Tye, Tommy and Chuck recap the sweep of Texas A&M, the NFL Draft and more!
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Hogs manage to turn huge lead in exciting game down to last out
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Leave it to this Arkansas team to turn a huge early lead into a nail-biter at the end. That’s exactly what the Razorbacks did in an 8-7 win over Texas A&M to complete a key weekend sweep.
The win got the Hogs a step closer to locking down a host spot for an NCAA Regional game, but nothing there will be locked up until after the SEC Tournament that starts May 23 in Hoover, Alabama.
In between, the Hogs have to take care of business next weekend at Mississippi State, then South Carolina at Baum-Walker Stadium, then finishing the regular season on the road at Vanderbilt.
“We’ve put ourselves in position to not panic, so to speak, down the stretch,” Hogs coach Dave Van Horn said later. Getting the sweep over the Aggies was big setting up for postseason after being swept on the road against Georgia last weekend.
The game got off to a really slow start and it took a push bunt by John Bolton up the first base line to get the first hit of the game. Then A&M’s fielding issues kicked in again. A wild pickoff attempt allowed him to take second and he moved to third on a wild pitch. Right fielder Kendall Diggs, who saw Bolton move to the other corner of the infield over the course of his at-bat, drove him in with a sacrifice fly.
“(I) saw the first baseman was back and I thought, ‘Might as well try it,’” Bolton said, “I got it down. That’s how it works out.”
The Hogs got three straight singles with two outs in the third, riding three straight singles to a second run and a chance for more. Center fielder Jace Bohrofen drove in third baseman Caleb Cali, and designated hitter Ben McLaughlin kept the line moving for left fielder Hunter Grimes. A long fly ball headed for the Hog Pen died on the warning track to end the inning.
Cody Adcock started the game and lasted four innings, giving up just one hit, but walked three and managed to keep himself in trouble at times, but Bolton made some big plays at shortstop and got him out of the trouble.
“Every time somebody hits a ground ball to my right I know this guy has got me,” Adcock said.
The Hogs went back to the small-ball thing that worked most of the weekend and manufactured a run in the fourth.
It was the fifth inning when it looked for all the world the Hogs were going to blow the game open, putting five runs on the board. Two walks, three hits and two errors keyed that big explosion and it was 8-0 with visions of a run-rule win that would give everybody home a little early.
They ended up using nearly everybody available pitch the rest of the way with drama until the ninth inning. The Aggies scored three in the sixth, two in the seventh and solo runs in the eighth and ninth innings.
“I was proud of our guys for hanging in there,” Van Horn said, “hanging in there and winning the game and sweeping an SEC series, which is really hard to do.”
The Razorbacks’ next four games will come away from Baum-Walker Stadium, beginning with the annual midweek game at North Little Rock’s Dickey-Stephens Park at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The contest against Lipscomb will not be broadcast or streamed on TV.
Brady Tygart starts, but Will McEntire delivers enough to clinch series
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Brady Tygart will get most of the headlines, but after throwing 20 pitches in the first inning, he turned things over to Will McEntire did most of the work in Arkansas’ 10-4 win over Texas A&M on Friday night at Baum-Walker Stadium. It clinched the series against the Aggies.
Now the Razorbacks will look for a series sweep Saturday at 11 a.m.
“His breaking ball is usually always good,” Hogs coach Dave Van Horn said later. “I don’t know if he threw much else. He’s got a good changeup now. He has a two-seamer that takes off, but we just wanted to see him go out and compete and kind of get his feet wet again. Kind of give us a little bit of hope, honestly.”
For a pitching staff that has been trying to figure things out most of the season due to injuries and last weekend’s sweep on the road it was a huge, albeit brief, appearance from the sophomore right-hander from Bryant.
Thursday night’s 8-4 win over the Aggies may have been bigger, though.
“Last night was so big for us,” Van Horn said. “Tonight we knew we were going to throw our starter one inning. Then McEntire came in and was getting ’em out. Our hitters did a great job. Our guys fouled off pitches, got hits and scored runs. We wouldn’t give ’em the momentum.”
When they had the momentum in the seventh inning on a two-run homer by Jordan Thompson that cut the Hogs’ lead to 6-4, but it was answered. Ben McLaughlin’s two run homer in the bottom of the inning gave the Hogs an 8-4 lead and they added a couple of more for insurance in the bottom of the inning for the win.
The Hogs’ only homer was by McLaughlin, so they created a lot of it just playing ball. They also got some really good defense.
“The old-school small ball,” Van Horn said. “I’ve had teams that played that a little bit. It’s been a while. Especially down in the order there, we needed to play it. Those guys are more defenders than they are offensive guys. And turn it over to the top, it was good the way we just kept passing it down the line. Everybody did their job.”
Tygart’s brief outing was clean. He didn’t give up any hits, walked just one and was about as good as Van Horn could wanted. McEntire threw 91 pitches, giving up just three earned runs, striking out eight and only walking three.
The Razorbacks can sweep the Aggies when the two teams wrap up their three-game set at 11 a.m. Saturday in a contest that will air on the SEC Network. Neither team has officially announced a starting pitcher, although Schlossnagle said he will likely turn to left-hander Justin Lamkin, and Van Horn ruled out righty Ben Bybee.
Maybe later than expected, Razorbacks’ Sanders picked in NFL Draft
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It took a little longer than most people projected, but Arkansas’ Drew Sanders finally heard his name called at the NFL Draft in Kansas City, Mo., on Friday night.
Some had projected Sanders to go in the first or early second rounds, but that cooled a little bit. Offensive lineman Ricky Stromberg was also taken in the third round, about where most people figured it was the best-case scenario.
Many more third round picks survive training camp, but Sanders will likely be expected to contribute on special teams while Stromberg isn’t in a bad situation going to Washington.
Sanders was the first Razorback to hear his name called, being selected in the third round (67th overall) by the Denver Broncos on Friday night to extend Arkansas’ streak to 28 consecutive drafts with at least one player being called. Just 30 picks later, another Hog was called when Ricky Stromberg was picked by the Washington Commanders with the 97th overall pick (third round).
Sanders became the first Arkansas linebacker to be selected since Dre Greenlaw in 2019 and the highest selected linebacker since Quinton Caver was taken 55th overall by Philadelphia in 2001. Sanders is the first Razorback taken by Denver since McTelvin Agim was also taken in the third round in the 2020 draft. Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Razorback Steve Atwater was the first ever Hog taken by Denver in 1989.
In his lone season at Arkansas, Sanders was phenomenal in 12 games that earned him unanimous All-America status and became the first Arkansas linebacker to be named First-Team All-America by the Associated Press since Ronnie Caveness in 1964.
Sanders is the first linebacker and eighth player in program history to achieve unanimous All-America status, earning honors from all five outlets used to determine unanimous All-Americans: Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association, Football Writers Association of America, The Sporting News and Walter Camp Football Foundation. He is the first Razorback to earn the nod from all five since running back Darren McFadden in 2003, and the first Arkansas defender to do so since defensive end Billy Ray Smith Jr. in 1982.
Sanders led the Hogs in tackles (103), tackles for loss (13.5) and sacks (9.5) while forcing three fumbles, recovering one and picking off one pass. The junior led the team in tackles in seven games during the 2022 campaign and registered double-digit tackles six times.
He jumped onto the national scene in just his second game on The Hill in a victory over South Carolina, making 11 tackles to go with three tackles for loss, including two sacks, to earn SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors along with national recognition as the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week and Bednarik Award Player of the Week. He was later named the Butkus Award Linebacker of the Month for September.
He became just the second Razorback in history to earn multiple SEC defensive player of the week awards after making 10 tackles, including a half tackle for loss, recovering a fumble and intercepting the first pass of his career in the win over No. 14 Ole Miss. Sanders joined the legendary Quinton Caver, who earned three SEC defensive player of the week recognitions in 2000 before being a second-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Led by Sanders, the Arkansas defense increased pressure on the quarterback during the 2022 season, setting a school record with 42 sacks. Sanders’ 9.5 sacks matched the seventh-most in a single season by a Razorback and are the most since the late Chris Smith’s 9.5 sacks in 2012.
Stromberg is the first Arkansas center selected since Frank Ragnow was the first pick (20th overall) of the Detroit Lions in the 2018 Draft and first offensive lineman drafted since 2019 when New England took Hjalte Froholdt in the fourth round. The Commanders made Stromberg their first Arkansas pick since taking Kam Curl in the seventh round of the 2020 draft.
A staple of the Arkansas offensive line during his four seasons, Stromberg started his final 25 straight games with 44 overall starts during his career. His senior season capped an impressive career as he became the fourth Razorback to earn the SEC’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy — given annually to the league’s top offensive lineman — joining Shawn Andrews (2002, 2003), Jonathan Luigs (2007) and Sebastian Tretola (2015).
Stromberg was named an honorable mention All-American by Pro Football Focus and picked up First-Team All-SEC status from the Associated Press, the league’s coaches, PFF and USA Today. He helped pave the way for an offense that gained 6,128 yards — second-most in school history — and running back Raheim Sanders to rush for 1,443 yards. Stromberg helped the Hogs’ running game eclipse 3,000 yards for the 10th time in school history, powered by nine games of 200+ yards on the ground.
He picked up a pair of SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week accolades after helping Arkansas rush for 295 yards and gain 457 total yards in a win over South Carolina and a second for blocking for an offense that gained 503 total yards, including 335 rushing, in a victory vs. Ole Miss.
As a junior, Stromberg started all 13 games at center on his way to earning Second-Team All-SEC from the Associated Press and third-team honors from PFF and Phil Steele. He blocked for an offense that featured four players to gain 500+ rushing yards, a feat that had not happened at Arkansas since 1975.
During the pandemic-shortened season of 2020, he played in nine games and started eight under first-year coach Sam Pittman. Stromberg’s career started quickly in 2019 when he started his second career game at left guard as a true freshman. He started the final 11 games that season at guard before moving to center as a sophomore.
The NFL Draft continues Saturday with rounds 4-7 beginning at 11 a.m. on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
Former Razorback James Teague on pitchers’ dealing with sore arms
Dylan Carter dealing with some soreness right now, coach Dave Van Horn said after Thursday night’s 7-5 win over A&M.
Halftime Pod Presented By Eastside Liquor- April 28, 2023
Guests- Aaron Torres, James Teague & Neal Atkinson
Hogs End Losing Streak; NFL Round 2-3 Today; Golden Hour!
Razorbacks announce Brady Tygart starting on mound tonight
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It’s not really surprising that Arkansas social media released a starter for tonight’s game at 6 p.m. against Texas A&M a little early or that it’s Brady Tygart, who has been out with an injury for a couple of months.
The players have said he would play this week and Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn said after the loss at Missouri State that he might start Tygart, who had an MCL sprain of his elbow March 1 and has slowly worked his way back into playing.
Tonight's starter: @BradyTygart pic.twitter.com/5zPbCBNmli
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) April 28, 2023
“Brady’s obviously a dude,” freshman Ben Bybee said Tuesday. ” He’s super excited and working really hard to get back to where he is right now.”
It provides a shot in the arm for a pitching staff that has been struggling with injuries since projected No. 1 starter Jaxon Wiggins was lost for the season before it ever started. They’ve been trying to figure it out since then.
“He threw a ton of innings for us in high-leverage situations last year, so I mean I think everyone’s pumped,” Hagen Smith said after Thursday’s 7-5 win in the series opener at Baum-Walker Stadium.
You wonder how long it will take for him to be ready to live up to last year’s All-SEC Freshman status. Maybe the initial projection of 5-6 seeks that turned into now eight weeks was for more preparation and we really have no idea what’s been going on in practices and how he’s been re-habbed.
Considering the move to bring in Smith in the opener (he ended up working the last four innings, giving up just a couple of hits) caught some by surprise, we honestly have little to no idea how Tygart has been prepared.
Razorbacks and Aggies tonight at 6pm at Baum-Walker Stadium. pic.twitter.com/Ahm1Z4cSiB
— Mark Taylor (@mdt1021) April 28, 2023
But pressure situations is something he’s dealt with before. After the Hogs ended a four-game losing streak to finally get a win, Tygart comes along at a good time. After all, postseason starts now in less than a month.
Tonight’s second game is set for 6 p.m. (depending on the weather in the area here) at Baum-Walker Stadium.
ESPN’s Chris Burke on Razorbacks’ Hagen Smith filling perfect role this year
Analyst on a little surprise when Smith came in, but it turned out to be good move against Texas A&M.
The Gimme the Hawgs Chuck Podcast E91: Hogs get back in the win column last night against Texas A&M
Presented by Weichert Realtors – The Griffin Company
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HALFTIME IS LIVE. Razorbacks snap losing streak last night, NFL Draft thoughts
11:15 – Aaron Torres
12:15 – James Teague
1:15 – Neal Atkinson
Hogs End Losing Streak; NFL Round 2-3 Today; Golden Hour! Call or text, 877-377-6963
