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Biggers, Martin tabbed for top SEC honors

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Following last weekend’s offensive explosion that saw the Arkansas baseball team score post 39 runs in the series against Kentucky, junior Jax Biggers was named the SEC’s Player of the Week, while freshman Casey Martin took the league’s Freshman of the Week honors.

The pair led the Razorbacks to a 5-0 record on the week against the Longhorns and Wildcats, while the team tallied its most runs scored in an SEC series since 1997.

Arkansas’ Jax Biggers named SEC’s Player of the Week for his performance against Kentucky in the Hogs’ sweep last weekend. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

Jax Biggers | Player of the Week

Biggers had a breakout week, hitting .588  with two doubles, two home runs, and seven RBIs out of the leadoff spot in five games against Texas and No. 4 Kentucky.

His two home runs, one in each game of the doubleheader with Kentucky on Saturday, helped the Razorbacks complete the sweep of the Wildcats for the first time since 2004.

In the Kentucky series alone, Biggers totaled three multi-hit games, including one three-hit game and one four hit performance.

He’s one of three Hogs with a four hit game this year and is second on the team with seven multi-hit performances this season.

In the doubleheader against the Wildcats, the Missouri City, Texas native went 7-for-9 (.778) with two long balls and six RBIs.

On the week, Biggers led the team in walks with eight, giving him a team-best 18 on the year. He has started 19 of 20 games this season at shortstop and is hitting .368 with 11 RBIs, all out of the leadoff position. Six of his 11 RBIs this season came on Saturday.

Casey Martin’s .350 average and three homers last week earned him SEC Freshman of the Week honors Monday. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

Casey Martin | Freshman of the Week

Martin continued his stellar start to his freshman campaign, hitting .350 last week with three home runs and seven RBIs combined against Texas and Kentucky. Following the first week of conference play, he continues to lead the team with a .393 average with seven home runs and 22 RBIs.

Martin is riding a team-best 13-game hitting streak dating back to the Feb. 28 game against Dayton. During the streak, he has hit an even .400 with 20 hits, 17 RBIs, six home runs while scoring 16 runs. The Lonoke, Arkansas native went 3-of-7 with five RBIs during the midweek series against Texas that saw him hit a home run in each game. Martin has hit one home run in four of the last six games and is currently leading all freshmen with seven home runs on the year.

The honor is the second of the season for Martin. He was first named conference Freshman of the Week March 5 following his offensive outburst against Dayton and USC.

Up Next
Arkansas hits the road for a nine-game stretch starting with two midweek games at Charlotte (March 20-21). Game one of the series with the 49ers will be played at BB&T Park, the home of the Charlotte Knights, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, with first pitch set for 6:05 p.m. It will be televised on BeIN TV.

The second game of the series will be played on the campus of UNC-Charlotte at Phillips Field in Hayes Stadium. First pitch will be at 3 p.m. on Wednesday and televised by Cox Sports Television.

Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Monday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Monday

Morning Rush Hour 2

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Morning Rush Hour 1

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas in second place at Auburn; Fassi holds lead

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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AUBURN, Ala. — Arkansas junior Maria Fassi fired an event record 8-under 64 and leads the field after round one action at the Evans-Derby Experience in Auburn, Alabama, on Sunday.

Fassi’s 64 helped the third-ranked Razorbacks to a first-round 280 and second place behind No. 31 Florida State who opened with a 10-under 278.

Host No. 27 Auburn is tied for third with No. 5 Duke shooting a 3-under 285 at the Auburn University Club followed by No. 9 South Carolina with a 2-under 286 rounding out the top five team scores.

Fassi’s stance at the top of the leaderboard is the eighth time this season she has led at the completion of a round.

The Hidalgo, Mexico, native has won four of the team’s six events this year. It is her eighth round in the 60’s and is the second time this season she has carded a personal best 64 in a collegiate event.

The Razorback All-American’s scorecard was all red with three birdies on the front nine and five birdies on the back side of the course.

Fassi reeled off six birdies in a row on holes 8-13 for her 64. Fassi has a three-shot lead over Ainhoa Olarra of South Carolina and teammate Maria Hoyos of Arkansas.

Junior’s Dylan Kim and Kaylee Benton, along with senior Alana Uriell, all counted rounds of even-par 72. The trio is tied for 22nd overall.

They posted 11 birdies with Uriell picking up three of her four birdies on the back nine. Junior Cara Gorlei was also solid with a 3-over 75 in the first round.

Freshman Hoyos, playing as an individual, is tied for second overall. Hoyos opened with a first-round 67, picking up seven birdies in 18 holes.

The Lineup

PLACE PLAYER SCORE TO PAR
1 Maria Fassi 64 -8
T22 Dylan Kim 72 E
T22 Alana Uriell 72 E
T22 Kaylee Benton 72 E
T46 Cara Gorlei 75 +3
T2 Maria Hoyos (Ind) 67 -5

The Field

PLACE TEAM SCORE TO PAR
1 No. 31 Florida State 278 -10
2 No. 3 Arkansas 280 -8
T3 No. 27 Auburn 285 -3
No. 5 Duke 285 -3
5 No. 9 South Carolina 286 -2
6 No. 2 Alabama 288 E
7 No. 12 Florida 282 +4
8 No. 22 Wake Forest 283 +5
9 No. 26 Louisville 295 +7
10 No. 41 Ole Miss 297 +9
T11 Mississippi State 302 +14
Michigan 302 +14

Razorbacks come from behind to upset No. 14 Georgia

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas came from behind Sunday afternoon to defeat the No. 14 Georgia Bulldogs, 4-3.

Down 3-1, Arkansas swept the final three courts to knock off the Bulldogs for the first time since 2004, improving to 9-8 overall this season and 2-4 in the Southeastern Conference.

Arkansas fell behind early, dropping the doubles point with a 6-2 loss on court one and a 6-1 loss on court two.

Georgia would push its lead to 2-0, as No. 21 Jan Zielinski defeated freshman Josh Howard-Tripp 6-4, 6-2 on court four.

Freshman Alex Reco would get Arkansas on the board, defeating Alex Diaz 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), giving him a 9-4 record in dual matches this season, improving to 12-9 overall.

Georgia was able to stretch its lead back to two, as No. 24 Wayne Montgomery knocked off Adam Sanjurjo 6-4, 7-5 to go up 3-1.

Arkansas would stand strong on courts one, three and five, taking all three to the third set. No. 84 Jose Salazar control the final two sets at the top spot, defeating No. 47 Emil Reinberg 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.

The Razorbacks were able to even the match at 3-3 with a 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 win on court five by Pedro Alonso, as the freshman defeated Robert Loeb.

It all came down to court three and junior Oscar Mesquida. After taking the first set 7-6 (11-9), Mesquida would fall 3-6 in the second set, bringing it all down to a decisive third set. Mesquida would go on to cruise 6-2 in the final set to give Arkansas the 4-3 win.

Arkansas 4, No. 14 Georgia 3

Singles competition – Order of finish (4,6,2,1,5,3)
1. #84 Jose Salazar (AR) def. #47 Emil Reinberg (UGA) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
2. #24 Wayne Montgomery (UGA) def. Adam Sanjurjo (AR) 6-4, 7-5
3. Oscar Mesquida (AR) def. #81 Nathan Ponwith (UGA) 7-6 (11-9), 3-6, 6-2
4. #21 Jan Zielinski (UGA) def. Josh Howard-Tripp (AR) 6-4, 6-2
5. Pedro Alonso (AR) def. Robert Loeb (UGA) 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
6. Alex Reco (AR) def. Alex Diaz (UGA) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)

Doubles competition – Order of finish (1,2)
1. Jan Zielinski/Walker Duncan (UGA) def. Jose Salazar/Josh Howard-Tripp (AR) 6-2
2. Wayne Montgomery/Nathan Ponwith (UGA) def. Oscar Mesquida/Adam Sanjurjo (AR) 6-1
3. Jose Alonso/Pedro Alonso (AR) vs. Robert Loeb/Alex Diaz (UGA) 3-2, unfinished

Arkansas in striking distance at Valspar Collegiate tourney

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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PALM CITY, Fla. — Playing in a field loaded with nationally ranked programs, No. 16 Arkansas opened play Sunday at the Valspar Collegiate, firing an opening-round 4-over 288 to sit in ninth place at Floridian National Golf Club.

The Razorbacks are alone in ninth place, but sit just two shots outside the top five that features three of the top 10 teams in the nation. Top-ranked Oklahoma State leads the field at 7-under, while No. 2 Texas A&M is four strokes back at 3-under.

Mason Overstreet finds himself in the top 10 after opening his round with three birdies in a five-hole span, before signing for a 1-under 70. He is deadlocked with teammate Luis Garza, who added four birdies of his own and finished in red figures.

Alvaro Ortiz was 5-over after four holes on Sunday, but he rallied with five birdies coming in to sign for a 2-over 73, while William Buhl rolled in just one birdie and finished at 4-over for the day.

Landon Ernst added a 6-over 77 as an individual and Tyson Reeder rounded out the team with a 12-over 83.

The Razorbacks return to the course Monday morning for round two, teeing off at 8:30 a.m. with No. 3 Georgia Tech and No. 12 LSU.

For more information on Arkansas men’s golf, follow @RazorbackMGolf on Twitter.

Razorback Lineup Day 1 Results

 

Valspar Collegiate Day One Team Results

Krzysko supplies power in shutout win over Omaha

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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VIDEO BY ESPN SEC NETWORK
FAYETTEVILLE — Senior Loren Krzysko powered the offense with a grand slam while Mary Haff and Autumn Storms combined for a one-hit shutout Sunday in the Razorbacks’ 4-0 win over Omaha.

With the win, Arkansas completed a five-game sweep of the Wooo Pig Classic and improved to 21-5 overall this season.

Up Next

The Razorbacks continue their home stand Tuesday with a doubleheader against UT Arlington.

First pitch of the twin bill is scheduled for 12 p.m. (CT) at Bogle Park.

Both games will be streamed on SEC Network+ which is available through the WatchESPN app. The all-time series between Arkansas and UTA is tied at 2-2; the teams last met in 2012.

FINAL: Arkansas 4, Omaha 0 | Box Score

The Razorbacks’ struck early with all four of the teams runs coming in the first on Krzysko’s grand slam.

After back-to-back singles from Hannah McEwen and Ashley Diaz, sophomore Aly Manzo drew a two-out walk to load the bases for Krzysko.

The Barrington, Ill., native responded by sending the 2-2 offering from Omaha starter Laura Roecker over the fence in left field. The home run was her fifth of the season and the team’s third grand slam.

Haff made the four-run advantage stand up through her five innings before giving way to Storms who pitched the final two.

Omaha’s lone hit of the day was a two-out double in the first frame that Haff worked around with her second strikeout. She issued a pair of walks in the second but again struck out the final hitter of the inning to get out of trouble.

Haff finished the game with six strikeouts and retired the final 10 hitters she faced.

Storms continued the lights-out pitching by striking out the side in the sixth inning. She walked the first hitter of the seventh and after a groundball to second, the visitors had a runner in scoring position.

McEwen made a diving catch to keep Omaha from scoring a potential run and a final ground out to Haydi Bugarin at second secured the win.

2018 Wooo Pig Classic
Weekend Results

Game 1: Tulsa 8, Omaha 0 (5 inn.)
Game 2: Tulsa 7, Iowa State 1
Game 3: Saint Francis (Pa.) 6, Omaha 2
Game 4: Arkansas 8, Iowa State 3
Game 5: Arkansas 8, Saint Francis (Pa.)

Game 6: Iowa State 12, Tulsa 1 (6 inn.)
Game 7: Iowa State 6, Omaha 5
Game 8: Tulsa 4, Saint Francis (Pa.) 0
Game 9: Arkansas 3, Omaha 1
Game 10: Arkansas 4, Saint Francis (Pa.) 3

Game 11: Saint Francis (Pa.) 3, Iowa State 2
Game 12: Arkansas 4, Omaha 0

Offensive explosion lifts Hogs to sweep of ’Cats

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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VIDEO FROM ESPN SEC NETWORK
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas Kentucky Saturday, winning both ends of a doubleheader, 14-2 and 16-9, to finish the three-game sweep at Baum Stadium.

In just Saturday’s games combined, the Razorbacks scored 30 runs on 38 hits and hit 10 home runs.

Combined over the entire series, Arkansas (16-4, 3-0 SEC) scored 39 runs on Kentucky (14-6, 0-3 SEC), the most in an SEC series under Dave Van Horn, and the most in a three-game conference series since 1997.

The Razorbacks open the conference season for the second-straight year with a series sweep (Mississippi State, 2017) and it’s the fourth-straight series win over the Wildcats dating back to 2013.

Seven different Razorbacks hit at least one home run on the day with Jax Biggers, Carson Shaddy, and Luke Bonfield all coming away with two each over both games.

s a team, Arkansas hit five home runs in both contests, giving it three games this season with five or more long balls.

Game 1 | Arkansas 14, Kentucky 2

It wasn’t all offense, though, for the Razorbacks as redshirt sophomore Isaiah Campbell pitched his team to the series win in the first game on Saturday.

Campbell threw a career-long eight innings with just one run given up on three hits and struck out a career-high eight batters.

Campbell held Kentucky hitless until a Kyle Cottom home run in the fifth broke that up. Then, he still only allowed three baserunners over his final three innings, making it the most effective outing by an Arkansas pitcher this year.

The Razorback offense gave Campbell plenty of run support, jumping out to a 7-0 lead before the fourth inning.

Over the series with the Wildcats, Arkansas scored 18 runs in the first three innings.

Combined over all games this year, 75 of Arkansas’ 186 runs have come in the first three innings, making up 41 percent of the offensive production.

Arkansas went on to put up a five-run fifth, three off the first homer of the season from Biggers and then single runs in the sixth and eighth.

Catcher Zack Plunkett hit his first Razorback home run when he pinch hit for Grant Koch and smashed one of the longest home runs of the day into the Hog Pen in right field.

Biggers and Shaddy finished the game as the Hogs’ leading hitters, each tallying three base hits. Biggers drove in four in the game, setting a career-high.

Freshman Heston Kjerstad was one of five Razorbacks with two hits in the game as he totaled three RBIs, his fourth multi-RBI game of the season.

He also hit his third home run of the year, going the opposite way as part of Arkansas’ four-run third.

Game 2 | Arkansas 16, Kentucky 9

The Hogs picked up their offense where they left off in the second half of the doubleheader, scoring seven runs on seven hits in the first inning and using a great two-out approach to chase Kentucky starter Daniel Harper after just 0.2 innings.

Arkansas had already score two runs on an Bonfield double, but then Harper gave up a two-out walk to Jordan McFarland and an RBI single to Kjerstad to make it 3-0 forcing Kentucky to go to its bullpen.

Things didn’t go much better for Zach Haake as he gave up a two-RBI single to Grant Koch and then the two-run homer to Shaddy, his first of two in the game.

It’s been a banner week for Shaddy as he’s hit .529 (9-for-17) over the last five games, which includes the Texas series, with four RBIs, two home runs, and eight runs scored.

With his two home run game on Saturday, he now has two multi-home run games in his career (Miss. Valley State, Feb. 24, 2016).

Shaddy, along with Biggers, Cole, and Bonfield, each had three or more hits in game two. Biggers and Cole came away with near-perfect performances as Biggers was 4-for-5 with two RBIs and a home run, while Cole went 4-for-6 with an RBI double.

Junior Kacey Murphy picked up the win, his third of the year, after throwing 5.1 innings out of the bullpen with just two earned runs allowed on seven hits and five strikeouts.

In three of his four outings, he has gone five or more innings and has yet to give up more than two earned runs in an appearance.

Up Next

Arkansas hits the road for a nine-game stretch starting with two midweek games at Charlotte (March 20-21).

Game one of the series with the 49ers will be played at BB&T Park, the home of the Charlotte Knights, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, with first pitch set for 6:05 p.m. It will be televised on BeIN TV.

The second game of the series will be played on the campus of UNC-Charlotte at Phillips Field in Hayes Stadium.

First pitch will be at 3 p.m. on Wednesday and televised by Cox Sports Television.

Van Horn pleased with offensive explosion

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas set records over the three games in two days against Kentucky and Hogs coach Dave Van Horn was pleased with the runs and hitting.

Shaddy, Biggers and Bonfield on big series

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas players Carson Shaddy, Jax Biggers and Luke Bonfield met with the media after the Razorbacks swept Kentucky in two games Saturday.

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