Defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads after Saturday’s practice
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Paul Rhoads on position changes, takeaways from Saturday and more.
Outside linebackers coach Chad Walker following Hogs’ practice
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Chad Walker on Karl Roesler, Michael Taylor, Randy Ramsey and more.
Strong pitching paces Arkansas in win to even Auburn series
AUBURN, Ala. — Arkansas came from behind Saturday afternoon, defeating 10th-ranked Auburn, 7-3, at Plainsman Park.
After trailing 3-0 after the first two innings, a Jared Gates homer and a strong bullpen led the Hogs to their 12th conference victory of the year and forced a rubber match for the series on Sunday.
Razorback starting pitcher Trevor Stephan labored through 1.1 innings and was relieved early in the game after the Tigers (29-12, 11-6 SEC) struck for three runs.
However, Arkansas (32-9, 12-5 SEC) answered with three runs of their own in the third inning, two from a home run by Gates and two more in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Dominic Fletcher.
The bullpen responded with seven-straight scoreless frames to finish as the Tigers had no answer for the combination of Cannon Chadwick, Evan Lee, and Jake Reindl.
Gates finished the game just 1-for-5 with two RBIs, but had the all-important homer that tied the game at 3-3.
Luke Bonfield and Eric Cole each turned in two-hit days. It’s the second multi-hit performance for Bonfield in the series and ninth for Cole this season.
Chadwick picked up the win for the Razorbacks after throwing 4.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
It’s his longest outing of his career and his fourth win of the season. Sophomore Jake Reindl picked up the three-inning save, his first of his career.
Reindl shut the door in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings, striking out a career-high six batters and only allowed three baserunners.
In four of his last seven outings, the sophomore has racked up four or more strikeouts and has only given up one earned run in five conference appearances.
Moments That Mattered
Auburn chased Stephan in the middle of the second inning after jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Stephan battled through the first on 21 pitches and then reached 50 pitches before being pulled, tying for his shortest start of the year.
But, the Hogs swung their way back in it in the third when Bonfield skied a deep fly ball to centerfield for the sacrifice fly to score Jake Arledge, his 38th RBI of the year.
In the next at-bat, Gates mashed a two-run homer over the right field wall, tying the game at 3-3. For Gates, it was his third home run of the year and Arkansas’ first long ball of the series.
With the game tied and Stephan already taken out of the game, the Razorbacks needed strong innings out of their bullpen, and that started with Cannon Chadwick. The senior entered the game in the middle of the second inning and threw over four scoreless innings, his longest outing of his career.
He ran into trouble though in the sixth after hitting three batters to load the bases, but corralled two outs in the process.That’s when Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn decided to go to the bullpen and bring in the freshman Evan Lee. Lee faced Auburn’s lead-off batter Jonah Todd and got him to strike out swinging on four pitches, leaving the bases loaded and killing the Auburn rally.
Arkansas took its first lead of the series in the sixth by taking advantage of some control issues from Auburn pitcher Andrew Mitchell. The hurler walked the first three batters faced, giving Dominic Fletcher the opportunity to get a sacrifice fly. Fletcher did the job by sending a ball deep to right field, scoring Grant Koch and giving the Hogs the 4-3 lead. It was Fletcher’s only RBI of the game and the Hogs never lost the lead for the remainder of the game.
Lee only faced one batter in the seventh before Arkansas went to the bullpen again, bringing in Reindl. Reindl was masterful for the final three innings, striking out a career-high six and allowing only three baserunners the rest of the way.
Razorback Quotables
“This team has a lot of good chemistry and it’s genuine. They believed we could win and just kept fighting. Before you know it, it’s tied up. It just says that we’re pretty tough minded and they’ll fight to the end.” — Van Horn after his team’s bounce-back win
“The bullpen just mixed and matched today. When we brought (Evan) Lee in to face the lefty, we said ‘we need to find something out about him on the mound.’ We’ve been telling him this is his role and he came in and did the job.” — Van Horn on Evan Lee getting a key strikeout in the sixth
“Obviously, it was the biggest swing of the game. I thought Jake Arledge started that inning off and had a great at-bat. He took a full count, fouled off a pitch or two and got the walk. We got the sacrifice fly and then the big two-run homer. We definitely felt like the momentum was on our side of the diamond after that.” — Van Horn on Jared Gates’ game-tying home run
Up Next
Arkansas and Auburn will play the rubber match of this three-game series on Sunday at Plainsman Park. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. and will be televised on the SEC Network.
Phil Elson will also be calling the game on the radio for the Razorback Sports Network.
Razorbacks set new 4×100 record at ‘McDonnell’ on Saturday
FAYETTEVILLE — Taking on cold conditions that featured a light mist throughout the day, Arkansas turned in a strong day on its home track at the John McDonnell Invitation Saturday, highlighted by a record-breaking performance in the 4-x-100 meter relay.
Record-Breaking Performance
The 4-x-100 meter squad of Daina Harper, Payton Stumbaugh, Taliyah Brooks and Kiara Parker were first on the track and got things started in a big way by setting a new program and meet record despite the conditions with a time of 43.75. That mark broke the school record of 43.84 set by the 2004 squad that included eight-time Olympic medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown and Olympic performer LaShauntea Moore. The 43.75 is currently good for eighth-best in the nation and third in the NCAA West Region.
What A Day
The anchor of Arkansas’ record-breaking 4-x-100 relay squad, sophomore Kiara Parker turned in a big day with wins in the 100 and 200-meter races. Parker posted a 100-meter time of the day at 11.32, good for ninth-best in the NCAA West Region. Parker has won the 100 in each of the three outdoor meets so far this season and has improved her time each time. Just over an hour later, Parker took the track in the 200 and produced a time of 23.39, which is currently firmly inside the NCAA West Region top 40.
Stumbaugh Sets Season-Best
Another member of the 4-x-100 squad, junior Payton Stumbaugh set a season-best with a time of 13.12 in the 100-meter hurdles. Stumbaugh’s time is currently tied for 11th nationally and sixth in the NCAA West Region.
Birch Makes Big Move
Entering the weekend 81st nationally in the 400-meter hurdles, sophomore Damajahnee Birch used a time of 57.79 to move up over 60 spots. Birch’s time was 2.30 seconds faster than her first run of the year in the 400 hurdles just two weeks ago at the Baylor Invitational. She now ranks 16th nationally and sixth in the NCAA West Region.
Notables
• Sophomore Tori Weeks won the pole vault for the first time in her outdoor career.
• Freshman Jada Baylark worked her way into the top 40 of the NCAA West Region in the 200 meters (11.54).
• Arkansas had five of the top six finishers in the 200 meters.
• Sophomore Ceara Watson was victorious in the 800 meters.
• Sophomore Sydney Brown and freshman Maddy Reed each set new personal bests in the 1,500 meters to finishing second and third, respectively, behind five-time NCAA champ Dominique Scott.
Up Next
Arkansas will return to action next weekend at the inaugural SEC Relays held at Bernie Moore Track Stadium on the campus of LSU.
John McDonnell Invitational
April 22, 2017
John McDonnell Field (Fayetteville, Arkansas)
100 Meters
1. Kiara Parker – 11.32
3. Jada Baylark – 11.54
7. Tamara Kuykendall – 12.01
11. Kaylee McCarthy – 12.70
200 Meters
1. Kiara Parker – 23.39
2. Daina Harper – 23.54
4. Jada Baylark – 23.78
5. Payton Stumbaugh – 23.80
6. Sunkietra McCallister – 23.99
8. Tamara Kuykendall – 24.53
11. Taliyah Brooks – 25.20
15. Kaylee McCarthy – 25.75
400 Meters
2. Sunkietra McCallister – 55.28
3. Alex Byrnes – 55.34
4. Sydney Hammit – 55.49
15. Jada Pollard – 1:00.48
800 Meters
1. Ceara Watson – 2:08.82
4. Kailee Sawyer – 2:11.66
13. Madison Cooley – 2:21.94
14. Autumn Sehy – 2:22.38
1,500 Meters
2. Sydney Brown – 4:22.12
3. Maddy Reed – 4:24.76
4. Abby Gray – 4:25.32
7. Regan Ward – 4:27.87
8. Valerie Reina – 4:38.63
3,000 Meters
1. Carina Viljoen – 9:32.86
2. Rachel Nichwitz – 9:49.20
3. Valerie Reina – 10:05.39
6. Grace Taylor – 10:22.85
100 Meter Hurdles
1. Payton Stumbaugh – 13.12
400 Meter Hurdles
1. Damajahnee Birch – 57.79
4-x-100 Meter Relay
1. Brooks, Stumbaugh, Harper, Parker – 43.75
4-x-400 Meter Relay
3. Parker, Hammit, McCallister, Byrnes – 3:44.12
High Jump
5. Carmen Sitz – 1.55m/5-1
Pole Vault
1. Tori Weeks – 4.05m/13-3 1/2
5. Rylee Robinson – 3.50m/11-5 3/4
6. Madeline Telford – 3.50m/11-5 3/4
Long Jump
1. Taliyah Brooks – 6.39m/20-11 3/4
Heptathlon
1. Kelsey Herman – 3,446 points
1. 100H – 13.75 (1,014)
1. High Jump – 5-8 (891)
2. Shot Put – 37-3 3/4 (619)
1. 200m = 24.62 (922)
2. Ashlee Moore – 3,166 points
2. 100H – 14.01 (977)
2. High Jump – 5-5 3/4 (818)
3. Shot Put – 36-5 1/2 (602)
2. 200m – 26.32 (769)
Running backs coach Michael Smith following Razorbacks’ drills
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Running backs coach Michael Smith on Brandon Martin and Jordan Jones working with the first team, Jared Cornelius’ status and more following practice Saturday.
Hogs make history in third round of SEC Championship with 12-under score
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Arkansas made history Saturday in the third round of the SEC Championship, posting a 12-under 268 to record the team’s best round in the last 14 years and finish play at Sea Island Golf Club.
Not only did the Razorbacks rewrite their own record book with the best round in 14 years, but Arkansas also recorded the third best single-round score in the 53-year history of the SEC Championship. The Saturday 12-under 268 was three shots better than Vanderbilt for the best round of the day.
“I’m really proud of our guys for bouncing back with a great round today,” said head coach Brad McMakin. “We came out firing right out of the gates and played one of the best rounds in recent history. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into NCAA Regionals.”
Freshman Mason Overstreet played well beyond his years with a final round 4-under 66 to post his best round of the season and finish T-13th overall at even par for the championship. He made the turn and rolled in three consecutive birdies before closing the round with six straight pars.
Junior Alvaro Ortiz got things going early when he birdied five of the first seven holes and finished the day with a 5-under 65 and his best round of the year to finish T-43rd at 8-over.
Freshman Luis Garza signed for the only flawless card of the day with three birdies on the front side and two more on the back nine to finish with a bogey-free 5-under 65. He recorded a T-41st finish in his first SEC Championship.
Sophomore Charles Kim bogeyed his first hole of the day, but went on to shoot 1-under over the next 15 holes and finished with a 2-over 72 to finish T-53rd overall. Dylan Naidoo rounded out the team with a 9-over 79 to finish alone in 68th place.
Arkansas finished the tournament in 12th place at 19-over and missed the cut to match play by seven strokes.
The Razorbacks will learn their NCAA Regional destination Thursday, May 4 when the field is announced at noon CT on the Golf Channel.
For more information on Arkansas men’s golf, follow @RazorbackMGolf on Twitter.
Razorback Lineup Day 2 Results
T13. Mason Overstreet — 74-70-66-210 (E)
T41. Luis Garza — 80-72-65 — 217 (+7)
T43. Alvaro Ortiz — 75-78-65 — 218 (+8)
T53. Charles Kim — 72-77-72 — 221 (+11)
68. Dylan Naidoo — 78-73-79 — 230 (+20)
SEC Championship Day 2 Team Results
1. No. 4 Vanderbilt — 276-281-272 – 829 (-11)
2. No. 14 Texas A&M — 273-282-280 – 835 (-5)
3. No. 7 LSU — 278-284-275 – 837 (-3)
4. No. 6 Florida — 269-289-280 – 838 (-2)
5. No. 32 South Carolina — 283-286-289 – 845 (+9)
6. No. 37 Alabama — 275-288-288 – 847 (+11)
T7. No. 23 Ole Miss — 282-290-280 – 852 (+12)
T7. No. 26 Missouri — 284-279-289 – 852 (+12)
T9. No. 24 Georgia — 291-289-276 – 856 (+16)
T9. No. 20 Auburn — 278-287-291 – 856 (+16)
11. No. 39 Kentucky — 292-289-276 – 857 (+17)
12. No. 29 Arkansas — 299-292-268 – 859 (+19)
13. Tennessee — 301-294-279 – 874 (+34)
14. Mississippi State — 298-298-281 – 877 (+37)
Hogs’ offensive coordinator Dan Enos on last week’s scrimmage
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Dan Enos on last week’s scrimmage, the backup QB race, areas for Austin Allen to improve and more.
Auburn ends Razorbacks’ hot streak with 15-2 win to start series
AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn scored five runs in the first inning, eight in the third and two more in the fifth to run away with the opening game of the three-game series with Arkansas on Friday night at Plainsman Park, winning 15-2.
Razorback starting pitcher Blaine Knight struggled from the onset allowing five of his career-high eight earned runs in the opening inning. It all started with a Jay Estes RBI double down the left field line and then a two-run home run from Daniel Robert to make it 3-0. Three batters later, Josh Anthony singled to left to score two more for the Tigers.
Knight battled through 2.1 innings, his shortest outing of the season and struck out one, walking four. It’s his first loss in six outings and first in conference play. Knight had garnered the win in five-straight outings against SEC teams before Friday’s loss snapped that streak.
Before facing Auburn, Knight had five quality starts in a row, while striking out five or more batters each time, and he was one of two starting pitchers with a sub-2.00 ERA against league opponents.
At the plate, Arkansas managed nine hits in the game, four coming in the third inning, which was when the Hogs scored their only runs. Junior Luke Bonfield turned in a 2-for-5 game, his team-leading 17th multi-hit game of the year. Junior Chad Spanberger suffered an 0-for-5 night, snapping his career-long 12-game hitting streak.
Auburn got three more runs off Knight before Arkansas went to the bullpen, bringing in sophomore Weston Rogers. Rogers couldn’t do much on the mound, walking two batters in a row, which forced another pitching change.
Freshman Angus Denton entered the game in the middle of the third and finished the final 5.2 innings for the Hogs. Even though the Tigers scored five runs off the righty, Denton was able to save the Hogs bullpen for the remainder of the series, as his outing was his longest of the year and he finished with a season-high five strikeouts.
The Hogs tried to battle back in the third when they scored two runs on Carson Shaddy and Eric Cole singles to make it 5-2. However, the Razorbacks only notched three hits for the remainder of the game.
Auburn starting pitcher Keegan Thompson earned his fifth victory of the year after throwing six innings and striking out seven, while only allowing the two Arkansas runs.
Up Next
Arkansas and Auburn will face off in game two of this series starting at 1 p.m. Saturday at Plainsman Park. The game will be available on SEC Network+ and can be heard on the Razorback Sports Network.
