Pitcher Jake Reindl, left fielder Heston Kerstad and third baseman Casey Martin talked with the media about the comeback win over the Bears and the upcoming series with Mississippi State.
Haff collects third SEC Freshman of the Week honor Tuesday
FAYETTEVILLE — On the strength of a 3-0 week in the circle including a pair of wins over Alabama, pitcher Mary Haff has been named the SEC Co-Freshman of the Week as announced Tuesday afternoon by the conference office.
This is her third SEC weekly honor of the season, and the Razorbacks’ fifth overall.
With nine games remaining in the regular season, Arkansas carries a 33-9 overall record with an 8-7 mark in SEC play.
The Razorbacks are ranked a program-high No. 16 in Tuesday’s release of the USA Today/NFCA top-25 poll. The team travels to 11th-ranked Auburn this weekend for a three-game series that begins Friday at 6 p.m.
Haff opened the week with a one-hit, complete-game shutout at Saint Louis, a performance that featured a career-high 13 strikeouts. She entered the seventh inning with a no-hitter and ended up with her sixth one-hit effort of the season.
With the start in game two of Arkansas’ series against Alabama, Haff registered another complete-game shutout. Her nine strikeouts in the win established a new high during SEC play.
The win was Arkansas’ first in the series since 2012 and marked just the second time the Razorbacks recorded a shutout of Alabama.
With her nine strikeouts, Haff moved into the program’s single-season top 10.
In another complete-game effort in the series-finale victory, Haff became the first pitcher in the SEC with 20 wins this season.
She also became the first Arkansas freshman to reach 20 since 2001. In three starts during the week, Haff registered 26 strikeouts while allowing just three walks in 21.0 innings of work.
The Winter Haven, Fla., native is 20-3 this year with 185 strikeouts and a 1.07 ERA in 143.2 innings during her freshman campaign.
Arkansas’ SEC Player of the Weeks in 2018
Mary Haff – Freshman of the Week (Feb. 19)
Hannah McEwen – Co-Player of the Week (March 5)
Mary Haff – Freshman of the Week (March 5)
Autumn Storms – Pitcher of the Week (April 3)
Mary Haff – Co-Freshman of the Week (April 17)
Third-ranked Hogs facing tough field at SEC Championships
ATHENS, Ga. — Postseason play begins this week as third-ranked Arkansas tees it up at the Southeastern Conference Championship in Hoover, Alabama, starting Wednesday.
Arkansas is having a record-setting season with five team titles and eight top-4 finishes. Junior Maria Fassi joined former Razorback Stacy Lewis as the only players in program history to win five or more titles in a single season.
Fassi was selected to the inaugural Palmer Cup Team (international) and is ranked No. 2 on the ANNIKA Award Watch List for the top player in college golf.
Fassi’s monster season doesn’t overshadow the balance that Arkansas has this year. Senior Alana Uriell and junior Dylan Kim are also playing well. Both players were selected to the Palmer Cup Team (USA) and both have been listed on the player of the year watch list.
This year’s SEC Championship field is loaded with some of the top teams in the country. Arkansas faces No. 1 Alabama for the fourth time this year and for the second consecutive week.
South Carolina begins the week at No. 10 followed by No. 13 Florida, No. 20 Auburn and No. 24 Vanderbilt inside the Golfstat.com Top-25.
This year’s championship format is updated to mirror the NCAA Championship. Teams will have three days of stroke play followed by two days of match play to crown the champion.
Inside The Ropes
Date: April 18-22
Golf Course: The Legacy Course
Location: Hoover, Alabama
Live Scoring: http://www.Golfstat.com
SEC Tournament Central: Click Here
Watch: SEC Network (Championship Match Only)
The Lineup
No. 2 Maria Fassi
No. 10 Alana Uriell
No. 12 Dylan Kim
Kaylee Benton
Cara Gorlei
The Field
No. 1 Alabama
No. 3 Arkansas
No. 10 South Carolina
No. 13 Florida
No. 20 Auburn
No. 24 Vanderbilt
No. 35 Texas A&M
No. 37 Ole Miss
No. 43 Tennessee
No. 44 Georgia
No. 51 LSU
No. 62 Kentucky
No. 64 Missouri
No. 69 Mississippi State
Sankey blocked Freeze from coming back to SEC as coordinator
Apparently SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has enough stroke to keep Nick Saban from doing what he wanted to do at Alabama.
According to a story in AL.com Monday, Saban was ready to hire former Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze as co-offensive coordinator and position coach:
“However, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey encouraged Alabama not to hire a man as well known for the personal shortcomings that led to his Ole Miss resignation as he is for his success as a coach.”
Sankey decided to impose his own punishment on Freeze, who was the head coach when the Rebels were slapped on the wrist by the NCAA for recruiting violations.
If you read it closely, the Kangaroo Court in Indianapolis that oversees the world of college athletics accepted Ole Miss’ self-imposed penalties from 2016 and added an extra year of a bowl ban that is still being appealed … and told them not to do it again.
Sankey was the chairman of the NCAA Infractions Committee until September of last year when his three-year term ended. He spent a few days in Oxford during his tenure and the rather lengthy investigation.
After Sankey stepped down, the committee reported it’s final verdict on the Rebels’ program and put the blame on the institution and not Freeze, who stepped down last July because he was calling escort services on a school phone (although they knew of it before everything broke in the media … or at least had to because everybody else in Oxford did).
AL.com reported all of this in their story:
“While multiple Ole Miss assistants and staffers received multi-year show-cause penalties, Freeze was hit with only a two-game conference suspension should any school hire him as a head coach before Nov. 30.”
Freeze met with Saban in January and the most powerful man in college football (at least according to several polls) was blocked from making the hire he really wanted to make, according to multiple sources.
According to AL.com:
“Sankey informed both Freeze and Alabama that it would look bad for the SEC for Freeze to be back coaching in the league while Ole Miss suffered from NCAA penalties incurred under his watch. The SEC preferred that Freeze, who resigned in July following a “pattern of personal misconduct,” go off the radar for at least a little while before trying to return to work at one of its schools.”
It also was reported widely and confirmed by the AL.com story that LSU and Missouri both showed interest in Freeze, who worked for LSU coach Ed Orgeron at Ole Miss from 2005-07. The two have remained close.
“Sankey’s stance left Saban disappointed. Saban has a strong respect for Freeze, who bested him twice as Ole Miss’ head coach — one of only three SEC coaches to beat Saban multiple times during his time in Tuscaloosa.”
So, after an investigation conducted under Sankey’s chairmanship of the committee investigating Ole Miss for years basically cleared Freeze of everything except paying enough attention, the commissioner imposes his own penalty.
While technically following the league’s rules, “a school must consult directly with Sankey before offering a job to a coach “who has engaged in unethical conduct as defined under NCAA Bylaws or who has participated in activity that resulted, or may result, in a Level I, Level II or major infraction.”
And apparently Sankey can hand out his own judgement … for whatever reason he chooses.
Freeze can’t do anything about it legally. Saban can’t do anything about it, either. He hired someone else.
This might be one to put in the file to remember.
Exactly why is something I have no idea about right now, but I do think we’ll hear about this again.
Hogs finish homestand with midweek matchup with Bears
FAYETTEVILLE — As winners of eight of their last nine games and four-straight midweek games, Arkansas looks for another midweek win against Missouri State on Tuesday night at Baum Stadium.
First pitch with the Bears is set for 6:30 p.m. and will be televised on SEC Network+.
This is the first time the two teams have met since last year’s NCAA Fayetteville Regional and the Hogs have come out winners in two of the last four matchups.
Tuesday will be the 80th meeting all-time between the two teams and Arkansas leads the all-time series 53-26. With coach Dave Van Horn at the helm, the Razorbacks have gone 17-9 against the Bears.
Freshman pitcher Caleb Bolden will be making his third consecutive midweek start after pitching five innings last week against Grambling State.
Bolden is 3-0 on the year with a 2.81 ERA and has struck out at five batters or more in all three of his midweek starts. Bolden has yet to walk more than two batters in an outing lasting more than three innings and is holding opponents to a .256 average.
FOLLOW LIVE
Tuesday’s game will be broadcast via SEC Network+, the online-only arm of the SEC Network on WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.
Brett Dolan (PxP) and Troy Eklund (Analyst) will have the call.
Phil Elson will call all the game on the radio for the Razorback Sports Network from IMG and he’ll be joined by former Razorback Bubba Carpenter.
That radio broadcast is also available on the Razorback Gameday app.
IMPORTANT LINKS (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)
Tue, April 17 – Arkansas vs. Missouri State – 6:30 p.m. – LIVE STATS | WATCH (SECN+)
PROBABLE STARTERS
TUE: ARK RHP Caleb Bolden (2.81 ERA, 3-0, 21 SO, 10 BB) vs. MSU RHP Austin Knight (4.97 ERA, 1-0, 25 SO, 17 BB)
RAZORBACK PRIME 9
• Freshman Caleb Bolden is making his fourth start of the year Tuesday against Missouri State. Last week against Grambling State, Bolden went five innings, striking out six, while not allowing an extra base hit in his third win of the year.
• After hitting two more home runs last weekend against South Carolina, Arkansas is now tied for the lead in the SEC and ranks second in the nation with 58 home runs, six ahead of its SEC-leading pace from last year.
• In 20 games this year, Arkansas has totaled 10 or more hits. In those games, the Hogs are 16-4 with 15 of those wins coming at Baum Stadium.
• Sophmore Matt Cronin picked up his ninth save of the season Saturday against South Carolina, moving him to second in the SEC in saves. After saving three games last week, Cronin is now just four saves away from the Arkansas single-season saves record set by current volunteer coach Colby Suggs, who saved 13 games in the 2013 season.
• Senior Carson Shaddy is now hitting .368 on the year, which is fourth-best in the SEC, and the top average on the team. Shaddy also leads the team with nine home runs, after hitting a home run in both games of last week’s doubleheader
• At the midway point of SEC play, Carson Shaddy is slugging .872 in conference games, which trails only Florida’s Jonathan India (1.000).
• Arkansas ranks second in the SEC with 33 double plays, but hasn’t turned one since April 7 against Auburn. In nine 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 Sundays double header against South Carolina, Arkansas pitchers combined for 14 scoreless innings, allowing on four total hits, and walking zero batters.
Van Horn on midweek matchup with Missouri State on Tuesday
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn talked Monday about the series win over South Carolina last weekend and the matchup with Missouri State on Tuesday evening.
Shaddy not expecting injury to affect him against Bears
Arkansas second baseman Carson Shaddy talked with the media Monday after the injury he suffered against South Carolina when he was hit by a pitch and shrugged it off as one of those things that happens.
Bolden on matchup against Missouri State on Tuesday night
Hogs pitcher Caleb Bolden talked Monday afternoon about the matchup with the Bears on Tuesday night at Baum Stadium … and fishing.
Thompson downplays matchup against former team
One year removed from helping Missouri State reach a conference title, Hogs assistant Nate Thompson downplayed Tuesday night’s matchup at Baum Stadium against his former team.
