Here from Coach Cal, Coach Richardson and more on Arkansas’s trip to the Sweet 16. Tye avoids the tenderloin.
Guests: Tom Murphy!
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: 3-25-25
Ruscin & Zach March 24
Arkansas advances to the sweet 16. Will Ruscin & Zach discuss it at all? Doubtful! We hear about DQ’s farewell tour and more.
Pig Trail Nation’s Mike Irwin looking at how Hogs have reached Sweet 16
What teams haven’t had an answer to what Razorbacks doing leading to being only double-digit seed left in NCAA.
Saturday Down South’s Connor O’Gara on Razorbacks’ run in NCAA
Surging Hogs may be underdogs going to Sweet 16, but there is No. 1 seed on upset watch before games.
Eastside Liquor Halftime Podcast 3-24-25
Hogs to Sweet 16, Baseball sweeps SC
Guests: Mike Irwin, Dr. Charles Liggett and Connor O’Gara
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: 3-24-25
That morning coffee must have tasted sweeter this morning after Arkansas advances to the Sweet 16 on Saturday. Tommy’s in Hawaii, Softball & Baseball trending up, Clay Henry joins!
Big inning late lifts Razorbacks to best 25-game start to season in history
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A seven-run eighth inning, highlighted by Brent Iredale’s grand slam, powered No. 3 Arkansas (23-2, 5-1 SEC) to an 11-4 series-sweeping win against South Carolina (17-8, 1-5 SEC) Sunday at Baum-Walker Stadium.
With the win, the Hogs completed their first SEC weekend series sweep of the season and improved to 23-2 overall on the year, their best 25-game start to a season in program history.
Arkansas, which has not dropped an SEC home opening weekend series since 2015, has earned sweeps in eight of its nine consecutive SEC home opening series wins.
Led by two-hit performances from Charles Davalan (2-for-4, HR, RBI), Logan Maxwell (2-for-3), Ryder Helfrick (2-for-5, 2 HR, 2 RBI) and Justin Thomas Jr. (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI), all nine Razorback starters recorded at least one hit in Sunday’s thrashing of the Gamecocks. Iredale, who racked up a game-high five RBI, was one of three Hogs with multiple RBI.
Arkansas starter Landon Beidelschies, making his second career SEC start, turned in five innings of two-run ball with three strikeouts.
South Carolina went up 2-0 with leadoff homers in both the top of the first and second to grab an early advantage, but Beidelschies settled down with three scoreless frames to allow the Razorback offense to hit its stride.
Helfrick’s first of two solo home runs on the day came in the bottom of the second and cut Arkansas’ deficit to one before Davalan hit his second homer in as many days in the third on an opposite-field solo shot to even the game at two.
The Razorbacks took their first lead of the afternoon in the fifth, scoring a pair of runs on Iredale’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly to right and Kozeal’s RBI fielder’s choice to open a 4-2 advantage.
After South Carolina punched back with two runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game at four, Arkansas delivered the knockout blow with an seven-spot in the eighth.
After Nolan Souza drew a leadoff walk to start the inning, Thomas Jr. jacked a go-ahead two-run homer, his third blast of the season, to put the Razorbacks ahead, 6-4. Arkansas, however, did not stop at two runs.
When Davalan singled and Wehiwa Aloy walked, South Carolina opted to intentionally walk Kuhio Aloy, who went 1-for-3 with an RBI Sunday, to load the bases with one out for Iredale.
The Razorback third baseman hammered the first pitch he saw for a grand slam to break the game wide open by providing Arkansas with a comfortable 10-4 lead.
With his five-RBI performance, Iredale took over the team lead in RBI with 41. The Sydney, Australia, native, who is in his first season at Arkansas after two years at New Mexio JC, is now slashing .356/.527/.808 in 25 games on the year.
Helfrick added his second homer of the day later in the inning to extend the Hogs’ advantage to 11-4. The seven-run edge was more than enough for Arkansas’ bullpen to work with to secure the series-sweeping win.
In relief of Beidelschies, Ben Bybee (1.0 IP), Parker Coil (2.0 IP, 1 SO), who earned his second win of the season, and Carson Wiggins (1.0 IP, 2 SO) each combined to throw four scoreless innings and close out Sunday’s victory.
Up next, Arkansas will conclude its six-game homestand against Missouri State at 6 p.m. Tuesday on SEC Network+ before hitting the road next weekend at Vanderbilt.
Information from Arkansas Sports is included in this story.
Razorbacks start fast, then cruise to series-clinching win over Gamecocks
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — No. 3 Arkansas (22-1, 4-1 SEC) used an eight-run first to cruise to a 12-3 win over South Carolina (17-7, 1-4 SEC) Saturday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium and clinch its 11th consecutive SEC home weekend series.
With the win, the Razorbacks, who have secured each of their first two SEC weekend series this year, improved to 22-2 overall, marking their best 24-game start to a season since 1982 (22-1-1).
Arkansas, which has not lost an SEC home opening weekend series since 2015, also clinched its ninth consecutive SEC home opening series with Saturday’s win.
The Hogs batted around in the bottom half of the first inning, bringing 14 batters to the plate in the frame and scoring eight runs – all with two outs — on five hits, three hit batsmen, two walks and one error.
Brent Iredale’s 421-foot three-run blast, his eighth of the year, put Arkansas up, 3-0, before five more runs came across to score, including a pair on Wehiwa Aloy’s two-run double, and extend the first-inning advantage to a jaw-dropping eight.
Logan Maxwell and Kuhio Aloy, who finished 2-for-4 with two RBI, each reached base twice in the eight-run inning.
With his two-hit, two-RBI effort, Kuhio Aloy raised his team-leading slash line to .420/.510/.815 with a team-high 37 RBI.
In addition to Kuhio Aloy, Wehiwa Aloy (2-for-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI), Cam Kozeal (2-for-4) and Ryder Helfrick (3-for-5) also tallied multi-hit performances in Saturday’s series-clinching win.
Five Razorbacks, led by Iredale’s game-high three RBI, drove in multiple runs, including Charles Davalan (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) and Justin Thomas Jr. (1-for-3, 2 RBI), during the ballgame.
Despite the early run support, Razorback starter Gabe Gaeckle only lasted 1.2 innings Saturday afternoon, allowing three runs on two hits and three walks before giving way to the bullpen.
In relief, right-handers Aiden Jimenez (4.1 IP, 4 SO) and Will McEntire (1 SV, 3.0 IP, 1 SO) combined for 7.1 shutout innings with five strikeouts to secure the series win.
Ahead by five in the third, Davalan cranked a 2-1 pitch to left for his sixth homer of the season to put Arkansas up, 10-3.
The Razorback outfielder is one of three Hogs currently hitting over .400, slashing .404/.495/.628 in 24 games this year.
Kuhio Aloy’s RBI single in the fifth, and Thomas Jr.’s RBI sacrifice fly in the sixth grew the Hogs’ lead to 12-3, which would hold up until the final out.
Arkansas has scored 12 runs in each of its last four SEC games — all four of which it has won.
With a win in tomorrow’s finale, the Razorbacks can clinch their first SEC weekend series sweep of the year and their fourth weekend series sweep of the season as well as improve to 23-2 overall, which would mark their best 25-game start in program history. First pitch between Arkansas and South Carolina is scheduled for 2 p.m. on SEC Network+.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
Calipari guides Razorbacks back to Sweet 16 with 75-66 win
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — John Calipari is heading to the Sweet 16 for the 16th time, guiding the Arkansas Razorbacks past nemesis Rick Pitino and second-seeded St. John’s, 75-66, on Saturday to bring his fourth school to the NCAA tournament’s second week.
Billy Richmond III scored 16 points and Karter Knox had 15 for the 10th-seeded Razorbacks, who sent Kansas and their Hall of Fame coach Bill Self home from the “Region of Coaches” in the first round.
But the victory over his longtime rival was especially sweet for Calipari.
Zuby Ejiofor had 23 points and 12 rebounds for Big East champion St. John’s (31-5) – an unprecedented sixth school Pitino has taken to the tournament. His history in Providence – the Friars reached the 1987 Final Four in his tenure – gave him a home-court advantage.
But in a poor-shooting foulfest, Arkansas (22-13) barely did enough to eliminate St. John’s – making the Red Storm the first team seeded No. 4 or higher to exit what’s been a chalky tournament so far.
The teams combined to make four 3-pointers on 41 attempts, with St. John’s shooting 28% from the floor overall. After cutting an eight-point lead with eight minutes left to two, 62-60, the Red Storm missed their last seven 3-point attempts.
