Razorback players Jordan McFarland, Evan Lee and Casey Martin talked about the win over the Golden Flashes when the Hogs scored nine straight runs over the final three innings after falling behind 4-2.
Arkansas drops road match at No. 17 Vanderbilt
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Arkansas wraps up its two-match road weekend in Nashville on Sunday, falling on the road to No. 17 Vanderbilt, 6-1.
The Razorbacks drop to 8-7 overall this season and 1-3 in Southeastern Conference action.
Arkansas dropped the doubles point with losses on courts one and three. Vanderbilt’s Daniel Valent and Baker Newman defeated Alex Reco and Pedro Alonso 6-3 to give the Commodores the advantage, before No. 57 Billy Rowe and Cameron Klinger knocked off Josh Howard-Tripp and Jose Salazar 6-4 at the top doubles spot to clinch the point. Oscar Mesquida and Adam Sanjurjo were leading No. 75 Panu Virtanen and Lachlan McPhee 5-4 at the clinch.
In singles, Vanderbilt extended its lead quickly. No. 57 Klinger defeated Howard-Tripp 6-1, 6-1 to take a 2-0 lead, as Rowe won over Reco 6-2, 6-2 to extend it to 3-0. P. Alonso would fall 6-0, 7-6 to Maxwell Freeman to give the Commodores the 4-0 advantage and the win. Mesquida was the first Razorback to win a set over a Commodore, as the junior won the second set 6-4, after falling 6-0 in the first set. Mesquida would fall to Newman in the third-set tiebreaker 10-5 to give Vanderbilt the 5-0 lead.
No. 84 Salazar was the second Razorback to pick up a set victory, taking the second set against No. 79 Valent 6-4, after dropping the first 7-5. Like his teammate Newman, Valent would take the third-set tiebreaker 10-6.
Despite trailing 6-0 in the match, Jose Alonso showed some fight on court six, as the freshman won the first set over George Harwell 7-5, before harwell took the second set 7-5. Alonso would take the court though, winning 10-4 in the third-set tiebreaker.
The Razorbacks return home next Friday to host No. 22 Tennessee, then No. 21 Georgia on Sunday.
No. 17 Vanderbilt 6, Arkansas 1
Singles Results – Order of finish (2,4,5,3,1,6)
1. #79 Daniel Valent (VU) def. #84 Jose Salazar (AR) 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6)
2. #57 Cameron Klinger (VU) def. Josh Howard-Tripp (AR) 6-1, 6-1
3. Baker Newman (VU) def. Oscar Mesquida (AR) 6-0, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5)
4. Billy Rowe (VU) def. Alex Reco (AR) 6-2, 6-2
5. Maxwell Freeman (VU) def. Pedro Alonso (AR) 6-0, 7-6 (7-3)
6. Jose Alonso (AR) def. George Harwell (VU) 7-5, 5-7, 1-0 (10-4)
Doubles Results – Order of finish (3,1)
1. #57 Billy Rowe/Cameron Klinger (VU) def. Josh Howard-Tripp/Jose Salazar (AR) 6-4
2. #75 Panu Virtanen/Lachlan McPhee (VU) vs. Oscar Mesquida/Adam Sanjurjo (AR) 4-5, unfinished
3. Daniel Valent/Baker Newman (VU) def. Alex Reco/Pedro Alonso (AR) 6-3
Razorbacks travel to Southern Intercollegiate in Georgia
FAYETTEVILLE — No. 18 Arkansas returns to action on Monday, traveling to the Southern Intercollegiate at Athens Country Club in Athens, Georgia.
The one day 36-hole event, hosted by the University of Georgia, is the largest regular season tournament Arkansas will play in this season. The Razorbacks are the highest ranked team in the field at No. 18, followed by No. 19 Florida State.
Head coach Brad McMakin’s squad is making its third consecutive appearance at Athens Country Club, recording a runner-up finish in 2016 and finishing fourth in 2017 for a combined head-to-head record of 23-4 at the event.
The Razorbacks will tee it up for the fourth time during the spring season, as they go for their sixth top five finish of the year.
Arkansas faced the toughest field in college golf last week at the Querencia Cabo Collegiate, finishing ahead of five top-25 teams and knocking two of the top five programs in the nation.
Coming off his best performance of the year in Cabo, senior Alvaro Ortiz returns to the No. 1 spot in the lineup.
He finished T-3rd at the Southern Intercollegiate a year ago at 5-under. Luis Garza has fond memories of Athens as well, posting a top 10 finish last year with back-to-back rounds under par.
Live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com or via the Golfstat Live app.
The Rundown
Schedule: March 12 | 36 holes on Monday
Course: Athens Country Club | Athens, Ga.
Yardage: 6,917 – Par 72
Format: Play 5, count 4
Razorback Lineup
1. Alvaro Ortiz, Sr. (69.8)
2. Mason Overstreet, So. (70.0)
3. Luis Garza, So. (72.0)
4. William Buhl, So. (71.7)
5. Tyson Reeder, R-So. (74.1)
IND. Landon Ernst, Fr. (74.0)
The Field
No. 18 Arkansas
Charleston Southern
Chattanooga
No. 19 Florida State
Francis Marion
Gardner Webb
Georgia
High Point
Iowa
Kennesaw State
Lipscomb
Nicholls State
Savannah State
Stetson
USC Upstate
Western Carolina
Wofford
Youngstown State
Razorbacks finish 13th at NCAA indoor championships
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Arkansas closed out it indoor season as the 13th-best program in the nation, scoring 16 points on the final day of the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships in College Station.
Junior Cameron Griffith was Arkansas’ best performer of the weekend, placing third in the men’s 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:05.91.
Griffth made headway during the race, coming within 0.25 seconds of eventual champion Andy Trouard of Northern Arizona at the mid-way point, but maintained his third position as the Sydney, Australia native earned All-American honors as a first time NCAA Championship qualifier in the 3,000 meter run.
Junior Gabe Moore was the first Hog to put points up on the board for Arkansas, finishing the heptathlon in sixth-place.
Moore earned first team All-American honors for the first time in his career, following a record day one performance supplemented by a strong day two finish.
He had four personal bests on the weekend, improving his marks/time in the 60-meter dash, long jump, shot put and 1,000-meter run.
Moore capped the heptathlon with a 97 point improvement on his personal best with a final two-day total of 5,874 points.
Senior Kenzo Cotton placed seventh in the 200-meter dash for the second-consecutive year at the NCAA Indoor Championships, with a time of 20.85.
With the finish, Cotton is now a 16-time Razorback All-American.
The Razorbacks ended the day with a fourth place finish in the 4-x-400 meter relays with a time of 3:05.14.
Arkansas led through the first three heats despite an injury from one of Arkansas’ regulars, but fell to fourth following the fourth heat.
Arkansas Scoring Breakdown (16 points)
Kenzo Cotton – 200 M Dash (2)
Roy Ejiakuekwu – 4-x-400 Meter Relay (1.25)
Cameron Griffith – 3,000 Meters (6)
Obi Igbokwe – 4-x-400 Meter Relay (1.25)
Gabe Moore – Heptathlon (3)
Kemar Mowatt – 4-x-400 Meter Relay (1.25)
Jamarco Stephen – 4-x-400 Meter Relay (1.25)
NCAA Indoor Championships
Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium
March 10, 2018
Team Scores (Top Five)
1. Florida – 40
2. USC – 37
3. Georgia – 32
4. Virginia Tech – 31
5. Texas A&M – 29.5
13. Arkansas – 16
200 Meters Final
7. Kenzo Cotton – 20.85
3,000 Meters Final
3. Cameron Griffith – 8:05.91
4-x-400 Meter Relay Final
4. Ejiakuekwu, Mowatt, Stephen, Igbokwe- 3:05.14
Heptathlon (4 of 7)
5. Gabe Moore – 3,343 pts.
(3) 60 Meters – 6.94, 904 pts.
(3) Long Jump – 7.33m/24-0¾, 893 pts.
(4) Shot Put – 14.38m/47-2¼, 752 pts.
(5) High Jump – 1.99m/6-6¼, 794 pts.
(3) 60-meter hurdles – 8.11, 954 pts.
(12) Pole Vault – 4.46m/14-7½, 748 pts.
Three individual golds lead Hogs to second place at NCAA
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Off a trio of gold medal performances, one silver and one bronze, the Arkansas women’s track and field team wrapped up its indoor campaign as the national runner-up at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships Saturday afternoon in College Station.
“We’re going to enjoy it, it was a fantastic day,” said head coach Lance Harter. “This is a great group of kids. We didn’t have a lot of bullets, but the bullets we had hit their targets”
Another Golden Girl
Springdale Arkansas native Payton Chadwick became Arkansas’ second national champion of the weekend, matching her personal best from the 60-meter hurdles prelim of 7.93 to win the event final.
Chadwick edged out USC’s Anna Cockrell by .004 seconds, making the most out of a commanding finish to secure 10 points for the Razorbacks.
Arkansas picked up 11 total points from the event with freshman Janeek Brown placing eighth.
“We talked about it and said ‘hey all we have to do is what we did yesterday’,” associate head coach Chris Johnson said. “She went out and executed. She was composed. She got out of the blocks well and she closed like gangbusters. What more can you ask for?”
Chadwick is the first 60-meter hurdles champion in program history and the first Arkansas indoor national champion in the sprints/hurdles event group since Veronica Campbell-Brown (200) in 2004.
“I always dreamed of being on the national podium for the hurdles,” Chadwick said. “I never thought I’d win a national title in the hurdles ever. Doing this today, all of the hard work I’ve done from high school to now, it all has paid off. I executed the race and I’m super excited to see where I’ll be next.”
Champion Once More
Another Arkansas native, Lexi Jacobus of Cabot returned to the national spotlight for the third time in her career, placing first in the pole vault off a meet and program record clearance of 4.66m/15-3½.
Jacobus only had three misses throughout the entire competition securing the No. 1 spot with a first attempt clearance of 4.56m/14-11½.
Along with Jacobus, Arkansas placed two more vaulters on the pole vault podium with Tori Hoggard finishing second off a PR performance of 4.61m/15-1½ and Desiree Freier finishing fifth of a PR performance of 4.41m/15-5½.
Combined the trio scored the highest total ever in pole vault by a team in NCAA history, collecting 22 points towards Arkansas’ team total.
“In conference we’ve jumped just as well as we needed to,” said assistant coach Bryan Compton. “This weekend we pulled out all of the stops, had a good day and put 22 points. It was amazing, they worked as a team and got on a roll. When they do that things just start snowballing.”
Notables
Senior Nikki Hiltz raced to a bronze medal finish in the mile, clocking a personal best of 4 minutes, 32.59 seconds over the eight-lap race.
Hiltz began the race in seventh position progressively making her way towards the front of the pack with each passing go-around the oval.
The former Oregon Duck settled into third position with 800-meters left, fighting hard all the way through the finish line to secure six points for Arkansas.
Her performance almost earned her the title of program record-holder, as she narrowly missed former Razorback great Dominique Scott’s record by a .19-second margin.
Arkansas Scoring Breakdown (49 points)
Taliyah Brooks – Pentathlon (10)
Janeek Brown – 60-meter hurdles (1)
Payton Chadwick – 60-meter hurdles (10)
Desiree Freier – Pole Vault (4)
Nikki Hiltz – Mile (6)
Tori Hoggard – Pole Vault (8)
Lexi Jacobus – Pole Vault (10)
NCAA Indoor Championships
Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium
March 10, 2018
Team Scores (Top Five)
1. Georgia – 61
2. ARKANSAS – 49
3. Kentucky -34
4. Florida – 32
5. Oregon – 31
Mile Final
3. Nikki Hiltz – 4:32.59
60 Meter Hurdles Final
1. Payton Chadwick – 7.93
8. Janeek Brown – 8.51
Pole Vault
1. Lexi Jacobus – 4.66m/15-3½
2. Tori Hoggard – 4.61m/15-1½
5. Desiree Freier – 4.41m/14-5½
Razorbacks drop SEC opener at No. 11 Georgia on Saturday
ATHENS, Ga. — Arkansas opened conference play Saturday afternoon with an 8-0 road loss at No. 8 Georgia.
With the setback, the Razorbacks are now 16-3 overall and 0-1 in SEC play.
Up Next
The Razorbacks return to Turner Stadium on Sunday evening for game two of the conference series.
First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU with Pam Ward and Carol Bruggeman on the call.
Arkansas’ next home game is next weekend — March 16-18 — when the team hosts the Wooo Pig Classic at Bogle Park.
FINAL: #11 Georgia 8, Arkansas 0 | Box Score
The Razorbacks’ offense was held in check by Georgia starter Brittany Gray who allowed just one hit on the day, a two-out single to junior Ashley Diaz in the first inning.
From that point, Arkansas was kept off the bases until senior Loren Krzysko led off the fifth with a walk.
She was erased on a fielder’s choice and the next two hitters were retired to keep the Razorbacks off the scoreboard.
Georgia (20-1, 1-0 SEC) scored twice in the first inning with a solo home run and an obstruction call at the plate on a double steal.
Starter Autumn Storms worked around a two-out double in the second to keep the deficit at just two runs but the home team opened the third with back-to-back homers to push its lead to 4-0.
Sophomore Caroline Hedgcock entered the game and with the help of two strikeouts, retired the next three to get out of the inning.
She tallied another pair of strikeouts in the fourth and worked the staff’s first 1-2-3 inning of the game before Georgia got to her in the fifth.
Hedgcock had two outs with a runner on third when the Bulldogs put together a string of hits to score four runs and secure the run-rule win.
Morris on development through spring drills
After the first scrimmage of the spring, Arkansas coach Chad Morris says team has a long way to go, but they’re getting there.
Vols overpower Razorbacks in SEC semifinals
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — No. 6 seed Arkansas fell to No. 2 seed Tennessee on Saturday afternoon 84-66 in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.
The shots fell early for the Volunteers and the Razorbacks found themselves in a hole too large to climb out of.
Much like Arkansas’ opponent from the night before, Tennessee started hot from the field, connecting on five of its first six shots to take an 11-7 lead into the first media break.
Unlike Friday night, it did not stop there.
The Volunteers shot 19-of-25 (.760) from the floor in the first half, going 7-of-8 (.875) from deep to take a 48-29 lead at halftime.
After trading a couple three pointers out of the break, Arkansas showed some fight. The Razorbacks forced Tennessee to miss seven of its first eight shots of the second half, as Arkansas used an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 11.
The Volunteers would hit some timely shots to keep Arkansas from making a run, as 11 is as close the Razorbacks could get in the second half.
Despite slowing down in the second half, Tennessee still shot 57.1 percent from the field for the contest, including a 64.7 mark from behind the arc.
The Razorbacks were led by their three senior guards, as Daryl Macon led Arkansas with 19 points, going 7-of-7 from the free throw line and 5-of-10 from the field.
Jaylen Barford added 14, while Anton Beard posted 11. Freshman guard Darious Hall also added 11 points to go along with seven rebounds.
Arkansas now awaits its selection into the NCAA Tournament, as the Razorbacks will find out its seeding on Selection Sunday.
Chavis talking about defensive improvement
Arkansas defensive coordinator John Chavis talked with the media after Saturday’s practice about how the defense is coming together.
Craddock on quarterbacks, offense in early spring drills
Hogs offensive coordinator Joe Craddock on the “consistently inconsistent” play of quarterbacks in the spring.
Richardson on coming back for Hogs
Arkansas cornerback Kevin Richardson likes the way the secondary is playing with changes.
