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.

Storms’ save caps two-win day at Woo Pig Classic

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Sophomore Autumn Storms collected a win and a save Saturday to help Arkansas to a pair of wins on day two of the Wooo Pig Classic at Bogle Park.

The Razorbacks were also aided by home runs from Ashley Diaz and Katie Warrick in the nightcap victory over Saint Francis.

With Saturday’s wins, Arkansas improves to 20-5 overall and remains undefeated on its home field.

Up Next

The 2018 Wooo Pig Classic concludes Sunday with two games at Bogle Park including the weekend finale between Omaha and Arkansas.

Due to expected rain in the Sunday forecast, first pitch is now scheduled for 10:30 a.m.

The game will still be streamed on SEC Network+ which is also available through the WatchESPN app.

Game 1: Arkansas 3, Omaha 1 | Box Score

In the team’s first game of the day, Diaz pushed the Razorbacks’ lead to three with a two-run single in the home half of the fifth inning.

Sydney Parr and Autumn Buczek led off the frame with a walk and single, respectively, and eventually rounded the bases to score on the Diaz hit.

Parr scored the first run of the game, an unearned tally in the third plated by an RBI hit by Hannah McEwen.

Storms turned in a complete-game performance on her way to earning her eighth victory of the season.

She scattered five hits and allowed just one run in seven innings of work while striking out five Omaha hitters. After keeping the visitors off the scoreboard through five, Storms gave up and RBI single in the sixth.

However, the Temecula, Calif., native retired the next six hitters to secure the win.

Game 2: Arkansas 4, Saint Francis (Pa.) 3 | Box Score

After a scoreless first frame, Warrick led off the bottom of the second with a solo home run to right center.

The homer was her third of the weekend and fourth in the last five games. Sophomore Aly Manzo followed Warrick with a triple and scored on an RBI double by Krzysko to add the Razorbacks’ second run of the frame.

Saint Francis scored a run in the top of the third inning but one swing of the bat by Diaz pushed Arkansas’ lead to 4-1 in the home half of the inning.

With McEwen on second after a lead-off double, Diaz drove a two-run shot off the light pole in left center.

The home run was her fifth of the season and 20th of her career. Diaz ties Dayna Huckabee (2005-08) for ninth place on the program’s all-time list.

The Razorbacks maintained their three-run advantage until the sixth inning when the visitors pulled to within one thanks to a two-run dinger off starter Mary Haff.

The Razorback freshman retired the next hitter and was then relieved by Storms who struck out three of the five hitters she faced to post her second save of the season.

2018 Wooo Pig Classic
Saturday Results
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

Campbell on going eight innings in win over ’Cats

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas pitcher Isaiah Campbell talked after Game 1 against Kentucky when he gave up just three hits over eight innings in a 14-2 win by the Razorbacks to clinch the series.

Gillis, Palsha record Top 20 finishes at NCAA Championships

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Action for the Arkansas swimming and diving team concluded Sunday at the 2018 Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships with two top-20 finishes.

Senior diver Nicole Gillis started the day with a 19th-place finish on the platform, scoring a 243.35.

Later in the afternoon, freshman Peyton Palsha swam a 16:14.71 in the 1650 freestyle to finish second in her heat and 20th overall. Earlier in the week, Palsha finished 37th in the 500 free with a time of 4:43.19.

This concludes the Razorbacks season, as the team finished with a 9-3 overall record, including a 3-2 mark in conference action in head coach Neil Harper’s second year at the helm.

RESULTS
Thursday, March 15
500 Freestyle – Palsha (37th, 4:43.19)
One-Meter Trials – Schultz (9th – 295.20)
One-Meter Consolation – Schultz (1st – 311.80)

Friday, March 16
Three-Meter Trials – Schultz (1st – 384.60), Amer (13th – 318.90)
Three-Meter Consolation – Amer (8th – 280.05)
Three-Meter Final – Schultz (1st – 399.45)

Saturday, March 17
Platform Trials – Gillis (19th – 243.35)
1650 Free Early Heats – Palsha (20th – 16:14.71)

Hogs’ comeback falls short on road against Texas A&M

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Arkansas’ comeback in singles play came up just short as Texas A&M held off the Razorbacks, 4-2, on Saturday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.

It all came down to the final two singles courts after the Razorbacks (5-9, 1-4 SEC) raced out with a 1-0 lead claiming the doubles point, but the Aggies (12-4, 3-3 SEC) used strong singles play winning on courts three, four, five and six to earn the team victory.

“You’ve got to give both teams so much credit for their performances out here today,” Razorbacks coach Michael Hegarty said. “The match came down to a few points, and I was so impressed with the hunger and fight we displayed from start to finish.”

The Razorbacks were dominant in doubles and clinched the lead with wins at the top two spots.

Arkansas’ No. 30 ranked tandem of junior Ana Oparenovic and freshman Tatum Rice picked up a 6-4 win at No. 1, improving to 11-1 in the spring with a 3-1 mark in SEC action.

Razorbacks sophomore Giulia Pairone and senior Mia Jurasic secured the early edge, winning 7-5 at No. 2 to better their spring record to 10-2 with a 5-0 ledger against conference opponents.

A&M stormed out in singles, taking the first set on five of six courts.

The Aggies won the first two matches earning a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 4 and a three-set win at No. 5

No. 87 Oparenovic tied the match 2-2, scoring a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 2.

A&M responded with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 win at No. 3, reclaiming the lead.

With all eyes on the final two courts, No. 66 Pairone led 4-2 in the third set at No. 1 against No. 111 Domenica Gonzalez and Razorback junior Agne Cepelyte was up 6-5 in the third at No. 6 over Dorthea Faa-Hviding.

Faa-Hviding sent the third set into a tiebreaker and went on to win 7-4 for the clinching victory.

At the clinch, Pairone was just two points away from a win.

Hogs eye consecutive wins against a stacked field

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Coming off a 17-shot victory last week, No. 16 Arkansas is set to play in another loaded field starting on Sunday, traveling to Florida to take part in the Valspar Collegiate at Floridian National Golf.

In the 16-team field, 13 programs are ranked in the top 40 in the nation, 10 teams are ranked in the top 25, and the top three programs in the country are represented at the tournament. The 54-hole tournament features 18 holes on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at the par 71, 7,114-yard Floridian National Golf Club.

Arkansas is going for back-to-back wins for the first time since the 2011-12 season after knocking off 17 teams last week in Athens, Georgia, and running away from the field for a 17-shot victory.

The Razorbacks are also trying to win for the third time this year, which would be the most victories in a season since hoisting seven trophies in 2011-12.

With last week’s dominant victory, Arkansas improved its head-to-head record to 89-25-1 on the year as Alvaro Ortiz and Luis Garza took home co-medalist honors at the event and earned Co-SEC Golfer of the Week honors.

The win made Ortiz the 10th player in program history with multiple individual victories, while Garza captured his first title after knocking on the door with four previous top-five collegiate finishes.

Mason Overstreet will look to get back to his early-season form where he carded 12 rounds under par in the first six tournaments of the year and added four top-10 performances.

William Buhl and Tyson Reeder will round out the lineup in the fourth and fifth positions, while Landon Ernst will compete as an individual.

The Razorbacks will tee off Sunday at 8:30 p.m. CT with conference foes LSU and South Carolina.

Live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com or via the Golfstat Live app.

The Rundown
Schedule: March 18-20 | 18 holes on Sunday-Tuesday
Course: Floridian National Golf Club | Palm City, Fla.
Yardage: 7,114 – Par 71
Format: Play 5, count 4

Razorback Lineup
1. Alvaro Ortiz, Jr. (69.9)
2. Mason Overstreet, So. (70.2)
3. Luis Garza, Fr. (71.8)
4. William Buhl, Fr. (71.9)
5. Tyson Reeder, So. (73.7)
IND. Landon Ernst, Fr. (74.0)

The Field
No. 16 Arkansas
No. 9 Baylor
No. 37 Duke
No. 23 Florida State
No. 3 Georgia Tech
Houston
Lamar
No. 12 LSU
No. 1 Oklahoma State
No. 28 Pepperdine
No. 31 South Carolina
No. 20 South Florida
No. 14 Texas
No. 2 Texas A&M
UT Arlington
No. 22 Wake Forest

Razorbacks outslug Kentucky to start series with win

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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VIDEO FROM ESPN SEC NETWORK
FAYETTEVILLE — No. 5 Arkansas jumped on Kentucky starter Sean Hjelle early in Friday’s game at Baum Stadium and never let its foot off the gas as it defeated the No. 4 Wildcats, 9-4, to open SEC play.

Junior Eric Cole’s first-inning home run was one of three runs that Arkansas scored on Hjelle in the first frame.

The reigning SEC Pitcher of the Year had only given up four earned runs in 26.2 innings leading up to Friday’s game, but nearly equaled that total in the first inning against the Razorbacks.

Cole’s round-tripper was his only hit of the game as he went 1-for-5 at the plate, but he is now one off team leader Casey Martin with five home runs this year.

Junior catcher Grant Koch broke out his bat in a big way, hitting home runs in the fifth and seventh innings, marking it his first multi-home run game of his career.

He is the first Razorback catcher to hit two home runs in the same game since James McCann did it in 2010 against Grambling State in the NCAA Fayetteville Regional (June 4, 2010) and he is the third Hog player (Casey Martin, Jordan McFarland) to achieve the feat in a game this year.

On the mound, junior Blaine Knight made his fifth start of the year, but was unable to make it through five innings. He worked through 4.2 innings, giving up just two earned runs on six hits, one being a solo home run, but only walked one and struck out four.

Junior Jake Reindl saddled the victory with 1.2 scoreless innings in relief of Knight, his first win of the year. Sophomore Mat Cronin picked up his second save in as many games, throwing the final 2.2 innings and striking out four on 50 pitches.

Arkansas (14-4, 1-0 SEC) has won six of its last seven games, five by five runs or more. Kentucky (14-4, 0-1 SEC) was given its’ second loss in a row.

Every Razorback starter notched at least one hit in the game, but Jax Biggers and Koch were the only ones to record more than one. For Biggers, it was his first multi-hit game since March 3 against USC and both hits were doubles, which ties a career-high.

Koch’s first home run of the game came in the fifth inning after Kentucky had already taken Hjelle out and been to the bullpen twice.

The Wildcats had battled to get within two runs of the Hogs, but Koch’s monstrous two-run shot changed all of that to make it 6-2 as it got the 8,751 fans in attendance to one of its loudest points in the game.

Kentucky was on its fifth pitcher when Koch came around to bat again in the seventh. He only needed to see one pitch before finding another one he could drive as he clubbed his second home run in as many at-bats, giving him four on the year.

Koch now has a hit in nine of his last 10 games going back to Arkansas’ game against San Diego (Feb. 25), as he’s hitting .419 during that span with nine RBIs and four multi-hit games.

No other Razorback has been hitting better during that same stretch.

Up Next

Due to the forecasted rain and thunderstorms in the Northwest Arkansas area on Sunday, Arkansas and Kentucky will play a doubleheader on Saturday at Baum Stadium starting at 2 p.m.

Both games will still be televised online on SEC Network+.

Fans with tickets to Sunday’s game will be able to exchange that ticket for Saturday’s doubleheader or any future 2018 home game.

Saturday’s ticket will be accepted for both games of the doubleheader.

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