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Razorbacks drop second game in series at LSU

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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VIDEO FROM ESPN SEC NETWORK
BATON ROUGE, La. — Senior Loren Krzysko has two hits including a home run Saturday but Arkansas lost game two of its series at LSU, 10-2, in five innings.

Arkansas had four players with two hits including Krzysko and fellow senior Autumn Buczek who also tallied an RBI in the setback. The Razorbacks drop to 37-13 this year and 12-11 in SEC play.

Up Next

Sunday’s game three — the regular-season finale for both teams — is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start on ESPNU.

The game will also be streamed online on SEC Network+ though the WatchESPN app.

In the booth, Cara Capuano and Jennie Ritter will handle the play-by-play and color commentary duties, respectively.

The Razorbacks threatened in the top of the first with runners on first and second but LSU starter Maribeth Gorsuch got out of the inning with a strikeout.

Autumn Buczek legged out an infield single and moved up into scoring position on a base hit by Katie Warrick to start the would-be rally.

The Tigers responded by scoring an unearned run in the home half of the inning to take an early 1-0 advantage.

Arkansas put two on in each of the next two innings but came up empty, pushing its left-on-base total to six through the first three innings of the game.

After the Razorbacks left runners on second and third, LSU (39-13, 12-10 SEC) pushed its lead to 2-0 with a two-out single through the left side.

Leading off the fourth inning, Krzysko took the 0-1 offering from Gorsuch to straight-away center for her seventh home run of the year. The senior outfielder had three home runs through her first three seasons in Fayetteville and is up to 10 for her career.

Arkansas now has 52 home runs this season.

The fourth-inning rally continued with a long single by Ashley Diaz — Carley Haizlip in to pinch run — and walk to Tori Cooper.

A groundout to second moved both runners into scoring position and Buczek drove in the game-tying run with a sacrifice fly to center that allowed Haizlip to score from third.

However, the Tigers answered right back with four runs in the bottom of the fourth to re-take the lead.

In the fifth, the offense was retired in order for the first time this weekend and the home team plated four more runs to secure the run-rule victory.

Relax, Chad wasn’t giving away any secrets in video

Andy Hodges
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It didn’t take long for fans to start worrying after we posted a video of Chad Morris with ESPN’s Tom Luginbill on Friday night.

Just relax. Take a pill, have a drink or whatever.

Chad didn’t give away a single surprise in that little chalk talk.

“Now we can’t ever run that in a game,” one reader complained on social media.

Well, yes, they can … and will. Best of all, it doesn’t matter if the defense knows it’s coming or not. They don’t even have to wonder because it WILL be coming.

The first thought that went through my mind was back in the 1980’s when Tom Landry was still coaching the Dallas Cowboys. There was a luncheon every Tuesday where Landry and some others in the team’s front office hosted members of the media.

No, seriously. First Tom would get up and ramble on about this and that after everyone was pretty well stuffed. Then they cleared out any media that wasn’t from a local media outlet, Ermal Allen or Neill Armstrong would break out the projector and we got a full breakdown of what the coaches expected and what they were going to do.

And, in case you’re wondering, no one ever violated that trust by writing about, talking about or even giving a hint of what was planned. Ever.

Coaches won’t do that these days. They are too paranoid.

I casually asked Tom once as he was walking past to a practice if he wasn’t worried that someone was going to let something slip that might help the other team.

He never stopped walking.

“Not unless they (the opponent) know when I’m going to call it,” he said.

Thirty years ago teams often ran exactly what was sent in by the coaches. Roger Staubach was the last Landry quarterback that blatantly ignored it on a regular basis.

These days, nearly every high school doesn’t run what is sent in very often. Everything is based on what the defense shows.

It’s similar to the old Wishbone days when some teams didn’t look at film of most opponents because it didn’t matter what they did. Everything was based on the theory that no matter what the defense did, it was wrong.

According to Larry Lacewell before the Orange Bowl after the 1977 season, he couldn’t get Barry Switzer to look at film of Arkansas until two days before the game. Switzer finally did and came out looking like he’d seen a ghost because he didn’t know the Hogs were that good.

That’s what these modern-day college offenses do. They look at film of the opponent, but they still are going to just make minor changes in what they do for the opponent that week.

For the last 10-15 years everything has been based off reads by the quarterback or sideline. When you see all of the Razorbacks line up, then raise up and look to the sideline it’s not because someone is streaking through the stands.

The coaches, talking to the guys up in the box, will often signal a change in the original play that was called or that IS the original playcall when teams are trying to speed things up. Get ready to see the Hogs do that a lot this year.

After the quarterback gets the call, then he has options from that based on what the defense is doing. Multiple options. On every play.

The hiccup happens when a defense plays one of those people being read in a different position or they add more people in the box than was expected (and in Morris’ system it’s based on the number of folks in the box because they want to run the ball).

That’s when coaches start making adjustments in the game. Despite what fans have seen the last five years, Arkansas is not banned by the NCAA or the SEC from making in-game adjustments.

Of course, the thing that throws a kink in the works is when a team has unbelievable speed and athleticism on defense where they can give one read and cover the alternate as well.

That’s a problem that can be a head-scratcher. As Morris says, you’re either recruiting speed or chasing it. He could add another one in there that if you’re not recruiting it or chasing it, speed is chasing you and getting you on the ground quicker than anybody wants.

What the Hogs want to do is nothing the SEC hasn’t seen. Over 75 percent of the league runs some form of what Morris wants to do every week. There are some wrinkles that are different, but it’s all the same concept.

Making the reads, quickly and correctly are absolutely critical to the offense. Maybe THE most important part.

So, relax. Chad didn’t give away anything in the video to opponents they didn’t already know about.

In today’s world, all he was talking about was about as basic as it gets.

Welcome to the modern day of college football.

Razorbacks continue postseason play in Austin at regional

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Postseason action continues for Arkansas as they travel to Austin, Texas, for NCAA Regional Championship action this week.

The No. 3 Razorbacks are coming off the program’s first Southeastern Conference team title and enter the Austin Regional as the No. 1 seed. The Razorbacks were one of 72 teams selected to four individual sites with each regional championship featuring 18 teams and six individuals.

Dates: May 7-9
Location: Austin, Texas | UT Golf Club
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com
Format: Three rounds of stroke play with the top six teams from each Regional Championship advancing to the NCAA Championship
NCAA Championship: May 18-23, at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma

The Razorbacks are enjoying a record-setting year. They have won a single-season best six tournaments including the program’s first SEC title in Hoover, Alabama, in April. Head coach Shauna Taylor is the first person in SEC women’s golf history to win the championship as both a player and a coach.

Junior Maria Fassi leads the team with a 69.70 stroke average. Fassi has won six individual titles, was selected to the inaugural Palmer Cup International Team and ranks second on the ANNIKA Award Watch List recognizing the best player in college women’s golf. The Pachuca, Mexico, native earned SEC Player of the Year honors earlier this week.

The supporting cast includes senior Alana Uriell and junior Dylan Kim who are also on the ANNIKA Award Watch List and who were selected to the Palmer Cup USA Team this spring. Uriell has two top-3 finishes in regional action while Kim made two NCAA Championship appearances while at Baylor. Both Uriell and Kim were All-SEC First-Team honorees with Kim also earning the SEC Women’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.

Kaylee Benton picked up three match play wins at the SEC Championship and Cara Gorlei finished tied for seventh at last year’s Columbus Regional and advanced to the NCAA Championship.

Taylor has paced the Razorbacks to 12 consecutive NCAA Regional appearances as a head coach. Her team’s hold the record for best finish (3/T3), best individual finish (T2), team single round (283), team tournament score 864), and individual low round (67).

Arkansas in an NCAA Regional
First appearance | Number of appearances: 2000 | 17/16 consecutive
Best Finish: 3 (2015) and T3 (2013)
Best Individual Finish: T2 | Gabriela Lopez and Alana Uriell (2015)
Times to advance to the NCAA Championship: 8 | Plus two individuals

The Austin Regional Field
1. Arkansas (3)
2. Texas (7)
3. Michigan State (10)
4. Florida (14)
5. Auburn (24)
6. Oklahoma (20)
7. Houston (25)
8. Miami (28)
9. Baylor (30)
10. Texas A&M (39)
11. BYU (43)
12. East Carolina (49)
13. Texas Tech (48)
14. Virginia Tech (55)
15. Texas-San Antonio (71)
16. Georgetown (86)
17. Houston Baptist (124)
18. Missouri State (159)

Eighth-inning rally lifts Razorbacks past LSU, 5-4

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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BATON ROUGE, La. — Arkansas hit three solo home runs and dialed up a three-run eighth inning right when they needed it Friday night to help them take a 5-4 series-opening victory from LSU in Alex Box Stadium.

LSU (26-20, 10-12 SEC) had the tying run on third and the winning run on first in the bottom of the ninth inning, but junior Jake Reindl struck out the final two batters to close out his fifth save of the year and give the Razorbacks (33-13, 14-8 SEC) their fifth win in a row, fourth in conference play.

“There was a little frustration in the dugout after we left the bases loaded in the sixth inning,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “My comment to the team was, ‘This team can really hit. We haven’t put together our good inning yet.’

“In most of our wins, we’re going to put together an inning where we score three or four runs. We were kind of living off the solo home run there for a while, but we finally strung together some hits in a row.

“This team is resilient. They never felt like they were out of the game because we have some firepower.”

Before Reindl’s clutch performance in the ninth, the Hogs put together a three-run eighth to take its third lead of the game.

Junior Eric Cole started the rally by hitting his second home run of the game, pulling the team within one. Then, sophomore Evan Lee and senior Jared Gates both came up with clutch two-out RBI singles to push their team ahead for good. Both Lee and Gates were hitless before those at-bats.

With the victory, Arkansas won its first game in Baton Rouge since 2014 and its eighth one-run game of the 2018 season.

The win also keeps it atop the SEC Western Division and expands its’ lead over Ole Miss to two games.

The Hitting

For the ninth time this year, the Razorbacks totaled three or more home runs in a game as Cole and junior Grant Koch both went deep in the game.

Cole delivered a solo blast to lead off the game in the first inning and then did it again to start the eighth-inning rally to up his season total to a team-leading 12 home runs

Cole finished the game 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. He’s the first Razorback to lead off a game with a home run this year and the seventh to homer twice in the same game this year.

As for Koch, his solo home run in the third inning made it 2-1 Hogs and was his first long ball since March 31 at Ole Miss. The home run was Koch’s only hit of the game, but it was his seventh home run of the year.

Arkansas now has 72 home runs this season, which continues to lead the SEC and is second in the nation.

Freshman Casey Martin also turned in a nice game as he went 2-for-4 at the plate, his 17th multi-hit game of the year.

The Pitching

Junior Blaine Knight gave up four runs over six innings in his 12th start of the year before giving way to the bullpen.

It’s only the second time this year that Knight has allowed four or more runs in a game.

Junior Barrett Loseke came into the game at the start of the seventh inning with Arkansas trailing 4-2 and was able to shut down the LSU offense, retiring six of the first seven batters he faced.

He ran into trouble in the ninth walking two of the first three batters, which led to Reindl coming out of the bullpen.

The performance continues a scoreless inning streak for Loseke as he has not allowed a run in his last 10.2 innings and struck out 19 during that span.

Reindl shut the door in a big way, striking out Nick Webre and Beau Jordan, for his third save in as many appearances.

Up Next

The Hogs and Tigers will play game two of the three-game series on Saturday at Alex Box Stadium with first pitch set for 7 p.m.

The game will be televised on the SEC Network.

Morris opens up Arkansas’ playbook with Luginbill

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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VIDEO FROM ESPN
Razorback head coach Chad Morris speaks with ESPN’s Tom Luginbill about the offense he plans to bring to Arkansas this upcoming season.

McEwen homers in series-opening loss at LSU

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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VIDEO FROM ESPN SEC NETWORK
BATON ROUGE, La. — Freshman Hannah McEwen extended her hitting streak to eight games with a game-tying home run Friday evening at LSU, but Arkansas dropped a 2-1 decision in the series opener.

The host Tigers came away with the win on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh.

With the setback, the Razorbacks are 37-12 overall with a 12-10 mark in SEC play.

Up Next

Game two of the weekend series between Arkansas and LSU is scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m. and will be streamed live on the SEC Network+ through the WatchESPN app.

Sunday’s series finale will be televised on ESPNU at 3 p.m.

After the home team scored an early run, the Razorbacks put together a scoring threat of their own in the top of the second.

With runners on first and second, senior Loren Krzysko laid down a sacrifice bunt to move them both into scoring position.

Fellow senior Tori Cooper drew a walk of her own to load the bases with one out but LSU (38-13, 11-10 SEC) worked its way out of the jam without allowing a run.

The home team put runners in scoring position in the third and fourth innings but each time freshman Mary Haff worked her way out of trouble.

In the fourth, she tallied a pair of strikeouts including one with the bases loaded to end the inning.

With five strikeouts in the game, Haff pushed her season total to 216 which is three behind Katy Henry (2006) for third place on the program’s single-season list.

McEwen led off the next half inning with a solo shot to right center to tie the game.

The freshman took the 3-1 offering from LSU starter Allie Walljasper and deposited it into the bleachers for her team-leading 11th home run of the season.

The home run was her fifth since moving to the lead-off spot April 10 at Saint Louis.

Despite both teams putting runners on in each of their times at the plate, the game was tied at 1-all heading to the seventh.

To lead off the frame, McEwen laced a potential extra-base hit headed down the line in right field but was retired on a nice jumping snag at first.

With one down, Autumn Buczek stood on second after an errant throw to first but she was left stranded at third to end the scoring chance.

Personal bests spotlight Hogs in final meet of regular season

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — The outdoor regular season came to an end at John McDonnell Field as Arkansas set multiple personal records as they prep to head to Knoxville for the SEC Outdoor Championships next weekend.

The Razorbacks placed eight in the top-eight spots in the 100-meter dash, as Jada Baylark was able to secure her first wind-legal time since the Texas Relays, finishing first with a time of 11.40.

Baylark tied the school record in the season opener with a time of 11.10.

In the 400-meter run, Morgan Burks Magee set a personal best time of 23.81.

Arkansas set three additional personal bests in running events, as Alex Ritchey finished the 1,500-meter run in 4:37.46, Sydney Hammit ended the 400 meters in 55.00 and Payton Brown finished fifth in the 3,000-meters at 10:30.05.

All four runners finished in the top-10 in their respective races.

In the field events, Riley Hoogerwerf finished third in the discus throw with a distance of 39.09m (128′-3″), while Genna Potter cleared 3.54m (11′-7.25″) in the pole vault, each setting a new personal record in their respective events.

“Carina drastically ran better,” said coach Lance Harter on Carina Viljoen’s run in Stanford yesterday. “She’s knocking on the door repetitively and usually when you run with that consistently you’re prepped for a big drop in time at the NCAA meet.

“She ran against the big girls and that was really good for her. We’re heading in the right direction.”

Viljoen finished eighth in the 1,500-meters.

Arkansas Twilight
John McDonnell Field
May 4, 2018

Women’s Pole Vault
4. Morgan Hartsell – 3.74m (12′-3.25″)
9. Madeline Telford – 3.54m (11′-7.25″)
10. Genna Potter – 3.54m (11′-7.25″) PR

Women’s 1500-meters
5. Alex Ritchey – 4:37.46 PR
9. Greta Taylor – 4:47.39
16. Kristen Larkan – 4:59.29

Women’s 800-meters
7. Kailee Sawyer – 2:13.13
10. Micah Huckabee – 2:14.88
13. Tess Iler – 2:18.59

Women’s 200-meters
4. Morgan Burks Magee – 23.81 PR
9. Sydney Davis – 24.87
11. Tamara Kuykendall – 24.89

Women’s 400-meters
7. Sydney Hammit – 55.00 PR

Women’s 100 M
1. Jada Baylark – 11.40
2. Kiara Parker – 11.48
3. Janeek Brown – 11.50
5. Morgan Burks MaGee – 11.69
8. Tamara Kuykendall – 11.7

Women’s 3000 M
5. Payton Brown – 10:30.05 PR
6. Grace Taylor – 10:51.54

Women’s Discus Throw
3. Riley Hoogerwerf – 39.09m (128′-3″) PR

Payton Jordan Invite
Stanford, California
May 3, 2018

Women’s 1,500-meters
8. Carina Viljoen – 4:16.19

Up Next
Arkansas will travel to Knoxville, Tenn., next weekend for the SEC Outdoor Championships. The meet will begin on Friday and conclude on Sunday.

The Razorbacks will be vying for their 13th-consecutive Southeastern Conference Cross Country or Track & Field Championship.

Record throws highlight Hogs’ regular season finale

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas concluded its 2018 regular season outdoor campaign in John McDonnell Field hosting the Arkansas Twilight that featured a few outstanding performances.

“We put together a great home finale meet today at John McDonnell,” said coach Chris Bucknam. “Obviously not everyone on our roster competed today, but the ones that did competed well.

“We’ll take the weekend to piece together our entries for the SEC meet next weekend and prepare ourselves for the three day battle in Knoxville.”

It was a record day for throws at John McDonnell Field, as Erich Sullins rewrote his school record mark in the hammer throw by more than four feet, recording a distance of 63.71m (209′-0″) in the event.

Sullins proceeded to set a new personal best in the discus as well, finishing with a mark of 48.18m (158′-1″).

Alex Springer moved up to No. 8 all-time among Razorbacks in the javelin, throwing a season-best 65.92m (216′-3″).

Overall, seven personal-bests were recorded including Sullins’ school record in the weight throw.

Arkansas Twilight
John McDonnell Field
May 4, 2018

Men’s Long Jump
3. Trae Carey – 6.95m (22′-9.75″)

Men’s Shot Put
2. Jeff Rogers – 17.47m (57′-3.75″)
3. Sam Kempka – 16.89m (55′-5″)

Men’s Pole Vault
5. Gabe Moore – 4.40m (14′-5.25″)

Men’s 1500-meters
15. Colin O’Mara – 3:54.98 – Personal Best
17. Graham Brown – 3:56.10 – Personal Best

Men’s 200-Meters
2. Obi Igbokwe – 20.73
5. Kristoffer Haris – 21.21
6. Kevin Harris – 21.35

Men’s 400-meters
3. Jamarco Stephen – 46.87
4. Hunter Woodhall – 47.42

Men’s 800-meters
2. Kieran Taylor – 1:50.65
3. Chase Pareti – 1:51.58 – Personal Best
6. Reese Walters – 1:52.45 – Personal Best

Men’s 400-meters
3. Jamarco Stephen – 46.87
4. Hunter Woodhall – 47.42 – Personal Best

Men’s Discus Throw
3. Erich Sullins – 48.18m (158′-1″)

Men’s Hammer Throw
1. Erich Sullins – 63.71m (209′-0″) – School Record

Men’s Javelin
2. Alex Springer – 65.92m (216′-3″) – Personal Best
4. Andrew Henn – 59.44m (195′-0″)

Up Next
Arkansas will travel to Knoxville, Tenn., next weekend for the SEC Outdoor Championships. The meet will begin on Friday, May 11 and conclude on Sunday, May 13.

Bruce posts third best NCAA time in 5k in California

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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STANFORD, Calif. — Senior Jack Bruce took a trip out to California with one goal, lay down a solid time in the 5,000-meters at the Payton Jordan Invite.

Bruce not only finished with a solid time in the event but cracked the top-10 in program history with his time of 13:28.57 finishing 14th-overall in a field full of quality opponents.

“That wasn’t a fool around race last night,” said coach Chris Bucknam. “The competition was outstanding; there were a lot of guys in that race. I didn’t count them all but it looked like there were over 25 entries. I’m just happy that Jack [Bruce] came out with a good result.

“He stuck his nose in there and ran very smart. His last 600-meters looked good, this is only his second real race this year, he opened up with a 3:39 [1,500-meters] and now he’s run 13:28 the seventh-fastest time in program history.

“I think he’s in a really good spot, I don’t think he played all his cards, he ran extremely smart by not going out too fast and getting caught up in the pace. His performance was well worth the trip.

“I’m proud of him and now it’s on to the conference meet.”

Bruce’s time is not only the No. 7 time in program history but is currently No. 3 in the NCAA and No. 1 in the SEC.

Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Friday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Friday

Yes, position matters and is one of details Morris will fix

Andy Hodges
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The question came about on ESPN Arkansas’ The Morning Rush this week:

The Morning Rush on Twitter

What are the odds that there is actually a lot of talent on his football team but guys weren’t put in position to have success?

The simple answer is extremely high and it’s in the details.

That was my initial opinion after watching the first couple of fall practices we were allowed to see. It was strengthened with what we saw in games and confirmed by former assistant coaches who were out of a job by December.

Part of it was Bret Bielema simply being stubborn. He’s not a complete idiot, despite what some of the Great Unwashed say now. He was going to build at Arkansas what they had at Wisconsin.

He was completely wrong. That was never going to work at Arkansas. Bielema’s former boss, Barry Alvarez, basically said that in early September at the Little Rock Touchdown Club:

“If I were coaching in the southwest or the southeast where I had access to a lot of skill players I’d probably run some things different than I do at Wisconsin.”

He likely would have told Bielema that back in December 2012 when Jeff Long finally answered the love letter he got from Bret after letting Bobby Petrino go earlier that year.

The only problem was Bret learned a great deal of what he wanted to know from Alvarez, but he didn’t learn everything Alvarez knew. That was the root problem all along.

As a result, Bielema discovered that in the South nobody coached a system like he wanted to install. He was taking players to perform at an SEC championship level and having to go 180 degrees with them.

That was never going to work.

But the feeling here is it will work in Chad Morris’ system.

Part of it is Morris’ background, part of it is the talent on the Razorbacks isn’t that bad. Yes, I know they were 4-8 last year, but that record should have been at least 7-5 because it was just bad coaching that lost the TCU, Mississippi State and Missouri games.

Starting with the Rutgers loss in Bielema’s first season back in 2013, his teams had a nasty habit of falling short in the second half. It appeared they simply weren’t conditioned correctly … they might be able to lift a lot of weight, but couldn’t run fast enough to get to it in the second half.

Morris was a mathematics major with a statistics minor. He looks at things, well, differently than a lot of coaches. It’s a nerdy approach, for lack of a better definition.

It’s why he runs the offense he does. It’s all about the numbers and he amazes his assistants with some of the things he comes up with. How the angles on plays can be just an inch or so off and affect the play.

John Chavis is the same way on the defensive side of things. That’s a big part of the players changing positions. It’s part of what makes me think the defense is going to be significantly better.

The last three seasons, we kept hearing how “close” the Razorbacks were. They could never really close the gap.

Many chalked it up to a lack of talent. I said it was a matter of getting some pretty good players and then making them run around with 10-20 extra pounds and expecting them to live up to their potential.

You could call it “coaching them down.” That’s what Bielema and his staff appeared to do at times. They might have been bigger and stronger, but they couldn’t run enough in the fourth quarter to win games.

Count the number of games the Hogs lost in the second half over the last five years.

The question asked is a good one. Yes, there likely were players in the wrong positions. Former assistants said Bielema over-ruled some of their moves they wanted to make. Being conditioned for strength as opposed to stamina magnified the problem.

Let’s face it, if you’re playing a new position and you’re a half-step slower because of the extra 10 pounds of muscle you’re packing, then you have a problem.

Bielema was more a big picture type coach.

Morris is about the details.

Don’t misunderstand anything. It’s too much of a longshot to start booking tickets to Atlanta in December for the SEC Championship Game.

But they will be improved.

And the record will be better than most think.

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