Phil and Matt discuss the two outstanding performances from Smith and Battle over the weekend + NFL Draft talk
The Gimme the HAWGS Chuck Podcast E198 – Battle and Smith… the stars from the weekend
Presented by Weichert Realtors – The Griffin Company
WATCH: Halftime is LIVE. Hogs take 2 of 3 in Arlington, Battle drops 42 in win over Missouri
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Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Smith’s 17 K’s through 6 innings set Arkansas record on Friday
Hogs beat Mizzou behind Battle’s 42 points, Diamond Hogs take 2 of 3 in Arlington
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Razorbacks watch Vandy pull away to win Sunday afternoon
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas fell to Vanderbilt, 62-53, on Pack for Mak to honor Makayla Daniels’ Senior Day. The Razorbacks came within two points with 7:50 to play, but the Commodores closed out the game.
Daniels wasn’t around at the end after being ejected after picking up her second technical in the second half. Samara Spencer led the game with 19 points, while playing all 40 minutes.
Both teams came up empty on their first pair of possessions until Spencer found Karley Johnson who nailed a trey. The Commodores answered with a 6-0 run, while the Hogs were in a scoring drought for four minutes. At the media timeout taken at the 4:42 mark, Vanderbilt led, 6-3. Out of the break, Daniels nailed a 3-pointer off a turnover to tie the game, and then Spencer drove to the basket for two.
Vanderbilt took a timeout, as Arkansas was ahead 8-6 with 3:12 left in the first quarter. Vanderbilt broke their nearly four-minute drought by knocking down three free throws and a 3-pointer, and Carly Keats broke the Hogs’ two-minute drought with a mid-range jumper. At the end of the first quarter, Vanderbilt led, 12-10.
The Commodores scored first in the second quarter, as the Hogs had turnovers on back-to-back possessions. Spencer and Keats then made a layups to tie the game back up, and after a Spencer jumper, the Commodores called a timeout, as Arkansas was on a 7-0 run and led 17-14 with 5:22 left in the second quarter. Out of the timeout, Vandy made back-to-back 3-pointers to retake the lead.
After being in a two-minutes drought after the break, Spencer tied the game at 20 with a triple. The Commodores then went on a 4-0 run, and after Vandy forced a turnover, Saylor Poffenbarger was able to quickly get the ball back, and with one second left, she made just about a three-quarters court shot at the buzzer, as Vandy led, 24-23 at the half.
Maryam Dauda opened the second half with a 3-pointer on Arkansas’ second possession, but that was the only field goal the Hogs could have for over six minutes, as Vandy went on a 14-2 run. Arkansas called a timeout, as Vandy had its largest lead of the game, 38-28, with 2:49 left in the third quarter. Spencer ended the drought without a field goal with a layup. Daniels then came up with a layup and got fouled in the process, and Keats made the free throw to convert the 3-point play. Keats made a 3-pointer, but Vandy quickly answered with a 3-point play. At the end of the third quarter, Vandy led 48-39.
Spencer made a layup to start the fourth quarter and then converted a 3-point play after being fouled on a layup to cut the deficit to four. After Emrie Ellis made two free throws out of the media timeout, Vandy led 48-46 with 7:50 left in the game. After Vandy made their first basket of the fourth quarter, Johnson answered with a tough layup as time on the shot clock expired. Vandy then made back-to-back baskets, and with 5:05 left in the game, the Hogs trailed, 56-50. Keats then delivered a stepback 3-pointer to cut the deficit to three, but the Hogs couldn’t score for the rest of the game, as Vandy went on to hold on, 62-53.
Hogs Game Notes
• Spencer led the team with 19 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. She is now No. 18 on the all-time scoring list with 1,322 points
• Keats delivered 13 points after playing 30 minutes off the bench. She was 2-of-3 beyond the arc, while adding one rebound and one steal
• Johnson logged seven points, three rebounds and one steal
• Poffenbarger registered four points, 12 rebounds and three steals. She broke the single-season defensive rebound record at Arkansas, now with 276 on the season
• In just 27 minutes, Daniels had five points, two assists and one steal. She now is in sole possession of third in career steals with 240
Next Game
The Hogs will host No. 1/1 South Carolina on Thursday, Feb. 29 at 8 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena. Thursday’s game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
Molina’s 10 strikeouts lifts Razorbacks over Michigan
ARLINGTON, Texas — Mason Molina spun five no-hit innings with a season-high 10 strikeout to lead No. 2 Arkansas (5-2) to a 4-3 win against Michigan (2-5) on Sunday afternoon in the Kubota College Baseball Series finale at Globe Life Field.
Thanks to their two-win showing over the weekend in Arlington, Texas, the Razorbacks are off to a 5-2 start or better through their first seven games of the campaign for the 22nd consecutive season under head coach Dave Van Horn.
Molina, who was making his return to the state of Texas for the first time since transferring to Arkansas from Texas Tech during the offseason, did not allow a hit and struck out 10 over his five scoreless frames against the Wolverines. The left-hander, who issued one walk and hit a batter, extended the scoreless innings streak by Razorback starting pitchers with his strong performance on the mound.
Since allowing two runs against James Madison on Feb. 18, Arkansas starters Colin Fisher (six scoreless against JMU on Feb. 19), Hagen Smith (six scoreless vs. No. 7 Oregon State on Feb. 23), Brady Tygart (six scoreless vs. Oklahoma State on Feb. 24) and Molina (five scoreless vs. Michigan on Feb. 25) have combined for 22 consecutive shutout innings.
Overall, Molina’s dominant outing in the Hogs’ finale at Globe Life Field capped what was a historic weekend of legendary performances by the Arkansas pitching staff. Razorback pitchers allowed just six earned runs on 19 hits over 31.1 innings of work in Arlington, striking out 59 in total while walking only 10 across three games.
Arkansas recorded a school-record 23 strikeouts in their 5-4 win over Oregon State on Friday night before breaking that record with a 25-strikeout effort during their 2-1 loss in 14 innings to Oklahoma State on Saturday. Individually, Smith stole the show with his program record-tying 17 strikeouts against the nationally ranked Beavers.
In Sunday’s win against Michigan, Ben McLaughlin’s RBI double in the top of the first gave Molina and the Razorbacks an early advantage. The Arkansas offense brought home two more runs in the fourth inning when Will Edmunson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded before Kendall Diggs’ bases-loaded walk extended the Hogs’ lead to 3-0.
Arkansas pushed its lead to four in the top of the seventh inning, scoring a run on a throwing error by the Wolverines.
Molina departed the game after 81 pitches over five no-hit innings of work, turning the ball over to Will McEntire, who carried the no-hitter into the seventh. A two-out double by Michigan’s Cole Caruso in the bottom of the frame broke up the Hogs’ nine-inning combined no-hitter bid, which they last accomplished against Oklahoma State on Feb. 11, 2006.
Michigan would score its first run of the ballgame in the eighth before tacking on two more in the ninth, taking advantage of multiple Arkansas defensive miscues. The Razorbacks committed four errors in the game, their most since committing four against UAPB on April 14, 2021.
Koty Frank, however, overcame the defensive lapses to lock down Arkansas’ 4-3 win. The veteran right-hander allowed two runs (one earned) and struck out one to secure his second save of the season.
The Razorbacks return to action inside the friendly confines of Baum-Walker Stadium on Tuesday, Feb. 27. First pitch between Arkansas and Grambling is scheduled for 3 p.m. on SEC Network+.
Brady Tygart, bullpen set program record, but Hogs come up short against OSU
ARLINGTON, Texas — No. 2 Arkansas roke a single-game program record for strikeouts for the second night in a row but lost, 2-1, in an extra-inning heartbreaker against Oklahoma State (4-2) Saturday night at Globe Life Field.
In front of a crowd of 16,271, the Razorbacks and Cowboys battled it out for 14 innings, marking the longest game ever played — collegiate or professional — at the home of the Texas Rangers, which opened in 2020.
The Arkansas pitching staff, which racked up 23 strikeouts in last night’s win against No. 7 Oregon State to break the previous program record of 18, tallied 25 strikeouts in Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma State to eclipse Friday’s record.
Right-hander Brady Tygart struck out six in his quality start, while relievers Koty Frank (5), Stone Hewlett (1), Jake Faherty (1), Gabe Gaeckle (6) and Colin Fisher (6) combined for the Razorbacks’ next 19 strikeouts of the ballgame.
Tygart fanned six over six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and two walks in his strong start on the mound. Frank took over for Tygart in the seventh and worked 1.2 innings in relief, recording all five of his outs via strikeout.
A pair of true freshmen in Gaeckle and Fisher also displayed dominant stuff on the mound. Gaeckle punched out six in his 2.2 shutout relief innings, while Fisher, who took the hard-luck loss, struck out six in his 2.1 innings of relief work.
Oklahoma State, however, would outlast Arkansas’ historic pitching performance. Nine-hole hitter Lane Forsythe laid down a suicide squeeze bunt on an 0-2 pitch in the bottom of the 14th inning to bring home the game-winning run from third.
The Razorbacks stranded 15 base runners, including Ty Wilmsmeyer at third in the ninth inning and Jayson Jones at third in the 13th. Arkansas finished the ballgame 2-for-24 with runners on base and 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
Jared Sprague-Lott had three of Arkansas’ eight hits, including a pair of doubles, while Kendall Diggs had two base knocks and the team’s lone RBI of the game. Diggs’ RBI single to right in the top of the fifth scored Sprague-Lott from third, giving Arkansas its only run and lead of the night. The Hogs led, 1-0, until the bottom of the ninth when the Cowboys scored one to send the game to extra innings.
Arkansas closes out the Kubota College Baseball Series tomorrow afternoon against Michigan. First pitch between the Razorbacks and Wolverines is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25, on FloBaseball.
Hogs’ Eric Musselman quickly getting ready for Vanderbilt game
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach Eric Musselman has no plans to celebrate Khalif Battles’ 42-point effort in an 88-73 win Saturday afternoon for even 24 minutes. He sounded ready to get home with the family out of town for his daughter’s dance event in Branson, Mo., to he’s starting to get ready for Vanderbilt. That’s just the way he is.
“I watched the Florida game just now before I came in here and before I did radio,” he said after the game. “I’ve got a lot of time with no distractions. Dogs are at Hounds Lounge. Danyelle and Mariah are in Branson. So zero distractions for me not to be ready to rock and roll on Tuesday.” None of that was particularly surprising.
Make no doubt, he recognized Battle shattering his previous career high by scoring 42 points for a season sweep over the Tigers and their career scoring night by Sean East, but he’s got the Razorbacks on a roll now with two straight wins. It could easily be three, but he’s not going to incur any SEC fines talking about how officials’ calls. The Commodores are coming up.
Battle topped his 32-point best mark with a pair of free throws with 7:27 left and followed it with a four-point play. He finished shooting 11 of 15 from the field, including 6 of 10 from beyond the arc, and 14 of 14 from the free-throw line.
“This is the best because it’s on the big stage,” Battle said. “This is the SEC and no game is easy. To be able to put 42 up and get the win and get the home crowd — there’s nothing better than this right here.”
East reached his career-best mark without attempting a 3-pointer, hitting 9 of 14 from the field and 15 of 16 from the free-throw line, easily topping his previous career mark of 25 set last week against Ole Miss.
Connor Vanover dunked with 11:04 left to pull Missouri even at 50-50 and Nick Honor hit two free throws a minute later keep the Tigers within one, 53-52, but Battle hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start a 14-5 run to give the Razorbacks a 67-57 lead with more than five minutes left.
Arkansas (14-13, 5-9 SEC) was 25 of 52 from the field (48.1%), including 10 of 25 (40%) from distance. Makhi Mitchell had 13 points, six rebounds and three assists and Tramon Mark added 10 points, seven boards and three assists.
Honor finished with 14 points for Missouri and Tamar Bates went 6-for-6 from the free throw line to add 11.
Missouri (8-19) remains winless through 14 SEC games, has lost eight of its last 10 games with the Razorbacks and is 2-10 in games played in Fayetteville.
Arkansas plays host to Vanderbilt on Tuesday at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network. You can also hear the game at HitThatLine and on ESPN Arkansas 99.5 in Fayetteville, 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
Smith’s legendary performance on mound paces Hogs past Beavers
ARLINGTON, Texas — Hagen Smith turned in one of the most legendary pitching performances in school history, tying a single-game program record with 17 strikeouts to lead No. 2 Arkansas (4-1) to a memorable 5-4 win over No. 7 Oregon State (5-1) on Friday night in the Kubota College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field.
The left-hander needed only 18 outs and 78 pitches, including 59 strikes, to tie the Hogs’ single-game strikeout record, which had stood for nearly 17 years. It was held by Jess Todd, who struck out 17 South Carolina batters in 118 pitches over eight innings during Arkansas’ 6-0 win over the Gamecocks on May 24, 2007, in the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala.
Smith, who tossed six scoreless innings while working around just three hits and one walk in the outing, recorded 15 consecutive outs via strikeout to begin the ballgame. The Bullard, Texas, native tied the program’s single-game strikeout record with the final out of the sixth inning, as he punched out Oregon State’s Gavin Turley looking on a 2-2 slider.
17 of the 18 total outs that Smith recorded came via strikeout, and he racked up 15 of his 17 strikeouts using his slider. Smith fanned Oregon State star leadoff hitter Travis Bazzana three times on the night, as the Razorback pitching staff’s 23 total strikeouts in the ballgame broke the program record of 18 set multiple times, including three times in 2021.
Smith’s 17-strikeout performance also broke a Globe Life Field single-game record. The previous Globe Life Field single-game strikeout record was held by Oklahoma’s Chazz Martinez, who fanned 14 vs. Northwestern State on Feb. 27, 2022.
Oregon State and Arkansas were scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Ben McLaughlin’s three-run double with two outs gave the Razorbacks a 3-0 lead. The go-ahead damage came on the very first pitch McLaughlin saw from Beaver reliever Nelson Keljo, who replaced starter Aiden May in the middle of an at-bat after he departed due to injury.
Jayson Jones’ RBI single in the bottom of the sixth stretched Arkansas’ advantage to four, but Oregon State’s potent offense would come to life after Smith exited the ballgame. The Beavers scored four across the seventh and eighth innings, finally breaking through against Razorback relief pitchers Will McEntire (1.0 IP, 2 R, 2 SO), Stone Hewlett (0.1 IP, 1 R, 1 SO) and Gage Wood (1.0, 1 R, 1 SO) for the game’s tying runs.
With the contest knotted at four in the bottom of the eighth, Peyton Holt played hero for the Hogs. Holt’s two-out triple to center scored Wehiwa Aloy, who was hit by a pitch to begin the inning, from first and put Arkansas ahead, 5-4.
With an Oregon State runner on second, hard-throwing reliever Jake Faherty was called upon to record the final two outs of the ninth. The Georgetown, Ky., native, struck out both batters he faced to secure Arkansas’ win and lock down his first career save.
The Razorbacks’ weekend in the Kubota College Baseball Series rolls on tomorrow. Arkansas will play Oklahoma State (3-2), who defeated Michigan, 9-3, earlier in the day on Friday, at 7 p.m. Saturday at Globe Life Field. The game is broadcast only on FloSports but you can hear it for free here at HitThatLine.com or on the radio at ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs or 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
Ruscin & Zach talk sports moments hard to watch in Friday’s podcast
We visit with Super Bowl champion Brett Goode, get DQ’s week in review and talk about moments from sports or tv that are hard to watch again.
