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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.”

Four meets coming up for Hogs’ top-ranked women’s track team

FAYETTEVILLE — Coming off the John McDonnell Invitational looking to nail down wind-legal marks, No. 1 Arkansas will spread out across the country one last time, competing at four meets this weekend before the final stretch run to the postseason.

FloTrack will provide LIVE coverage of the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif.

“We have our vaulters going to Kansas Relays right up the road, we have our sprint crew going to LSU for their Gold Alumni Meet, Taylor Werner is going to go to Mt. SAC Relays to run the 10,000-meters, and then Taylor will meet the rest of the distance crew at Stanford and complete the weekend,” said coach Lance Harter.

“It’s that time of year where traditionally we’d have people going to Baylor or some other competition but the way the meets were working out as far as quality of competition and so on, we wanted to make sure we had our people in the right place at the right time,” Harter continued.

The women’s track & field team is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation, according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and boast seven performances in the Top-10 of the NCAA including Taliyah Brooks — the national leader in the long jump.

No. 1 | Taliyah Brooks – Long Jump 6.78m (22’-3”) *school record
No. 2 | Taliyah Brooks – Heptathlon 5946-points
No. 2 | Lexi Jacobus – Pole Vault 4.55m (14’-11”)
No. 3 | Victoria Hoggard – Pole Vault 4.50m (14’-9”)
No. 7 | Jada Baylark – 100-meters 11.09
No. 7 | Janeek Brown – 100-meter hurdles 12.90
No. 7 | Arkansas 4-x-100 meter relay 43.40 *No. 2 in program history

Entries for this weekend’s slate of competition include:
Mt. SAC Relays
Thursday
10,000-meters: Taylor Werner

Kansas Relays
Friday
Pole Vault: Morgan Hartsell, Elizabeth Ramos Mata
High Jump: Carmen Sitz

LSU Alumni Gold
Saturday
100-meters: Jada Baylark, Taliyah Brooks, Janeek Brown, Tamara Kuykendall, Kiara Parker
100-meter Hurdles: Janeek Brown
200-meters: Jada Baylark, Taliyah Brooks, Tamara Kuykendall, Kiara Parker
400-meters: Morgan Burks Magee, Sydney Davis
4-x-100-meter Relay: Janeek Brown, Kiara Parker, Jada Baylark, Morgan Burks-Magee
4-x-400-meter Relay: Morgan Burks-Magee, Kiara Parker, Jada Baylark, Sydney Davis

Field Events:
Long Jump: Taliyah Brooks

Cardinal Classic
Friday
5,000-meters: Sydney Brown, Abby Gray, Rachel Nichwitz, Maddy Reed
800-meters: Kailee Sawyer & Ruth Wiggins

Saturday
Steeple: Devin Clark & Regan Hime
1,500-meters: Micah Huckabee, Carina Viljoen

Hogs split weekend between California, Texas for meets

FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 11 Arkansas will split efforts this weekend as the Razorbacks compete at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif., the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., and the Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco, Texas.

“Our field events and sprinters will be down at Baylor for the Michael Johnson Invite and our distance runners will be out to L.A. for the Mt. SAC/Azusa Pacific meet there,” said coach Chris Bucknam.

FloTrack will provide LIVE coverage of the 2018 Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco, Texas as well as the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif. (Links Above)

“We’ll split between those two meets and then we’re together for the rest of the season,” Bucknam continued.

For the distance crew, the 1,500-meters, the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and the 5,000-meters will be the focus this weekend in California. Athletes competing in the Golden State include:

For the sprints group, the Michael Johnson Invitational will be another opportunity to nail down qualifying times with the hopes that the weather cooperates to keep the times legal.

“[The sprinters] ran a fast 200-meters on Saturday but the wind reading was 4.1 it needed to be 4.0. As you know, Friday and Saturday we caught a lot of wind. They’ll have to run it again … so hopefully we can get those times in and stay within that 4.0 meters per second,” Bucknam added.

The Michael Johnson Invitational will feature teams from Baylor, Abilene Christian, Arkansas (Men), Iowa State, Northern Illinois (Women), Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, SFA, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech.

Both the Bryan Clay Invitational and the Mt. SAC Relays will feature teams from across the nation.

The men’s track and field team is currently ranked No. 11 in the nation, according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and boast six performances in the Top-20 of the NCAA with three of those falling inside the Top-10.

No. 7 | Kenzo Cotton – 100-meters 10.12
No. 6 | Kemar Mowatt – 400-meter hurdles 50.49
No. 9 | Arkansas 4-x-100-meter relay 39.31
No. 15 | Shakiel Chattoo – 110-meter hurdles 13.79
No. 14 | Larry Donald – 400-meter hurdles 51.05
No. 19 | Austen Dalquist – 10,000-meters 29:08.60

Entries for this weekend’s meets include:

Bryan Clay Invitational:
Thursday:
3,000-meter Steeplechase -Kyle Levermore, Kyle Hosting
5,000-meters – Cameron Griffith, Austen Dalquist, Gilbert Boit, Andrew Ronoh, Ryan Murphy

Friday:
1,500-meters – Jack Bruce, Ethan Moehn, Kyle Levermore, Colin O’Mara, Kyle Hosting

Mt. SAC Relays:
Thursday:
10,000-meters – Preston Cates, Matt Young

Michael Johnson Invitational:
Saturday:
100-meters – Roy Ejiakuekwu, Harrison Schrage
200-meters – Kenzo Cotton, Roy Ejiakuekwu, Obi Igbokwe, Kevin Harris
400-meters – Obi Igbokwe, Jamarco Stephen, John Winn, Hunter Woodhall
800-meters – Kieran Taylor, Chase Pareti, Reese Walters
110-meter Hurdles – Larry Donald, Travius Chambers
400-meter Hurdles – Travius Chambers, Larry Donald
4-x-100-meter Relay – “A” Team
4-x-400-meter Relays – “A” & “B” Teams
High Jump – Brendon Rivera, Rubin Owens
Long Jump – Laquan Nairn, Trae Carey
Triple Jump – Laquan Nairn
Shot Put – Sam Kempka, Jeff Rogers, Gabe Moore
Discus – Erich Sullins, Gabe Moore
Hammer – Erich Sullins
Javelin – Alex Springer, Andrew Henn

Razorbacks fly through to second round of SEC Championships

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — An impressive performance in singles action helped Arkansas to a 4-1 win against Missouri on Wednesday in the first round of the 2018 SEC Women’s Tennis Tournament at the Dr. Robert L. Barksdale Tennis Stadium.

The Razorbacks (8-15, 3-10 SEC) surrendered the doubles point, but used four consecutive singles victories in straight sets to secure the overall team win over the Tigers (13-17, 0-13).

“Today was a very strong performance,” Razorbacks coach Michael Hegarty said. “Tons of credit to Missouri, they have been so close to a lot more wins this year and their coaches and players are doing a great job.

“This conference just has no mercy sometimes. The past two seasons we were at team match point on the eventual national champions (Vanderbilt, 2016; Florida, 2017) and still we went a month both seasons where we couldn’t win a conference match. So credit to both teams today, this was a quality match in the greatest league.”

No. 50 Giulia Pairone provided the clinching victory at the top spot, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0. With the win, she improved to 12-5 on this spring.

Mia Jurasic got the first singles win of the day at No. 3, a 6-1, 6-0 decision. No. 89 Ana Oparenovic then bested her opponent 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2 before Jackie Carr set up the clincher with a 6-4, 6-4 win of her own and her first ever against a conference opponent at No. 6.

Up Next

The Razorbacks will play No. 6 seed Auburn at 11 a.m. CT Thursday.

Hogs come from behind to overpower Missouri State

VIDEO FROM ESPN SEC NETWORK
FAYETTEVILLE — After trailing by as much as four runs to Missouri State in the early goings Tuesday night, third-ranked Arkansas scored eight unanswered runs and won, 11-7, at Baum Stadium for its third win in a row.

The win is Arkansas’ 28th of the year, making it 28-10 overall, while Missouri State has now lost four in a row and falls to 22-11.

The Hogs have won eight of their last nine games and have claimed victory in five-straight midweek games.

Kjerstad is tied for the team lead with nine home runs on the year, while Martin is just one behind with eight.

Combined this year, the freshman duo of Martin and Kjerstad is hitting .353 with 17 home runs and 69 RBIs. Both of their RBI totals (Kjerstad 37; Martin 32) are good for 1-2 on the team.

Tuesday against Missouri State, Martin went 2-for-3 with four RBIs and two walks. He’s reached base safely in eight-straight games and now has 13 multi-hit games.

Kjerstad was 3-4 on the night, with four RBIs, tying a season-high. He has at least one hit in 22 of his last 24 games and continues to lead the team with a .373 average.

Razorbacks third baseman Casey Martin waits on a late throw as Missouri State exploded for three runs in the first inning. That set the stage for the Hogs’ comeback 11-7 win. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

The Hitting

The Hogs scored 11 runs on 12 hits Tuesday night, the 11th game this year that they’ve plated 10 or more runs, and the 21st game with 10 or more hits.

The win also moves the Hogs to 11-1 on the season when scoring 10 or more runs, as well as 11-1 when they score in the first inning.

Eight of the nine Razorback starters recorded at least one hit in the game. After Kjerstad and Martin, sophomore Jordan McFarland turned in a multi-hit game going 2-for-5 with two runs scored. McFarland has at least one hit in eleven of his last 13 games.

Carson Shaddy also extended his hitting streak to eight games, after going 1-for-4 with a double. His hitting streak is the longest active streak on the team and he’s the seventh Razorback with a hitting streak of eight or more games at one point this year.

Freshman Caleb Bolden started against Missouri State on Tuesday night, but gave up four hits and three runs in only one inning of work. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

The Pitching

Freshman Caleb Bolden, who had earned his third-consecutive midweek start, only made it one inning against Missouri State, giving up three earned runs on four hits before giving way to the bullpen.

After Barrett Loseke and Evan Lee couldn’t slow down the Bears offense, another freshman in Kole Ramage stepped in.

Ramage struck out two of the five batters he faced after entering the game in the middle of the fourth with a runner on and one out.

Ramage went on to hold the Bears hitless for 1.2 innings right as Arkansas had its big fifth inning at the plate, earning him his first win of the year.

After Ramage, junior Jake Reindl picked up his second save of the year, striking out seven over the final four innings.

It’s the second-straight good outing for the Fayetteville native.

Over those two outings, he has only given up one run in 14.0 innings of work with 17 strikeouts with two walks. His 35 strikeouts are also the third-highest total on the team.

Hogs catcher Grant Koch had a lot of adjusting to do in Tuesday night’s win with five different pitchers on the mound in the 11-7 win over Missouri State. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

Razorback Quotables

“He has done a really good job, and I just put him there a few games back. We let him hit leadoff all fall, because I see him as a leadoff hitter. He fits the profile anyway with the speed and he has got power, obviously. I think he has done a tremendous job. I mean tonight he, obviously, did a great job. He got a walk, a couple of hits, three or four RBIs, a homerun, and he is just a threat. I like him there.” — Coach Dave Van Horn on Casey Martin leading off in recent games

“It was big for him and it was big for us. The coaches and the players, getting to see him pitch well back to back, so it looks like he’s back.” — Van Horn on Jake Reindl’s last two outings

“I felt pretty comfortable tonight. I saw the ball really well and really stuck to my approach. A lot of the stuff (Carson) Shaddy has been telling me like, to drive through the middle and basically tell myself what kind of player I am before I get into the box. That has really helped, but it kind of shows what type of leader he is on this team.” — Casey Martin on batting leadoff in the last week

“I feel like with the lineup we have, there is never a game we are out of. It was a four-run deficit at one time, but we all are confident that we would be able to scratch some more runs on the board and the game will go on.” — Heston Kjerstad on being down four runs, but not feeling out of it

“Yeah, it’s good. Just, obviously, showing everyone it wasn’t a fluke that I came back. But, I feel like now that is who I am and that is who they should expect when I come out of the pen.” — Jake Reindl on having back-to-back strong outings

Up Next

The Razorbacks go on the road this weekend as they head to Starkville, Mississippi to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

First pitch for game one on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m.

Saturday’s game two will be at 6 p.m., followed by Sunday’s game three at 1 p.m. All games will be televised on SEC Network+.

Van Horn talks about win over Bears, MSU series

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn talked with the media after the Hogs came from behind to beat Missouri State, 11-7, on Tuesday night and the upcoming series at Mississippi State.