Here are the best photos from the Hogs’ walk-off winner against Vanderbilt on Friday night.
Arkansas falls in opening SEC Tournament game to Alabama
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Redshirt senior Nicole Schroeder hit her 16th home run to break the program’s single-season home run record but the Razorbacks lost to 16th-ranked Alabama, 4-1, in Wednesday’s first round of the SEC Tournament.
Ashley Diaz registered her 13th multi-hit game of the season and Loren Krzysko extended her on-base streak to 15-straight games in the setback. Arkansas sits at 31-22 with an RPI ranking of No. 30 heading into Sunday’s Selection Show.
“(Alabama) played a good game,” coach Courtney Deifel said. “It’s always a good battle when you play Alabama, but I’m proud of my girls. I think we had some early game jitters, and I think once we settled in we really gave them a game, but it was a little too late.”
Trailing by three runs after two innings, Arkansas put together its first scoring threat in the top of the third after back-to-back singles by Katie Warrick and Ashley Diaz to lead off the frame.
After a sacrifice bunt by Shelby Hiers, the Razorbacks had runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out but Alabama (41-15) got out of the jam with a play at the plate and fly out to shallow center field. Warrick has a hit in five of her last six games played.
Autumn Storms worked her first 1-2-3 inning with a trio of ground-ball outs in the bottom of the third, and Schroeder cut into Arkansas’ deficit with a two-out solo shot to left field.
With the record-setting big fly, Schroeder broke the tie atop the program’s single-season home run list she previously shared with Jessica Bachkora (2007-10) and Devon Wallace (2012-15). With the home run, Schroeder also moved into second on the single-season list with her 48th RBI of the year.
After giving up three runs in the first, Storms steadied and held the tournament’s No. 5 seed to just one run on five hits over the next five innings.
The Crimson Tide picked up its final run with a Bailey Hemphill home run in the fourth inning. Arkansas had a runner on base in each of the last five innings including Krzysko who led off the sixth with a hit up the middle.
The redshirt junior has at least one hit in 14 of the last 17 games.
Up Next
The Razorbacks now await their NCAA fate that will be determined Sunday during the NCAA Softball Selection Show which will air at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.
Arkansas is seeking the program’s seventh NCAA Regional appearance.
Williams won’t return to Razorbacks after second neurological injury
You had the feeling when Rawleigh Williams went down in the final spring practice and didn’t bounce back up that his career with the Razorbacks might be over.
Now it is.
Per a letter posted to Arkansas’ sports website Monday morning, Williams told fans he was not going to return.
“It still doesn’t seem real yet, but I really don’t have a choice. I’ve dodged the bullet twice. I realize that at the end of the day I want to live a normal life and be around my family.”
Frankly, it was surprising to some he came back after the first injury, suffered in October 2015. That injury scared the beejesus out of everybody, including Bret Bielema.
He made it back, though. All the way back. He led the Hogs with 1,403 yards rushing last season.
Everyone was looking to bigger things this year.
“It still doesn’t seem real yet, but I really don’t have a choice. I’ve dodged the bullet twice. I realize that at the end of the day I want to live a normal life and be around my family.”
That’s pretty much the feeling the fans will have for a while.
Williams made the right decision, though. It was reported his parents didn’t want him playing after the first injury.
“The first thing I thought when it all happened was the reaction of my mom, dad, sister and brother. I didn’t want them to go through this all over again.”
As with any neurological injury, it doesn’t take as big of a hit after the first injury. Williams had been told this. He knew the risks and played all last season with that risk.
But when he basically bumped into McElvin Agim in the final practice and went down, he knew it was real.
“I’ve seen the replay. I saw a normal hit. That scared me. It shows me it doesn’t take a big hit at this point. Any little thing can trigger it. I also saw the reaction of my mom and my sister. That broke my heart. I can’t do this anymore. I want to be able to walk.”
He made the right decision.
And no one should argue with it.
Bracket breakdown: SEC Softball Tournament
SEC Network’s Peter Burns and Kayla Braud take a look at the SEC Softball Tournament bracket.
Razorbacks open play in SEC Softball Tournament against Tide
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ return to postseason play begins Wednesday against Alabama in the first round of the SEC Tournament in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The 5-12 matchup will serve as the opening game of the tournament with first pitch set for 11 a.m. at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium, home of the Tennessee Volunteers.
The game will be televised on the SEC Network and streamed live through the WatchESPN app.
Arkansas is making the program’s 10th overall appearance at the SEC Tournament and first since the 2013 season. Under second-year coach Courtney Deifel, the Razorbacks closed out the regular season with a 31-21 record which marks a 14-game improvement from last year’s mark.
Arkansas’ seven conference wins this season equals the team’s combined efforts from the previous three seasons.
The Razorbacks secured their spot in the SEC Tournament with a 6-2 win over Georgia in Friday’s series opener.
Through its regular-season schedule, Arkansas launched an SEC-leading 56 home runs which currently stands as the fifth-highest total in program history heading into Wednesday’s game against Alabama.
Razorbacks fall in regular-season finale against Georgia
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas closed out its regular season with a 10-0 loss to Georgia Sunday afternoon at Bogle Park.
A.J. Belans tallied her team-leading 12th double of the season and Loren Krzysko extended her on-base streak to 14-consecutive games.
The Razorbacks will enter next week’s SEC Tournament with a 31-21 overall record under second-year coach Courtney Deifel, a 14-game improvement from last season.
Prior to Sunday’s game, Arkansas celebrated its senior and graduating class of Parker Pocklington, Marley Harmon, Betina Beringhele, Grace Moll, Stephanie Canfield, Kylie Smith, Shelby Hiers, Nicole Schroeder and manager Katie Magness. The team also recognized its opponent with a flower for Georgia’s seniors.
Trailing 3-0 through four and a half, the Razorbacks put together their first scoring threat of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. Madison Yannetti drew a one-out walk, and after a Georgia error at shortstop, the home team had runners on second and third with one out.
However, the would-be rally was cut short with a fly out to right field and ground ball to short. Prior to the fifth, Arkansas’ lone base runner came courtesy of a walk to Ashley Diaz in the third frame.
Georgia (33-21, 6-18 SEC) added two more runs in the top of the sixth to push its advantage to 5-0. The Razorbacks looked to respond with another rally in the home half of the inning that started with a walk to Krzysko.
On the first offering in her at-bat against reliever Kylie Bass, Belans lined a double to left center for Arkansas’ first hit of the game and to put two runners in scoring position for a second-straight inning. The visitors got out of the jam with a fly ball to right field.
The Bulldogs tacked on five more runs in the top of the seventh inning to cushion its lead. Sunday’s finale marked the first time Arkansas has given up double-digit runs this season.
Cortni Emanuel paced Georgia’s offense with three hits and two runs scored in the game.
Up Next
With a win in Friday’s series opener against Georgia, the Razorbacks secured a spot in next week’s SEC Tournament which begins Wednesday in Knoxville, Tenn.
Seeding and game information will be announced following the day’s slate of league games.
In addition to online coverage, the first two rounds of the SEC Tournament will be televised on the SEC Network with the semifinals and final airing on ESPNU and ESPN, respectively.
Fletcher, Stephan lift Arkansas to split doubleheader with Vols
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Freshman Dominic Fletcher’s solo home run in the fifth inning was all Arkansas needed to split a double-header with Tennessee Saturday afternoon.
His homer, coupled with a great performance on the mound by junior Trevor Stephan, gave Arkansas the 2-0 victory in seven innings over the Volunteers, its 14th conference win of the year.
Stephan was locked in from first pitch striking out the side in the first and third innings. He ended up tallying 11 strikeouts over a complete seven innings, his third outing of 10 or more strikeouts this season, joining Blaine Knight with three outings of 10+ strikeouts this year.
It’s also the first complete game shutout by a Razorback pitcher this year and first since Zach Jackson pitched a complete game shutout in seven innings at Kentucky on April 23, 2016.
As for Fletcher, the freshman was nearly unstoppable at the plate in both games of the double-header, going 5-for-7 at the plate with two home runs on the day.
He now has eight homers on the year, which leads all freshmen in the SEC.
The victory for the Hogs is key for them to stay in the hunt for the SEC Western Division as their 14 conference wins keeps them just a game and a half back of leader Mississippi State and just a half game behind second-place Auburn.
Game 1: Tennessee 5, Arkansas 4 (Box Score)
A fielding error by Chad Spanberger in the sixth inning allowed the go-ahead runs to score for Tennessee and ended up being the difference as the Volunteers won the recently suspended game, 5-4, in nine innings.
The lead changed hands three times with Arkansas holding the advantage on two separate occasions.
However, once starting pitcher Blaine Knight was taken out of the game, sophomore Jake Reindl was brought in to try and continue the success that Knight had going.
Two runners reached for Tennessee before the one-out error allowed the two runs to come home unearned.
Fletcher provided much of the offense for the Hogs after going 3-for-4, including a home run in the sixth.
At the time, his homer put the Hogs ahead 4-3, but was the last time Arkansas could push a run across over the final four innings.
The three-hit game breaks Fletcher out of a 2-for-15 (.133) slump he had coming in dating back to the second game of the Auburn series (April 22). It was also his first home run since March 26 against Missouri.
The series opener began on Thursday before the rains moved through the Knoxville area all Thursday night and through Friday. The game finally resumed Saturday morning at 9 a.m. CT, more than 36 hours after it was suspended.
Arkansas had the early 1-0 lead thanks to the base-running of Jared Gates on Thursday after he reached on a one-out single. He, then, moved around the bases on a wild pitch and a failed pick off by Tennessee pitcher Hunter Martin before scoring on, yet, another wild pitch.
Upon resuming the game two days later, neither team made a change to its lineup, including bringing back both starting pitchers. After a hitless first inning Thursday, Knight returned to the mound for the Razorbacks, but had trouble early on. Three runs scored for the Volunteers in the second inning off Knight, two from a double by Jeff Moberg.
Knight was able to settle in, however, retiring nine of the final 10 batters he faced over the third through fifth innings and the Hog offense did its job to tie the game with two runs in the fifth and re-take the lead with a lone run in the sixth.
It ended up being a good five innings of work for Knight, allowing just three runs, all in the second inning. It was his second straight start of five innings or more, but he wound up with the no-decision after the bullpen couldn’t hold the one-run lead in the sixth.
Game 2: Arkansas 2, Tennessee 0 (Box Score)
After fighting through the rain over three straight days, the Hogs and Vols finally caught a break in the second game of the double-header Saturday as the weather finally subsided for the first time all weekend.
Stephan did everything he could to make sure the Hogs got a quality outing from its starting pitching, especially with the good weather.
The seven innings was the junior’s longest outing since going seven strong against LSU back on April 8, where he only gave up two runs on five hits, while striking out seven.
The shutout with one hit allowed and 11 strikeouts marked his best overall outing since going 8.1 innings against Rhode Island on March 10, where he struck out 13 batters and only gave up two hits.
Only four batters combined between both teams reached base in the first four innings. However, Fletcher changed all of that with his monstrous home run over the right field wall in the fifth to light up the scoreboard and give the Razorbacks the 1-0 lead.
Arkansas got an insurance run in the top of the seventh after Carson Shaddy doubled to lead off the inning. He was later brought around to score on an Eric Cole single up the middle. It was Cole’s only hit of the game and Shaddy finished 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Up Next
Arkansas gets back to Baum Stadium next week for its final regular-season series of the 2017 season when it welcomes Vanderbilt for a three-game set starting on Friday, May 12 at 6 p.m. on the SEC Network.
It will be Senior Weekend for Razorback seniors Alex Gosser, Josh Alberius, Dominic Taccolini, Jake Arledge, and Cannon Chadwick. All seniors will be honored prior to the series finale on May 14.
Late game efforts not enough as Hogs fall to Bulldogs
FAYETTEVILLE — After a quiet start to the game and shortened scoring threats in the sixth and seventh innings, Arkansas dropped a 6-2 decision to Georgia on Saturday afternoon at Bogle Park in front of a record crowd.
Loren Krzysko pushed her hitting streak to nine games to continue her strong finish to the regular season. With the setback, Arkansas is now 31-20 overall with a 7-16 mark in SEC play.
Saturday’s game was played in front of 2,023 fans, the largest home crowd in program history which marked the first time eclipsing the 2,000 mark in a home game.
Overall, four of the top-seven attendance figures have been established this year including Friday’s crowd of 1,228 which now stands at No. 7 on Arkansas’ all-time list.
Georgia (32-21, 5-18 SEC) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after scoring a pair of unearned runs off freshman starter Caroline Hedgcock.
An RBI double by Alyssa DiCarlo in the third inning pushed the visitor’s advantage to three, and forced a pitching change to Katie Warrick who retired the first five hitters she faced.
The Razorbacks’ offense was held in check early by Georgia starter Brittany Gray who only allowed one baserunner through three, a first-inning walk to Tori Cooper.
With two outs in the fourth, A.J. Belans collected Arkansas’ first hit with a line-drive single to left field but was left stranded at first. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs scored three runs over the fifth and sixth innings to take a 6-0 lead on the scoreboard. Lacey Sumerlin had the big hit with a two-run shot in the sixth.
With her team facing a six-run deficit, Warrick got things started in the bottom of the sixth with a single to center field. After a fielder’s choice, Autumn Russell stood on first base when Krzysko stepped to the plate.
The Barrington, Ill., native drove a pitch to the right-center gap for an RBI triple which allowed Russell to score from first and put Arkansas on the board.
In addition to her nine-game hitting streak, Krzysko has reached base safely in 13 straight. She eventually scored on an errant throw to first to cut Georgia’s lead to four.
Grace Moll, who entered the game to get the final three outs of the sixth, worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning to get the offense right back to the plate.
With the help of two Georgia errors, the Razorbacks had runners on first and third but were down to their final out. The game ended in the next at-bat with a low pop up back to the pitcher.
Up Next
Sunday’s regular-season finale between Arkansas and Georgia is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start at Bogle Park and will be streamed on SEC Network+ which is also available through the WatchESPN app.
Prior to the game, the Razorbacks will recognize their senior class.
General admission is free for all home games with gates opening one hour prior to first pitch.
