37.8 F
Fayetteville

Razorbacks’ turnaround season ends at NCAA in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Arkansas saw its improbable turnaround season come to an end inside Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Mo. as the Razorbacks finished sixth in the first session of the NCAA Gymnastics Championships with a score of 196.425.

The Razorbacks, who finished last season 27th in the country and saw its 2017 campaign end at the NCAA Fayetteville Regional, rebounded this season despite 17 of 24 competed routines coming from underclassmen.

The team was making its first appearance at the NCAA Championships since 2013, and eighth overall.

After starting the meet on a bye, the Razorbacks began the meet on the floor. Senior Amanda Wellick recorded a 9.825 in what would be her final floor routine of her career.

After a 9.7875 from sophomore Jessica Yamzon, sophomore Michaela Burton and freshman Sophia Carter posted 9.8625’s each to lead the Razorbacks to a 49.125 on the event.

On the vault, Yamzon began the rotation with a 9.725. The Razorbacks, who stuck 23 of 24 routines, had its only mishap in the two position as sophomore Hailey Garner fell and was scored a 8.8875.

The Razorbacks recovered and had three straight scores over 9.800, including a 9.875 from senior Braie Speed. Speed has been one of the more consistent vaulters in program history and will finish her career scoring a 9.8 or higher in 36 of 40 vault routines.

Burton, who had vaulted just once in her career before today, was forced into the anchor spot on vault due to injuries and tallied a 9.5125 on a 9.7 start value.

The Razorbacks ended the meet strong, posting a 49.2875 on bars, its highest score on the event in its eight appearances at the NCAA Championships.

All six in Arkansas’ rotation scored over a 9.8. The lowest counted score was from freshman Sydney Laird who tallied a 9.8375, while Speed and Garner recorded a 9.850 each.

Wellick and freshman Sarah Shaffer posted scores of 9.8875 and 9.8625, respectively, to lead the Hogs on that event.

Beam proved once again to be one of Arkansas’ better events, as they posted four scores over 9.8, including a 9.8875 from Garner. Wellick was just behind Garner with a 9.875 in the two spot while Burton and Yamzon each posted 9.850’s.

Amanda Wellick put up a 39.400 in the all-around in the final meet of her career. Wellick was making her first appearance at the NCAA Championship with the team, as she qualified as an individual all-arounder in 2014 and 2016.

She was the first Arkansas freshman all-arounder to make the NCAA Championships in 2014.

FINAL RESULTS (Session I) 
UCLA- 197.5625 (VT-49.1875, UB- 49.3750, BB- 49.5375, FX- 49.4625)
LSU- 197.4750 (VT-49.3500, UB-49.5000, BB- 29.2250, FX- 49.4000)
Nebraska- 197.0125 (VT-49.2375, UB- 49.0625, BB- 49.3750, FX- 49.3375)
Georgia- 196.6875 (VT-49.1250, UB- 49.3125, BB- 49.2375, FX- 49.0125)
Alabama- 196.6250 (VT-49.1375, UB- 49.1625, BB- 49.0750, FX- 49.2500)
Arkansas- 196.4250 (VT-48.7500, UB- 49.2875, BB- 49.2625, FX- 49.1250)

Weather causes Hogs-Dogs to play doubleheader Saturday

STARKVILLE, Miss. — With the strong probability of thunderstorms in the forecast for Sunday in Starkville, Mississippi State and Arkansas will shift their series schedule to conclude with a doubleheader on Saturday at Dudy Noble Field.

The two teams will play two nine-inning games on Saturday with first pitch of game one set for Noon.

Game two will begin approximately 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. Gates at Dudy Noble Field will open at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

All games for this weekend’s series will still be available on SEC Network+, including Saturday’s doubleheader.

All games can still be heard on the radio on ESPN Arkansas 95.3FM in the River Valley, 96.3FM in Hot Springs and 104.3FM in Harrison-Mountain Hoe, via the Razorback Sports Network and can also be heard on the Razorback Gameday app.

Saturday reserved-seating ticketholders will take priority for the doubleheader at Dudy Noble Field.

General admission tickets for Sunday will still be valid for general admission to both games. Please contact the MSU Ticket Office at 662-325-2600 for any additional information.

First day of ‘Bryan Clay’ sees Hogs get personal bests

WALNUT, Calif. — Arkansas wrapped up day one of competition on the west coast bringing home multiple personal bests across multiple distance events.

At the Bryan Clay Invite, Kyle Hosting was up first in the 3,000-meter steeplechase running a personal best time of 8:53.73 for fifth-place.

Hosting was joined in the event by Kyle Levermore who also posted a personal best running 9:01.16 for 24th-place.

Both Hosting and Levermore finished ahead of the meet record of 9:01.40 set by Arkansas’ Cale Wallace in 2016, while the top-five finishers in the event ran well below the old APU Stadium record of 8:55.19 set by Chuck Schwartz of Adams State in 1988.

In the men’s 5,000-meters, the group of Gilbert Boit (13:50.36), Austen Dalquist (13:50.87),  Cameron Griffith (13:58.61), and Andrew Ronoh (14:14.51) finished 15th, 16th, 18th, and 22nd, respectively. Both Boit and Dalquist finished with new personal best times.

Freshman Ryan Murphy rounded out competition at the Bryan Clay Invite on Thursday running 14:39.12 in the 5,000-meters finishing 26th in his heat.

Over at the Mt. SAC Relays, Preston Cates took on the 10,000-meters finishing 13th in his section running 31:02.34.

Arkansas will continue competition on the west coast tomorrow as Razorbacks Jack Bruce, Ethan Moehn, Kyle Levermore, Colin O’Mara and Kyle Hosting are set to run in the 1,500-meters at the Bryan Clay Invitational starting at 9:15 p.m.

Razorbacks start second half of SEC play in Starkville

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Third-ranked Arkansas team begins the second half of its conference season this weekend when it starts a three-game series with Mississippi State on Friday at Dudy-Noble Field.

Arkansas is fresh off a 10-game homestand, winning nine of those games.

Junior pitcher Blaine Knight will get the call for the Friday night start, once again, and will be going opposite Konnor Pilkington.

It’s the same pitching matchup that fans saw on SEC opening night one year ago where Knight outdueled Pilkington to lead the Razorbacks to a 3-1 victory and the eventual three-game sweep.

Knight will be making his tenth start of 2018 on Friday and has yet to allow more than three earned runs in any appearance.

He currently has the fourth-lowest ERA in the SEC and will be going for his seventh win of the year. His 6-0 record is one of only three undefeated records in the league (M. Kilkenny, Texas A&M; S. Hunley, Tennessee).

After last week’s series win over South Carolina, the Razorbacks seem to have found their three-man rotation in Knight, Kacey Murphy, and Isaiah Campbell.

In game one of last week’s doubleheader against the Gamecocks, Murphy took a perfect game into the seventh inning of a seven-inning game.

Even though he gave up a lead-off single in the seventh, he was untouchable all day to earn his fifth win of the year.

Had he gotten the final three outs, Murphy would have been the first Razorback to ever throw a perfect game.

In the back end of that doubleheader, Campbell looked to be back to form after missing the Ole Miss series.

The Olathe, Kansas, native threw five scoreless innings and only allowed two hits while walking one. It was his fourth start of the year of five innings or more and lowest hits allowed in a game this season.

Arkansas hopes to continue its strong offense that it’s shown over the last homestand led by freshmen Casey Martin and Heston Kjerstad.

Martin is coming off a 2-for-3 game against Missouri State with four RBIs. Kjerstad, who also homered in Tuesday’s win, leads the Hogs with a .373 batting average and is tied for the team lead with nine home runs.

FOLLOW LIVE

All games this weekend will be available on SEC Network+ via the Watch ESPN app and WatchESPN.com.

Phil Elson will call all three games on the radio for the Razorback Sports Network from IMG. That radio broadcasts are also available on the Razorback Gameday app.

IMPORTANT LINKS (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)
Fri, April 20 – Arkansas vs. Mississippi State – 6:30 p.m. – LIVE STATS | WATCH (SECN+)
Sat, April 21 – Arkansas vs. Mississippi State – 6 p.m. – LIVE STATS | WATCH (SECN+)
Sun, April 22 – Arkansas vs. Mississippi State – 1 p.m. – LIVE STATS | WATCH (SECN+)

PROBABLE STARTERS

FRI: ARK RHP Blaine Knight (1.95 ERA, 6-0, 52 K, 11 B) vs. MSU LHP Konnor Pilkington (2.57 ERA, 2-5, 64 K, 9 BB)

SAT: ARK LHP Kacey Murphy (2.00 ERA, 5-2, 39 K, 6 BB) vs. MSU LHP Ethan Small (2.94 ERA, 3-3, 69 K, 15 BB)

SUN: ARK RHP Isaiah Campbell (3.44 ERA, 3-3, 34 K, 17 BB) vs. MSU RHP Jacob Billingsley (4.08 ERA, 2-2, 37 K, 23 BB)

RAZORBACK PRIME 9

• Arkansas goes on the road this weekend to face Mississippi State, as it looks for its first road conference series win of the year. The Hogs have won four of the last five against Mississippi State.

• The Razorbacks have won seven of eight game ones of a three-game series this year. Last week’s loss to South Carolina was the only blemish to that record.

• In 21 games this year, Arkansas has totaled 10 or more hits. In those games, the Hogs are 17-4 with 16 of those wins coming at Baum Stadium.

• Sophmore Matt Cronin has nine saves on the season, which is currently second in the SEC. He needs just four more to tie the single-season Arkansas record set by Colby Suggs (13) in 2013.

• Heston Kjersad (.373, 9 HR) and Casey Martin (.331, 8 HR) are the only Division I freshmen with a .315 average or higher and eight or more home runs.

• With his RBI-single in the first game of the doubleheader with South Carolina last week, Carson Shaddy hit the 200-hit mark for his career. Now at 202 hits, he needs just 27 more to crack the Arkansas all-time top 10.

• Arkansas ranks first in the SEC with 36 double plays and turned three against Missouri State on Tuesday. In 10 games this year, the Hogs have turned a double play two or more times.

• The Razorbacks are 11-7 in games decided by two or less runs this year. With Thursday’s 3-2 loss to South Carolina as the only drawback, Arkansas has won four of its last five one-run games.

• In Sunday’s doubleheader against South Carolina, Arkansas pitchers combined for 14 scoreless innings, allowing on four total hits, and walking no batters.

Fassi, Kim continue good play; team moves to third at SEC Championship

HOOVER, Ala. — Arkansas juniors Maria Fassi and Dylan Kim continued to play well helping the third-ranked Razorbacks move up two spots into third place after day two action at the 2018 SEC Women’s Golf Championship in Hoover, Alabama, on Thursday.

Fassi posted her second consecutive 2-under 70 and is 4-under for the tournament at 140. She is in second place with one round remaining in stroke play action.

Kim is in third place shooting 70-73=143 and is in striking distance of the lead.

Their strong play helped Arkansas to the third-best round of the day with a 5-over 293. No. 20 South Carolina leads the field shooting 291-291=582.

Second-ranked Alabama is next with a 286-304=590, followed by No. 3 Arkansas who is in the clubhouse with scores of 299-293=592.

The rest of the top five includes No. 44 Georgia at 596 and No. 13 Florida with 599.

Arkansas will pair with South Carolina and Alabama in Friday’s final round of stroke play. The top eight teams will move on to the match play portion of the tournament on Saturday and Sunday.

Fassi led the team with five birdies on Thursday including carding a four on the par-5 18th hole to finish 2-under.

She played the back nine 3-under and birdied holes six and 12 for the second consecutive day.

Kim birdied holes three and seven but counted three bogeys on the back nine. She rallied to finish with four consecutive par holes and remain near the top of the leaderboard.

Senior Alana Uriell provided a big boost to the Arkansas scoring while moving up 23 spots on day two of the championship.

Uriell is tied for 23 after shaving seven shots off of her round one score coming in with an even-par 72. She is plus-7 with a 151 (79-72). Junior Kaylee Benton also moved up in the standings and its tied for 56th shooting 81-78=159. Junior Cara Gorlei rounds out the Razorback scoring. Gorlei is 58th with rounds of 80-80=160.

From Shauna Taylor

This is a championship golf course and today we stuck to our game-plan and were rewarded for it.

The winds are so unpredictable, always changing, but we did a better job today of figuring out where to be to have success.

We have put ourselves in position to reach our goals this week There is a lot of golf still to be played so we have to focus on our plan and executing it.

The Lineup

PLACE PLAYER SCORE TO PAR
2 Maria Fassi (1) 70–70—140 -4
3 Dylan Kim (3) 70–73—143 -1
T23 Alana Uriell (2) 79–72—151 +7
T56 Kaylee Benton (4) 81–78—159 +15
58 Cara Gorlei (5) 80–80—160 +16


The Field

PLACE TEAM SCORE TO PAR
1 No. 10 South Carolina 291–291—582 +6
2 No. 2 Alabama 286–304—590 +14
3 No. 3 Arkansas 299–293—592 +16
4 No. 44 Georgia 306–290—596 +20
5 No. 13 Florida 298–301—599 +23
6 No. 24 Vanderbilt 296–306—602 +26
7 No. 20 Auburn 306–301—607 +31
8 Kentucky 309–301—610 +34
9 Missouri 304–308—612 +36
10 Mississippi State 308–305—613 +37
11 No. 43 Tennessee 310–304—614 +38
12 No. 37 Ole Miss 316–305—621 +45
13 LSU 313–311—624 +48
14 No. 35 Texas A&M 312–315—627 +51

Razorbacks power past Auburn to open SEC tournament

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Arkansas earned the doubles point with ease and then added three timely singles wins, including the clincher from freshman Tatum Rice at No. 5 to defeat No. 19 ranked Auburn on Thursday in the second round of the 2018 SEC Women’s Tennis Tournament at the Dr. Robert L. Barksdale Tennis Stadium.

With the win, the No. 11 seed Razorbacks (9-15, 3-10 SEC) advanced to the tournament’s third round and will play No. 7 ranked and No. 3 seed South Carolina at 11 a.m. CT Friday.

“It’s just fantastic to see our players continue to grow and compete so hard in this part of the season,” Razorbacks coach Michael Hegarty said. “Every time we play Auburn it seems to go down to the wire and this was such a clutch performance by the whole team.”

Arkansas led the Tigers (20-10, 8-5 SEC) 3-2 with the match in the hands of Rice at No. 5 and sophomore Jackie Carr at No. 6.

Rice, the Hot Springs native, saved seven match points before finally earning the dramatic win 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) over Auburn’s Taylor Russo, which lifted the Razorbacks to their fourth victory over Auburn in the last six tries.

Rice lost the first set, bounced back in the second set, trailed 6-5 in the third and was down two match points at 40-15 before getting the points she needed to force the tiebreaker. Down 6-2 in the tiebreaker, she went on a six-point run to capture the victory.

“Tatum let two match points slip in yesterday’s match, but today, all she needed was one,” Hegarty said.

Thursday’s match marked the fourth consecutive 4-2 or 4-3 decision over the last two seasons between the Razorbacks and Tigers.

Other Razorbacks who contributed victories Thursday were sophomore No. 50 Giulia Pairone at the top spot, who improved to 13-5 this spring, and junior No. 89 Ana Oparenovic at No. 2.

The tandem of junior Agne Cepelyte and sophomore Natsuho Arakawa clinched the doubles point at No. 3 after No. 40 Oparenovic and Rice scored a win at the top spot to better their spring record to 13-5.

Razorbacks hit road for critical three-game series with Auburn

AUBURN, Ala. — With nine games remaining in the regular season, 16th-ranked Arkansas hits the road this weekend for a series at No. 11/13 Auburn.

The three-game set begins Friday at 6 p.m. and will be streamed on SEC Network+ and through the WatchESPN app.

No. 16 Arkansas (33-9/8-7 SEC) at No. 11/13 Auburn (36-10/9-7 SEC) | Game Notes
Jane B. Moore Field (Auburn, Ala.)

Game 1: Friday, April 20 at 6 p.m. – SEC Network+ | Live Stats
Game 2: Saturday, April 21 at 6 p.m. – SEC Network+ | Live Stats
Game 3: Sunday, April 22 at 2 p.m. – SEC Network+ | Live Stats

All-Time Series vs Auburn

This weekend’s three-game series marks the first meeting in series history with both teams ranked in the top 25. The Razorbacks hit the road looking for their first win in Auburn since 2012; the program’s last series win at Auburn came with a sweep during the 2001 season.

Last Time Out

Arkansas posted a 6-3 win over No. 15 Alabama to secure the program’s first-ever series win over the Crimson Tide.

Mary Haff turned in a complete-game effort while Hannah McEwen had two hits and a pair of RBI in the win.

Arkansas now has seven wins against ranked opponents this year.

Rankings Watch

Reaching a program high, Arkansas is ranked No. 16 in both USA Today/NFCA and ESPN/USA Softball polls.

In the most recent RPI release, the team is 17th which equals the program best from two weeks ago.

A Look at the Stat Sheet

The Razorbacks carry top-50 national marks in strikeout to walk ratio (third/6.00), home runs (T17/45), team ERA (18/1.87), slugging percentage (31/0.475) and scoring (41/5.45 runs per game).

Top Freshman, Part III

On the strength of a 3-0 week including a pair of victories against No. 15 Alabama, pitcher Mary Haff was named SEC Freshman of the Week for a third time this season. She had 26 strikeouts with just three walks in 21.0 innings of work.

Also, Haff has earned a spot on the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I Freshman of the Year Top 25 watch list.

McEwen Sets Freshman-Class RBI Mark

With her two-run single in the sixth inning of Sunday’s 6-3 win over Alabama, freshman Hannah McEwen established a new class record with her 43rd RBI.

Junior Ashley Diaz held the mark previously with 41 RBI during her freshman campaign in 2016.

Streaking Into the Weekend

Junior Katie Warrick enters the weekend with a hit in 19 of the Razorbacks’ last 22 games including seven straight.

At the top of the lineup, freshman Hannah McEwen has scored at least one run in 11 of the past 12 games including seven in a row.

Haff gets spot on national award top freshman watch list

FAYETTEVILLE — In recognition of the impressive start to her freshman campaign, pitcher Mary Haff has been named to the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I Freshman of the Year Top 25 watch list.

Through the first two months of her collegiate career, Haff carries a 20-3 record in the circle with a 1.07 ERA and 185 strikeouts in 143.2 innings of work.

The top-10 finalists for the national freshman award will be announced May 10. Haff is one of nine pitchers on the list and one of five freshmen overall from the SEC.

Junior and current teammate Ashley Diaz was part of the top-25 watch list during her freshman season in 2016.

Haff leads the SEC and ranks second among freshmen nationally with her 20 victories. She is the first Arkansas freshman to reach that mark since the 2001 season.

Her 185 strikeouts are second in the SEC and tied for 13th in the NCAA while her 1.07 ERA is fourth among freshman in the NCAA. Through 29 appearances, Haff has walked just 18 hitters and ranks fourth nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.28).

Earlier this season, Haff threw the seventh no-hitter in program history when she beat Northern Colorado (March 2) during the Razorback Invitational.

She has also recorded six one-hit performances this year and is holding the opposition to a .137 batting average. Haff has tallied seven or more strikeouts in 13 games this season including four outings in double figures.

The Winter Haven, Fla., native has been named SEC Freshman of the Week on three occasions this season, most recently Tuesday afternoon when she was recognized for a 3-0 week including two wins over No. 15 Alabama.

It marked Arkansas’ fifth SEC selection of the season. Fellow freshman Hannah McEwen earned SEC Player of the Week in early March while sophomore Autumn Storms was named SEC Pitcher of the Week following the team’s series win over Mississippi State.

The Razorbacks have nine SEC games remaining in the regular season, beginning with a weekend road trip to 11th-ranked Auburn.

The three-game series begins Friday at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+ and through the WatchESPN app. Arkansas returns home April 28-30 to host Ole Miss at Bogle Park.

Freshmen making difference for Razorbacks this season

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Once upon a time there was a time when freshmen rarely — if ever — saw much playing time in the world of big-time college athletics.

In football, for instance, championships teams often had a handful of fourth-year juniors and fifth-year seniors that made the difference. Same story in basketball, although players started leaving earlier there than they did in football.

Today if you have a bunch of those experienced type players, you aren’t playing for a championship and not likely to have a job. It’s a sign you aren’t recruiting very well.

Every championship coach the last 10-12 years has talked about they recruit players to their sport and expect them to contribute immediately.

Dave Van Horn knows all about that these days.

As the Razorbacks have climbed to either No. 2 or No. 3 in the the polls, depending on which one you believe, freshmen Casey Martin and Heston Kjerstad have played a gigantic role.

“I guess what’s been fun to watch is that they really haven’t gone into that severe slump,” Van Horn said Tuesday night after the pair led a comeback in an 11-7 win over Missouri State. “Even when you start to think, ‘Oh there goes the freshman, he’s starting to fade a little bit,’ bang, they’ll have a good day and bounce back.”

Neither has gone through a sustained slump. Both have been big keys in the Hogs’ 28-10 start to the season. They have avoided the mental pitfalls mainly.

“They’ve both done a nice job mentally of hanging in there because this is a tough league,” Van Horn said. “It can beat you up a little bit.”

Older guys like Carson Shaddy and Eric Cole have helped.

“One thing that helped me out a lot was just being able to be around guys that have had hundreds of at bats in the SEC,” Kjerstad said. “They all bring important information to help me out and everyone else in the lineup.”

The each had four RBIs against Missouri State. Martin was 2-for-3 with a double, home run, walk and hit by pitch, while Kjerstad was 3-for-4 with a home run and sacrifice fly.

“I felt pretty comfortable tonight,” Martin said. “I saw the ball really well and just stuck with my approach.

“A lot of stuff Shaddy’s been telling me … stay through the middle, deep breaths and basically tell myself what kind of player I am before I get into the box.

“It really helps and shows what kind of leader he is on this team.”

That’s made a difference all season.

It should also signal fans in the other sports that don’t be afraid to have high expectations for freshmen.

As we said earlier, talent trumps experience these days.

It is for Arkansas baseball.

Fassi, Kim in second place while Hogs fifth after first day

HOOVER, Ala. — Juniors Maria Fassi and Dylan Kim shot 2-under 70s and are tied for second place after first round action at the 2018 SEC Women’s Golf Championship on Wednesday.

Fassi and Kim are one shot off the lead with two rounds of stroke play remaining.

Windy conditions, with gusts up to 20 miles an hour, and challenging pin placements tested No. 3 Arkansas and they finished the day in fifth place shooting 299.

Second-ranked Alabama leads after one round with 286, followed by No. 10 South Carolina at 291, No. 24 Vanderbilt with 296 and No. 13 Florida with 298.

Kim found herself out in front of the field early with four birdies through the first 11 holes. She and Fassi combined for seven of Arkansas’ nine birdies in the round.

Kim’s four birdies is tied for the lead in the field after round one while Fassi is tied for second against the field with 14 par holes.

Senior Alana Uriell finished the day tied for 46th with a 7-over 79, followed by junior Cara Gorlei who is tied for 52nd with an 80.

Junior Kaylee Benton rounds out the Razorback scores with an 81 and is tied for 60th. Benton finished strong with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 to close her round.

Arkansas tees it up nearly an hour earlier on Thursday, with Benton getting the team started at 8:50 a.m.

Gorlei is next followed by Uriell, Kim and Fassi in 10-minute intervals. The Razorbacks play with Florida and Missouri in round two.

From Head Coach Shauna Taylor

“Obviously, it is tough conditions, so it made it a little difficult for scoring. I think we played a little defensively today instead of being disciplined with our game plan. We got away from it a little bit, but I think we rallied hard coming in. We struggled on the front nine but played a little better on the back nine. Dylan and Maria were solid today and I think it is a little uncharacteristic of the other three. But this is a long week and today some breaks didn’t go our way. The conditions will be similar and maybe a little cooler tomorrow, but we’ve played in wind before and we have to trust our training, our skills and our preparation.”