, Crutchfield helped Oral Roberts to an average of 20 wins over his last four years at the school and to postseason appearances in 2008 (NCAA Tournament) and 2011 (CollegeInsider.com Tournament).

The Golden Eagles finished the top three in the Summit League each year, including first in 2008, second in both 2009 and ‘11 and third in 2010.

Prior to his stint at ORU, Crutchfield served on TCU’s staff for two seasons. He was the Horned Frogs’ director of basketball operations for the 2005-06 season before being named assistant coach for the 2006-07 campaign.

He was also an assistant for four seasons at New Mexico State (2001-05) under NMSU all-time wins leader Lou Henson, helping the Aggies to two 20-win campaigns as well as a Sun Belt Conference title in 2002.

Crutchfield also has head coaching experience. He served two seasons (1999-2001) at Tyler (Texas) Junior College as head coach after spending the previous two years as an Apaches’ assistant coach.

As head coach, he led Tyler to a 35-28 record and saw his players graduate at a 91 percent rate.

Before his stop at Tyler, Crutchfield spent the 1996-97 season an assistant coach at Texas-San Antonio. He began his full-time coaching career during the 1995-96 season at his alma mater, Nebraska-Omaha, after serving the previous two seasons there as a graduate assistant.

Crutchfield, originally from Hopkinsville, Ky., graduated from Nebraska-Omaha in 1992 with a degree in criminal justice and earned his master’s in health, physical education and administration four years later from the same school. He and his wife Jodi are the parents of three sons: Derrick, Jalen and Josh.

THE CRUTCHFIELD FILE

Personal
Hometown: Hopkinsville, Ky.
Alma Mater: Omaha ‘92
Wife: Jodi
Sons: Derrick, Jalen, Josh

Coaching history
1995-96: Nebraska-Omaha (Assistant Coach)
1996-97: Texas-San Antonio (Assistant Coach)
1997-99: Tyler Junior College (Assistant Coach)
1999-01: Tyler Junior College (Head Coach)
2001-05: New Mexico State (Assistant Coach)
2005-06: TCU (Director of Basketball Operations)
2006-07: TCU (Assistant Coach)
2007-11: Oral Roberts (Assistant Coach)
2011-16: Oklahoma (Assistant Coach)
2016-19: Oklahoma (Associate Head Coach)
2019-pres: Arkansas (Associate Head Coach)

Late hits not enough for Razorbacks against BYU in Stillwater

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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STILLWATER, Okla. — Arkansas fired up the engines just a little too late on Friday afternoon, falling to BYU in the elimination bracket of the Stillwater Regional, 6-3.

Senior Haydi Bugarin hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning to put the Razorbacks on the board, but the Cougar lead was too much for the Razorbacks to overcome.

Bugarin’s home run cut into a five-run deficit that BYU built over the course of the first four innings. Senior Katie Warrick started off the inning with a single up the middle and sophomore Kayla Green reached on her team-leading 24th walk of the season to put Bugarin in prime position for her fifth home run of the year.

BYU’s offense was driven by leadoff-batter Rylee Jensen, who accounted for two of the Cougar’s six runs with two solo home runs in the third and sixth inning.

Starting right-hand pitcher Autumn Storms finishes her junior season with a 20-9 mark in the circle and closes out the year with a career-best number of wins, earned runs allowed, walks, and strikeouts.

Arkansas closes out the 2019 campaign with a 38-20 mark overall and 12-12 in conference play. The Razorbacks reached the NCAA Regionals for the third-straight season for the first time in program history.

???? Friday Halftime Pod — Featuring Aaron Torres

Tye Richardson
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???? Friday Halftime Pod — Featuring Aaron Torres

Phil Elson & Tye Richardson hit on Hogs taking Game 1, interview AT about his bachelor party, and more!

Iowa guard’s grad transfer to Razorbacks officially announced

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Iowa guard’s grad transfer to Razorbacks officially announced

FAYETTEVILLE — Isaiah Moss, a 6-5 guard who played the last three seasons at Iowa will complete his career at Arkansas as a graduate transfer.

The news came as official confirmation of something reported for the last week.

Moss, a 6- 5, 208-pound guard, started all 35 games last season and helped the Hawkeyes reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

He averaged 9.2 points with 32 steals and 62 assists. The Chicago native played in 102 games as a Hawkeye, totaling 906 points, 229 rebounds, 153 assists, 73 steals and 27 blocked shots.

Isaiah Moss
6-5, 208, G
Chicago, Ill. (Simeon HS / Univ. of Iowa)

2018-19 (Jr.): Shared the team’s Most Improved Player Award with Ryan Kriener … Started all 35 games and averaged 9.2) points with 32 steals and 62 assists … Netted double figures 15 times, scoring 15 points or more eight times … Led team in steals nine times and assists five times … Made four 3-pointers or more five times … Ranked fourth in the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage (.421, 48-of-114) … His 42.1 percentage from 3-point range ranks sixth best by an Iowa junior in school history … Recorded first career double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) and added five assists in a home win over Nebraska … Posted second career double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) against Maryland … Scored 18 first-half points en route to 20 points with four 3-pointers made in win over Iowa State … Drained 5-of-6 triples, netting a then-season-best 21 points, while tying a career-high six assists with zero turnovers versus Illinois … Recorded a season-best 23 points while making a career-best six 3-pointers at Minnesota … Tallied 16 points against #6 Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

2017-18 (So.): Voted to the Cayman Islands Classic All-Tournament Team, averaging 18 points in three games … Earned the team’s Most Improved Player Award … Started all 33 games and averaged 11.1 points with 62 assists and 22 steals … Scored in double figures 19 times … Only missed eight free throw attempts (58-of-66, .879) for the season … Poured in a career-high 32 points, 19 in the final 1:36, at Minnesota … Had 16 points, 13 in the second half, bolstered by 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range in the win over Minnesota … Credited with a season-high three steals, all in the first half, while scoring 15 points in a win over Wisconsin … Dished out a team-best five assists with zero turnovers against #3 Purdue … Posted a then career-best 25 points, bolstered by 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point territory, at Maryland … Tied career high with five assists with 11 points in a win over Northern Illinois … Scored  24 points, thanks to a perfect 10-of-10 at the free throw line, versus Louisiana … Registered team bests in scoring (18) and steals (2) versus South Dakota State.

2016-17 (RFr.): Big Ten Freshman of the Week (Dec. 12) … Played in 34 games, starting the final 28 games of the season … Averaged 6.5 points and 1.6 rebounds … Made 29 3-point field goals to rank seventh best on the Iowa freshman single-season list … His five steals versus Indiana at the Big Ten Tournament tied an Iowa Big Ten Tournament record … Also versus the Hoosiers, scored 11 points and credited with a personal-best five steals … Contributed 16 points, with four 3-pointers, and equaled a personal best with two blocks in NIT win over South Dakota … Played a key role in a win over #25 Iowa State by scoring 14 points and grabbing four boards … Recorded a season-highs in scoring (21) and rebounds (6) in win over Stetson … Scored 17 points at Nebraska, 15 in the first half … Added 19 points at Minnesota, including 12 in the first half at Minnesota.

2015-16 (Fr.): Redshirted.

High School: Was a 2015 McDonald’s All American nominee … Ranked 12th on 2015 City/Suburban Hoops Report’s top 20 prospects list … Averaged 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Mac Irvin Fire AAU team.

Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Friday

Tye Richardson
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Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Friday

John & Tommy discuss fans getting behind Mus, SEC juggernauts, interview Scott Tabor and more!

Home runs lift Razorbacks past Aggies to open series

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Home runs lift Razorbacks past Aggies to open series

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Arkansas used the home run ball five times Thursday night to pull out a 7-3 victory over Texas A&M at Blue Bell Park.

Arkansas has won five-straight conference series openers and 20 SEC games for the first time in the Dave Van Horn era.

Arkansas remains one game ahead of Mississippi State in the SEC Western Division with two games to play. The Bulldogs defeated South Carolina, 24-7, for their 44th victory and 19th in conference play.

The Hogs were able to get ahead of Aggie starter Chris Weber for five runs in five innings and it all began with a three-run homer by redshirt senior Trevor Ezell in the third inning.

What followed were four more home runs off the bats of Casey Martin in the fifth and ninth, Matt Goodheart in the fifth and Jack Kenley in the sixth, marking the sixth time this year and second in the last four games that the Hogs have hit four or more home runs in a game and third with five or more.

The win by the Razorbacks was their 40th of the year and 20th in league play.

It’s the third-straight year and fifth time in the last six years the Hogs have totaled 40 or more wins. This year’s team is the fastest Razorback team to reach 40 wins since 1989.

It’s also the first time Arkansas has won 20 or more games in SEC play since 1999 and first under coach Dave Van Horn. Arkansas won a school-record 22 games in conference play in 1999 under long-time head coach Norm DeBriyn.

Once again, right-hander Isaiah Campbell gave Arkansas a quality outing, going six innings strong with only two runs allowed, one being earned and six strikeouts.

Campbell has 10 quality starts in his last 11 outings and picked up his 10th win of the year, making him the second pitcher (Blaine Knight) in the last six years to win 10 or more games in a single season.

They got five on it

For the second time in four games, Arkansas hit five home runs in Thursday’s contest, upping their season total to 75, which now leads the SEC.

Casey Martin went deep twice in the game, his first multi-home run game this season, while Trevor Ezell, Matt Goodheart and Jack Kenley also launched homers.

Martin is now tied for the team lead with Heston Kjerstad with 14 home runs this season. Ezell’s three-run bomb was his eighth of the year and second in four games. Goodheart’s was his second this year and Kenley’s was his 11th. Martin and Goodheart’s home runs in the fifth inning were of the back-to-back variety.

It’s the second time this year the Hogs have gone back-to-back, the last coming against Northwestern State on April 23.

Chicks dig extra-base hits

Eight of Arkansas’ 10 hits Thursday night went for extra-bases, three from doubles coupled with the five home runs.

It’s the most extra-base hits in a game for the Hogs since April 27 where they notched 10 against Tennessee. Arkansas has 20 extra-base hits in the last four games and is averaging 8.5 runs per game over that same stretch.

Bullpen picks up Campbell in final three innings

After Isaiah Campbell held Texas A&M down for six innings, he handed over the ball to Kevin Kopps, who pitched a beautiful seventh inning before running into trouble in the eighth.

Jacob Kostyshock, making his third appearance in three games, came on to relieve Kopps in the middle of the eighth after A&M scored to make it 6-3.

Kostyshock was able to strand two runners and pick up a big strikeout of the potential game-tying run at the plate.

Junior Matt Cronin finished off the ninth inning, but it wasn’t a save situation as he faced five batters and gave up one hit and one walk.

Razorback quotables

“You’ll notice Casey isn’t hooking the ball as much, he’s just staying through the middle. There’s a lot of times that we wouldn’t let him pull the ball during batting practice. We just told him to stay through the middle and he started having success in the games. He’s bought in and he just has so much bat speed that he can wait longer than a lot of people. He’s just got to learn that. He’s still growing up and still developing. He’s paid attention and has seen what’s worked for him and taken it to the game.” — Coach Dave Van Horn on Casey Martin’s play over the last month

“We’ve got some guys with some power, but we’re not trying to make it a habit. You’ve got to give Texas A&M a little bit of credit, they struck us out 18 times tonight, we just took some good swings and a few of those home runs were with two strikes. We just took advantage of a couple of balls that were left up in the zone.” — Van Horn on his team’s five-home run day

Up next

Arkansas and Texas A&M will be back on the field tomorrow with first pitch from Blue Bell Park at 6:30 p.m.

You can hear the game on ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.

The game will be televised online only via SEC Network+.

Musselman on positives at Arkansas, teaching his system

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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New Razorback coach Eric Musselman did a host of interviews with media Thursday afternoon and covered a wide range of topics from what he found appealing and teaching.
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