Huge inning lifts Hogs to series sweep of Louisiana Tech

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Huge inning lifts Hogs to series sweep of Louisiana Tech

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It probably wasn’t a thing of beauty, but Arkansas’ `5-6 win over Louisiana Tech was a series sweep.

It was the last non-conference weekend series of the season for the Razorbacks, who will open SEC play next weekend against Auburn after a pair of midweek games against UNLV.

Maybe the most important thing was Dave Van Horn didn’t have to use up a big chunk of the pitching staff to get that done.

After Will McEntire’s complete game Saturday, Hunter Hollan overcame a rocky start Sunday and the Hogs’ exploded for 10 runs in the fourth to complete the sweep.

Hollan also lasted five complete innings, giving up just one earned run, striking out seven and not walking anybody. That was huge for a pitching staff that was already running low on numbers due to injuries.

Hollan walked Walker Burchfield to lead things off and he scored when Peyton Holt overthrew everything but the backstop on and the Bulldogs have their first lead of the series.

Tech added to that after Hollan loaded the bases and his a batter, bringing another run across. Tech added another run after he hit the next batter, too.

Hollan finally settled down and got a ground-out, then struck out a hitter to get out of the inning.

Jace Bohrofen led off the bottom of the inning with a line shot to the base of the fence and hustled into second. He took third and sailed home on a single up by the middle by Holt for the Hogs’ first run.

Then the Razorbacks blew it wide open after retiring the Bulldogs in order.

Tavian Josenberger led off with a double, then two batters later Jared Wegner hits a shot to right field that barely gets over the fence to tie the game.

Kendall Diggs hit his sixth homer of the year over the right-field wall, pushing two more runs across.

Peyton Holt nearly made it two in a row, but the ball sailed foul, then he delivered a triple off the top of the fence in right field, running Tech starter Reed Smith.

They brought in Lan Tomkins, who proceeded to throw it just about everywhere but over the plate, walking five straight and three runs for the Hogs. Brady Slavens greeted new pitcher with a single to score two more runs and complete a wild 10-run inning.

Karson Evans delivered a massive three-run homer over the left-field wall in the sixth for some proof of life.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Hogs blew it open again.

The Hogs got the first two batters on base in the bottom half with John Bolton getting hit, then Josenberger drawing a walk. Bolton got to third on a wild pitch and scored on a fielder’s choise ground-out by Peyton Stovall.

The Hogs loaded the bases for Bohrofen, who worked the count to 2-2, then Tech had a passed ball that brought Stovall home. Bohrofen then delivered a two-RBI single up the middle for another huge inning. It was 14-6 and the Hogs have gotten pretty deep into Tech’s bullpen.

Peyton Stovall got his third RBI of the day in the eighth inning on a line shot to center field.

Arkansas is now 13-2 on the season and plays UNLV on Tuesday and Thursday in the final non-conference games of the season, starting at 6 p.m.

McEntire delivers what Razorbacks needed on mound

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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McEntire delivers what Razorbacks needed on mound

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn summed everything up fairly easily.

“It was a great performance by Will McEntire,” he said after the right-hander needed just 97 pitches for a complete-game 6-1 win over Louisiana Tech.

For a pitching staff that’s been hit by injuries all years.l

After having to use more pitchers than he wanted on Tuesday in a win over Army, Van Horn didn’t want to go real deep on Saturday that clinched the weekend series before SEC play starts next week against Auburn.

McEntire delivered all that, giving up just three hits and allowing just a single unearned run.

“His cutter was REALLY working today,” Van Horn said later. “We could see from the side it was really moving. His pitch count was really low. Once he got to the eighth and it was going quickly we knew we were going to give him a shot.”

Getting some early run support helped. Getting a run in the first followed by back-to-back homers by Kendall Diggs and Peyton Holt in the second gave McEntire some confidence and the fielding behind him was good, including a play by Holt at third where he threw out a runner from behind third base all the way over to first.

It was the first complete game on the mound by a Hogs’ pitcher in seven years.

“Thanks for saving the bullpen,” Van Horn said later.

He probably wasn’t joking that much, but he had alerted his team before the game they needed to be on top of their game.

“Told them they were going to get a lot of ground balls today,” Van Horn said. “Anything around eight or seven innings is good. Usually there’s an inning with 22-25 pitches in there that ruins it.”

McEntire wasn’t letting that happen today.

“I felt like I had most of my pitches,” he said later.

The Hogs added solo runs in the  fourth innings with another Jace Bohrofen homer. Adding runs in the fifth and eighth innings was just some icing on the cake.

The Razorbacks will host the Bulldogs on Sunday at 1 p.m. to finish up the series, the last non-conference weekend series. They have UNLV coming in for games Tuesday and Wednesday before starting conference play against Auburn next Friday night.

Hogs knocked out of SEC Tournament with loss to Aggies

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Hogs knocked out of SEC Tournament with loss to Aggies

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Texas A&M used a 21-7 run to start the second half and claimed a 67-61 victory over Arkansas in the SEC Quarterfinals Friday evening at Bridgestone Arena.

Arkansas led by 13 (38-25) at halftime after a 3-pointer by Jordan Walsh at the buzzer.

However, the Aggies, which was 2-of-2 at the foul line in the first half, got to the charity stripe early and often to start the second half to set the tone for the A&M comeback. The Aggies were 16-of-22 at the line in the second half, compared to Arkansas going 5-of-9.

Texas A&M also dominated the glass to secure the win. The Aggies outrebounded the Razorbacks 43-26 and pulled down 17 offensive rebounds.

Arkansas set a program record in an SEC Tournament game with 11 blocked shots, including four each from Makhi Mitchell and Anthony Black. Nine of the rejections came in the first half.

Wade Taylor IV led A&M with 18 points, 16 coming in the second half and Henry Coleman III posted a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Nick Smith Jr., led Arkansas with 16 points and Mitchell contributed 15 points, thanks to five dunks, to accompany his four blocked shots.

Arkansas will find out its postseason destination on Sunday (Mar. 12). The CBS Selection Show will start at 5 pm (CT).

FIRST HALF: Arkansas 38, Texas A&M 25

• Texas A&M scored first but Nick Smith Jr., answered with two 3-pointers and Arkansas led the rest of the first half.

• Smith scored 9 of Arkansas’ first 11 points.

• Arkansas blocked nine shots in the first half, accounting for nine of A&M’s 19 missed shots.

• Arkansas shot 54.2% overall and 41.7% (5-of-12) from 3-point. A&M only shot 36.7% and was just 1-of-5 from 3-point.

• Texas A&M entered the game No. 1 in the NCAA in both free throws made and attempts. The Aggies were just 2-of-2 from the line in the first half. Arkansas was 7-of-10.

• Texas A&M outrebounded Arkansas 18-11, including 11 offensive rebounds. However, A&M only scored eight second chance points.

• Arkansas had eight assists on 13 made baskets.

• Smith led Arkansas with 13 points.

• Anthony Black had four blocked shots and Makhi Mitchell had three.

SECOND HALF: Arkansas 23, Texas A&M 42

• Coleman scored the first nine points for A&M to start the second half. Overall, he had 12 points and nine rebounds in the period.

• Taylor scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half.

• Both teams combined to go 0-of-13 from 3-point range in the second half (0-of-8 for Arkansas and 0-of-5 for A&M).

• Arkansas committed seven of its 12 turnovers in the period.

• Despite its struggles, Arkansas was up one (50-51) after a Davonte Davis steal and layup with 7:56 left. Arkansas was down four with 1:23 left and, after going down eight with 46 seconds left, got back to within four (65-61) with 27 seconds left.

• Texas A&M sealed the game with two free throws by Taylor with 14 seconds left.

• After shooting 54.2% in the first half, Arkansas was just 30% from the field in the second half.

Game Notes

• Arkansas’ starting lineup was Anthony Black – Nick Smith Jr. – Davonte Davis – Makhi Mitchell – Makhel Mitchell for the second time.

• Texas A&M won the tip.

• A&M’s Tyrece Radford scored the first points of the game at 19:35. Nick Smith Jr., scored the first points for Arkansas, a 3-pointer at 19:08.

• Ricky Council IV was the first Razorback sub.

• Arkansas and Texas A&M split the regular-season series, but the Aggies have now defeated Arkansas in the SEC Tournament in each of the last two years.

• Arkansas falls to 16-3 in SEC Tournament quarterfinal games.

• Anthony Black had two steals to tie Kareem Reid for the most steals by an Arkansas freshman in a season with 65.

Razorbacks’ KJ Jefferson, Chris Paul on second spring practice

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Razorbacks’ KJ Jefferson, Chris Paul on second spring practice

What they’ve seen different with new coordinators for both offense and defense after just a couple of practices.

Reliever Dylan Carter closes door for Hogs’ 7-4 win over Bulldogs

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Reliever Dylan Carter closes door for Hogs’ 7-4 win over Bulldogs

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas finally got some offense early.

Second-inning homers from Jace Bohrofen and Parker Roland keyed a four-run burst, then the pitching held up to down Louisiana Tech, 7-4, in the first game of a weekend series at Baum-Walker Stadium.

If they had gotten a little of that later it would have blown the game wide open.

“We haven’t gotten one big blow to blow the game open,” Hogs coach Dave Van Horn said later.

It’s not like they didn’t have chances.

“We loaded the bases a couple of times there and got a sacrifice fly,” Van Horn said. “But not a double or something that would have blown it open.”

In the third inning, the Hogs got a lead-off walk from Brady Slavens, a single from Jace Bohrofen and another walk from Caleb Cali. Kendall Diggs got Bohrofen across on a fielder’s choice by the second baseman.

In the fifth inning, a lead-off single from Jared Wegner and Diggs brought him home, but that was the only run with a crowded group of Hogs on the bases.

The Hogs got solor runs over the last three innings and the pitching held up with Dylan Carter coming on in relief of starter Hagen Smith, who lasted five innings.

Smith struck out seven, gave up four hits and four walks which ld to a couple of earned runs.

Cody Adcock worked the sixth and gave up a couple of runs before Carter came on and closed the door, allowing just one hit over three innings.

Van Horn has been looking for some bullpen help.

“He might work into a guy that can go Friday and Sunday, we’ll see,” Van Horn said.

That was the same answer if Carter would be back in this weekend, but it’s a positive sign with all the injuries to the pitching staff.

The Hogs and Bulldogs will play again Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.

Aaron Torres on where Hogs will likely be seeded in NCAA Tournament

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Aaron Torres on where Hogs will likely be seeded in NCAA Tournament

Regardless what happens in Nashville, Razorbacks should be solidly in place for March Madness, but how far?

Halftime Pod Presented By Eastside Liquor- March 10, 2023

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Halftime Pod Presented By Eastside Liquor- March 10, 2023

Guests- Aaron Torres Neal Atkinson, James Teague & Tye Richardson

Hogs Beat Auburn…and Get A&M Today! OmaHogs vs LA Tech; Name That Hog from Alumni Hall

The Gimme the HAWGS Chuck Podcast E74: Arkansas survives late scare against Auburn

Christian Johnston
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The Gimme the HAWGS Chuck Podcast E74: Arkansas survives late scare against Auburn

Presented by Weichert Realtors – The Griffin Company

#Arkansas #ArkansasRazorbacks #Hogs #Hawgs #WPS #ArkansasRazorbacksPodcast #GoHogs #HitThatLine #WooPigSooie #RazorbackPodcast #ArkansasPodcast #HogPodcast

HALFTIME IS LIVE. Arkansas still alive in SEC Tourney, Baseball team hosts LA Tech today

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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HALFTIME IS LIVE. Arkansas still alive in SEC Tourney, Baseball team hosts LA Tech today

11:15 – Aaron Torres

12:15 – James Teague

1:15 – Neal Atkinson

1:30 – Tye Richardson

Hogs Beat Auburn…and Get A&M Today! OmaHogs vs LA Tech; Name That Hog from Alumni Hall

Call or text, 877-377-6963

Smith steps up to avoid another blown second-half lead

Andy Hodges
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Smith steps up to avoid another blown second-half lead

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Everybody was thinking Thursday night they’d seen Arkansas play this movie too many times this year.

When Anthony Black got a second-chance little short jumper with 14:04 to play, the 10th-seeded Razorbacks had a 54-39 lead over No. 7 Auburn.

Nick Smith finally did what nobody has been able to accomplish for a lot of the season in hitting THE shot when it HAD to be made.

“We have missed Nick in that exact type of situation,” Hogs coach Eric Musselman said later. “We have lost a lot of close games. We just talked about this game has its own theme, its own identity. Forget what’s happened in the past.”

It looked like a blowout was about to take place in Nashville, Tenn., at the SEC Tournament until a change in direction fans have seen all too often this year.

That didn’t last a minute.

A layup by Allen Flanigan, who prepped at Little Rock Parkview, made a layup with 13:13 to play that cut the lead 9, 54-45.

After a 10-0 run by the Tigers it was a 6-point game with 9:41 to play. That’s how fast these things can turn around.

Flanigan gave Auburn the lead with 41 seconds to play with a little jumper in the lane and the Hogs suddenly couldn’t find anybody that could hit the key basket. It’s happened a few times this year.

Then Smith, finally back on the court after spending a couple of months dealing with a knee injury, lived up to his reputation.

His pull-up jumper from the right side with 16 seconds left gave the Hogs a lead, then helped get a big defensive stop to seal things. But it was finally somebody stepping up to get a basket when it was desperately needed.

“Nick read the defense well, was really aggressive, as well,” Musselman said. “He wanted the ball in his hands. I thought our guys did a good job of finding him and not rushing a shot. We rushed a shot about a minute and a half before that.

“For a freshman to make that shot in an SEC Tournament game, that’s a big shot.”

Maybe it’s the spark this team needs.

And a big shot of confidence.

The Hogs have a short turnaround before returning to action Friday for a quarterfinal matchup with No. 2-seed Texas A&M.

Tipoff between the Razorbacks (20-12) and Aggies (23-8) is scheduled for 6 p.m. on the SEC Network. You can also hear the game on radio at ESPN Arkansas 99.5 in Fayetteville, 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.

Bud Light Next Morning Rush Podcast: Nick Smith comes up big in Nashville last night

Christian Johnston
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Bud Light Next Morning Rush Podcast: Nick Smith comes up big in Nashville last night

Tye, Tommy and Chuck recap last night’s thrilling win against Auburn and much more!

#Arkansas #ArkansasRazorbacks #Hogs #Hawgs #WPS #ArkansasRazorbacksPodcast #GoHogs #HitThatLine #WooPigSooie #RazorbackPodcast #ArkansasPodcast #HogPodcast

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