Former Razorbacks guard Dusty Hannahs talked Monday about his struggles to catch on with an NBA team and how long he and Bobby Portis have known each other.
Portis on getting new house for his mother, the NBA
Former Razorback Bobby Ports talked with the media Monday about his recent purchase of a new home for his mother, playing with the Chicago Bulls and outlook for Hogs this year.
Former Hog Todd Day on state of Hogs, scoring record
Ex-Razorback Todd Day, now coaching Philander Smith in Little Rock, was at Mike Anderson’s golf tournament in Rogers on Monday and talked about the team, his scoring record.
Schedule set for Arkansas-Oklahoma Super Regional
FAYETTEVILLE — The Super Regional between Arkansas and Oklahoma will begin Friday afternoon at Marita Hynes Field in Norman.
All-session general admission tickets go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. through the OU Athletics Ticket Office by calling 405-325-2424 or 800-456-4668 or by clicking HERE to order online.
2018 NCAA Norman Super Regional | Tournament Central
Game 1: Friday, May 25 – 4 p.m.
Game 2: Saturday, May 26 – 12 p.m.
Game 3: Sunday, May 27 – 12 p.m. (if necessary)
Hosting the program’s first-ever NCAA Regional, the Razorbacks posted a 3-0 run through the weekend including a 6-4 win over Wichita State in the regional championship.
Freshman Mary Haff continued her standout performance in the circle with three wins and 20 strikeouts in 18.2 innings.
Seniors A.J. Belans and Autumn Buczek each had four hits during the weekend.
Arkansas tallied a 27-2 record at Bogle Park this season, establishing a program record for most home wins in one season.
With Sunday’s crowd of 2,142 fans — the No. 3 home mark in program history — more than 6,100 fans were in attendance for the Razorbacks’ three games during the Fayetteville Regional.
Uriell’s 69 paces Arkansas past first cut at NCAA Championship
STILLWATER, Okla. — Senior Alana Uriell fired a 3-under 69 helping second-ranked Arkansas survive the first cut at the 2018 NCAA Championship in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Sunday.
Uriell and the Razorbacks posted the third-best score of the day with a 1-over 289 and moved up to 11th in the field of 24 teams.
The top-15 teams move on to a final round of stroke play on Monday. The field cuts to the top-8 teams for three rounds of match play on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Lineup
| PLACE | PLAYER | SCORE | TO PAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| T24 | Dylan Kim (2) | 72–73–75 — 220 | +4 |
| T30 | Alana Uriell (3) | 78–74–69 — 221 | +5 |
| T50 | Kaylee Benton (4) | 77–76–72 — 225 | +9 |
| T93 | Maria Fassi (1) | 81–78–73 — 232 | +16 |
| T123 | Cara Gorlei (5) | 86–77–81 — 244 | +28 |
Arkansas moved up five spots in the round, second only to Baylor who moved up six places and is 10th, just ahead of the Razorbacks.
Uriell began her day on the back nine blasting out of the gates with three consecutive birdies and had four birdies in her first five holes.
She and junior Maria Fassi both birdied the final hole of the day, a 490-yard par 5, and Fassi and Kaylee Benton picked up birdies on No. 8 (the 17th hole of the day) to finish strong.
Junior Dylan Kim remains in the low spot for the Razorbacks and is tied for 24th overall. Kim is 4-over with a 220 (72–73–75). Uriell moved up 32 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 30th overall shooting 221 (78–74–69).
Junior Kaylee Benton carded her best round of the tournament with an even-par 72 and is tied for 50th shooting 225 (77–76–72). Fassi is tied for 93rd with a 232 (81–78–73) and Cara Gorlei is in the clubhouse with a 244 (86–77–81).
Arkansas will have to duplicate its incredible surge again on Monday to make the cut to the top-8. The Razorbacks have a three-day 897 (308–300–289) and are currently six shots back of the eighth-place team.
The Field
| PLACE | TEAM | TO PAR | SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | -2 | 292–286–284 — 862 |
| 2 | UCLA | +6 | 294–279–297 — 870 |
| 3 | Arizona | +16 | 301–291–288 — 880 |
| 4 | Northwestern | +18 | 299–293–290 — 882 |
| 5 | Southern California | +21 | 291–298–296 — 885 |
| 6 | Duke | +25 | 298–298–293 — 889 |
| 7 | Stanford | +26 | 308–291–291 — 890 |
| 8 | Kent State | +27 | 296–299–296 — 891 |
| 9 | Florida State | +30 | 301–294–299 — 894 |
| 10 | Baylor | +31 | 313–295–287 — 895 |
| 11 | Arkansas | +33 | 308–300–289 — 897 |
| 12 | Furman | +35 | 312–293–294 — 899 |
| 13 | Texas | +36 | 309–300–291 — 900 |
| T14 | Washington | +38 | 303–300–299 — 902 |
| T14 | Louisville | +39 | 301–300–302 — 903* |
| T16 | Auburn | +39 | 304–306–293 — 903 |
| T16 | Arizona State | +40 | 314–297–292 — 903 |
| T16 | Wake Forest | +39 | 306–301–296 — 903 |
| 19 | Colorado | +40 | 306–301–297 — 904 |
| 20 | Oklahoma | +41 | 307–303–295 — 905 |
| 21 | Florida | +45 | 303–303–303 — 909 |
| 22 | Virginia | +50 | 315–302–297 — 914 |
| 23 | Ohio State | +62 | 310–318–298 — 926 |
| 24 | Ole Miss | +64 | 320–303–305 — 928 |
Razorbacks top Wichita State to advance to Super Regional
Arkansas will play two-time defending national champion Oklahoma in the best-of-three NCAA super regional round beginning either Thursday or Friday in Norman, Okla. The winner will advance to the Women’s College World Series the following week in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma (53-3) is the No. 4 national seed and swept its home regional with wins of Missouri, Tulsa and Boston by a combined score of 24-0.
Oklahoma defeated Missouri 7-0 in the regional final Sunday to advance to the super regionals for the ninth consecutive season.
The Razorbacks rallied past Wichita State for a 6-4 win Sunday afternoon in front of 2,142 fans at Bogle Park to clinch the team’s spot into the next round of the NCAA Tournament.
Mary Haff picked up her third win of the weekend while fellow freshman Hannah McEwen and senior Autumn Buczek each had two hits.
The Razorbacks trailed twice in the game but McEwen’s two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth put the home team up for good. Buczek’s diving play on a pop up in foul territory closed the door on the Shockers.
Up Next
As winners of the NCAA Fayetteville Regional, the Razorbacks await the advancing team out of the Norman Regional.
SEC mate Missouri and familiar NCAA foe Oklahoma are currently playing in that region’s final.
Sunday’s crowd of 2,142 is the third-largest home crowd in program history and one of three top-six attendance figures set during the weekend.
Overall, the Razorbacks played in front of 6,138 fans during its regional run at Bogle Park.
NCAA Fayetteville Regional Attendance (Arkansas games)
Friday vs DePaul – 1,985
Saturday vs Wichita State – 2,011
Sunday vs Wichita State – 2,142
NCAA Fayetteville Regional | Tournament Central
Arkansas: 3-0
Wichita State: 2-2
Oklahoma State: 1-2
DePaul: 0-2
Friday, May 18
Game 1: Wichita State 8, Oklahoma State 2
Game 2: Arkansas 2, DePaul 0
Saturday, May 19
Game 3: Arkansas 5, Wichita State 0
Game 4: Oklahoma State 6, DePaul 0
Game 5: Wichita State 5, Oklahoma State 4
Sunday, May 20
Game 6: Arkansas 6, Wichita State 4
Hogs get No. 4 seeding in this week’s SEC Tournament
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Arkansas earned the No. 4 seed for the 2018 SEC Tournament Saturday afternoon giving it a bye through Tuesday’s first-round games, which are single elimination.
The Razorbacks will play the winner of fifth-seeded South Carolina and 12th-seeded Missouri on Wednesday, May 23 at approximately 8 p.m. at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
The Razorbacks ended the regular season with a 37-17 record and an 18-12 mark in SEC play to finish as co-champions of the SEC Western Division with Ole Miss.
It’s the first division title for the Razorbacks since 2011 and fifth in school history. Four of Arkansas’ division titles have come under current coach Dave Van Horn.
Arkansas won five of its 10 conference series this year, including sweeps of Kentucky, Auburn, Alabama, and Texas A&M. The four sweeps all occurred at Baum Stadium and it marked the most conference series sweeps in the same season since 1999.
Combined in those sweeps, Arkansas hit .342 with 100 runs scored and hit 22 home runs.
Redshirt senior Carson Shaddy leads the Razorbacks into the tournament, offensively, as he’s hitting .354 with 10 home runs and 37 RBIs this season. His average, slugging percentage (.646), and on-base percentage (.451) are all top-four totals in the SEC.
The Razorbacks also bring in one of the best freshmen hitting duos in the nation in left fielder Heston Kjerstad and third baseman Casey Martin.
Kjerstad and Martin are hitting .348 and .344, respectively, which are the highest averages among all freshmen in the SEC and top-11 averages among all freshmen nationwide.
Arkansas is in search of its first SEC Tournament championship in program history. It will be making its ninth appearance in the tournament in the last 10 years and 23rd 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 battled back from a first-game loss to reach the tournament final from the loser’s bracket with a victory over Mississippi State and mercy-rule wins over Auburn and top-seeded Florida.
First baseman Chad Spanberger was awarded as the tournament MVP and finished as the week’s leader in RBIs (10), doubles (3), home runs (5), and total bases (26).
The most tournament wins for Arkansas came in 1999 when it won four games before falling to the Crimson Tide in the championship game. As head coach, Dave Van Horn is 19-24 in 13 SEC Tournament appearances.
2018 SEC Baseball Tournament Schedule
Tuesday-Sunday, May 22-27
Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, Hoover, Ala.
(All games on the SEC Network except final, which will be on ESPN2)
Tuesday, May 22
Game 1 — 9:30 a.m., Vanderbilt vs. Texas A&M
Game 2 — TBD, Auburn vs. Kentucky
Game 3 — 4:30 p.m., LSU vs. Mississippi State
Game 4 — TBD, South Carolina vs. Missouri
Wednesday, May 23
Game 5 — 9:30 a.m., Georgia vs. Winner Game 1
Game 6 — TBD, Ole Miss vs. Winner Game 2
Game 7 — 4:30 p.m., Florida vs. Winner Game 3
Game 8 — TBD, Arkansas vs. Winner Game 4
Thursday, May 24
Game 9 — 9:30 a.m., Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6
Game 10 — TBD, Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8
Game 11 — 4:30 p.m., Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6
Game 12 — TBD, Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8
Friday, May 25
Game 13 — 3:00 p.m., Winner Game 9 vs. Loser Game 11
Game 14 — TBD, Winner Game 10 vs. Loser 12
Saturday, May 26
Game 15 — Noon, Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 11
Game 16 — TBD, Winner Game 14 vs. Winner Game 12
Sunday, May 27
Game 17 — 2 p.m., Winner Game 15 vs. Winner Game 16
The second game of each session will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
Photos from Arkansas high school baseball championships
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Photos by Andy Hodges on some of the games in the Arkansas High School Baseball Championships played at Baum Stadium.
Razorbacks shut out Wichita State to advance to finals
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas secured its spot in the Fayetteville Regional championship with Saturday’s 5-0 win over Wichita State in front of 2,011 fans at Bogle Park.
Freshman Mary Haff registered a complete-game shutout while the senior trio of A.J. Belans, Autumn Buczek and Loren Krzysko each tallied two hits in the victory.
The Razorbacks improve to 41-15 overall and 2-0 during the Fayetteville Regional. With her two hits against the Shockers, Buczek now has 184 hits in her Arkansas career which moves her into a tie for 10th on the program’s all-time list.
Up Next
Arkansas will play the winner of Saturday’s elimination game between Oklahoma State and Wichita State. The regional final is scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. start at Bogle Park.
FINAL: #15 Arkansas 5, Wichita State 0 | Box Score
NCAA Fayetteville Regional | Tournament Central
Friday, May 18
Game 1: Wichita State 8, Oklahoma State 2
Game 2: Arkansas 2, DePaul 0
Saturday, May 19
Game 3: Arkansas 5, Wichita State 0
Game 4: Oklahoma State 6, DePaul 0
Game 5: Oklahoma State vs Wichita State (H) | 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 20
Game 6: Arkansas vs TBA | 1:30 p.m.
Game 7: Arkansas vs TBA | 4 p.m. (if necessary)
Hogs can’t get key hits in regular season finale
A fly ball by Dominic Fletcher to left field was not deep enough as Heston Kjerstad was thrown out at home trying to score on the sacrifice attempt, ending the game and giving the Bulldogs a 3-2 victory in the 2018 regular-season finale.
Arkansas (37-17, 18-12 SEC) took the lead on two separate occasions in the game with both runs being driven in by junior catcher Grant Koch in the second and fourth innings.
Unfortunately, the Hog bats went silent over the final four and a half innings, getting only four baserunners, two coming in the ninth inning.
The defeat is the Razorbacks fifth series loss of the conference season and fourth of their last five games decided by two runs or less.
However, Thursday’s win over Georgia solidified their top-four seeding going into the 2018 SEC Tournament next week in Hoover, Alabama, earning them a bye straight into the double-elimination portion of the tournament.
Even with the series loss, Arkansas is also guaranteed at least a share of the SEC Western Division title, depending on the final score of the Ole Miss-Alabama game, which is still in progress.
The division title will be the first for Arkansas since 2011 and fifth in school history. Four of those division titles have come under head coach Dave Van Horn.
The Pitching
The first two games of Arkansas’ series with Georgia were slugfests as both teams combined for 31 runs. Saturday’s finale did not follow suit as the pitching staffs for both teams kept hits and walks low.
Georgia starter Kevin Smith held the Hogs to two runs over seven innings, while striking out 11.
Arkansas was not able to go with its usual game three starter, but still got a strong 4.2 inning outing from freshman Kole Ramage, his longest of the season.
Ramage scattered six hits and gave up just two earned runs, while walking one and tying a season high with five strikeouts.
Redshirt sophomore right-hander Isaiah Campbell, who has been Arkansas’ game three starter for most of the season, came in at the start of the sixth inning and looked sharp for three innings, giving up just one hit and striking out three.
Campbell was questionable going into the game, suffering a foot injury prior to the series, but looked healthy out of the bullpen, keeping the deficit at one for the remainder of the game.
In the sixth inning, Georgia’s Michael Curry was able to hit the go-ahead home run off Arkansas pitcher Evan Lee, one of two homers hit in the game for the Bulldogs and sixth of the series.
The Hitting
Offensively, Arkansas only managed six hits in the game, with Koch coming away with the only multi-hit game. It was his 13th multi-hit game and ninth multi-RBI game this season.
Casey Martin, Luke Bonfield, Carson Shaddy, and Kjerstad all had one hit as well with Kjerstad and Shaddy notching doubles.
Kjerstad’s double came in lead-off fashion in the top of the ninth inning and he was able to advance to third in the next at-bat on a wild pitch, but was not able to be driven in on a game-tying base hit.
Up Next
Arkansas will play its first game of the 2018 SEC Tournament on Wednesday with its opponent still to be determined as the rest of the day’s games play out as well as the single-elimination games from the first round of the tournament on Tuesday.
The game will be televised on the SEC Network with a first pitch time still to be determined.
