Moses Moody looking forward to facing Colgate in first round of NCAA Tournament on Friday, coming back from getting knocked out of SEC in semifinals.
Hogs upset No. 12 Aggies for for first time since 2016
Arkansas upset No. 12 Texas A&M at home for their first win over the Aggies since 2016.
The Razorbacks clinched the doubles point and followed with three singles wins for the 4-3 win at the Billingsley Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.
It’s the second straight season the Hogs have upset a top-five team (No. 5 Baylor in 2020) in Fayetteville.
The Razorback duo of Nico Rousset and Alex Reco picked up the first doubles win for the Hogs over Pranav Kumar and Noah Schachter, 6-4, on court three. Rousset and Reco are currently on a five-match winning stream as a pair.
Melvin Manuel and Adrien Burdet clinched the doubles point for the Razorbacks by defeating the Aggies duo of Valentin Vacherot and Pierce Rollins at the No. 2 position, moving to 3-0.
In singles, Aleksa Bucan gave the Razorbacks its first singles point with a straight sets 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 116 Noah Schachter in the No. 3 position.
Burdet followed with a 6-4, 6-4 victory on court five for his ninth win in his rookie campaign. Rousset clinched the upset at the No. 2 position for the Razorbacks with a 7-5, 6-3 win over No. 33 Carlos Aguilar.
It was Rousset’s second win over a nationally ranked opponent this spring. On court one, Reco battled back to force a third set tiebreaker against No. 4 Valentin Vacherot, but eventually fell 2-6, 6-2, 6-7.
“Obviously, a good win for us. They’re ranked twelfth but beat No. 2 Baylor on Thursday so they will likely by ranked in the top-10. I’m proud of our team for keeping their heads down and believing,” said coach Andy Jackson. “We have a big challenge ahead with three top-15 teams on the road, but we are looking forward to it.”
The Razorbacks return to action in a non-conference matchup when they travel to Orlando, Fla. to face No. 21 UCF on Wednesday, March 24.
Hogs drop second straight road matchup, shut out at Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Arkansas dropped a 4-0 decision at Florida on Sunday, dropping to 10-3 on the season and 4-3 in SEC play.
In doubles play, Arkansas had the lead on both courts one and three before Florida rallied back to win on both and clinch the doubles point for the Gators.
On court one, No. 28 duo Lauren Alter and Tatum Rice took a 4-3 match lead, sweeping the fourth game point from No. 26 McCartney Kessler and Marlee Zein. Kessler and Zein used three-straight game points to take the set 6-3.
Battling on court three, Razorback pair Laura Rijkers and Kelly Keller dropped their match to Sydney Berlin and Sara Dahlstrom in a 6-4 decision.
In singles play, Arkansas fell in straight sets on courts 4-6, giving Florida the four points it needed to clinch the win.
Senior Lauren Alter dropped her match against Berlin 6-3, 6-1 just before freshman Morgan Cross recorded a loss on court four, a 6-3, 6-0 defeat to No. 65 Layne Sleeth.
The match-clinching point came on court five, as Netherland-native Rijkers made the right adjustments after dropping the first set to Sarah Dahlstrom 6-3, but ultimately fell to Dahlstrom 6-3, 6-4.
Arkansas was in third-set tiebreakers on courts two and three when the match was clinched. Keller defeated Zein 6-4 in the first set before dropping the second to Zein, 6-3.
Keller was giving her best fight in the third, leading her Gator counterpart 1-0 in the tiebreaker. Senior Rice bounced back from a 6-1 set-one loss to Jarlskog to tie the match with a 6-3 win in the second set.
Rice was leading 1-0 in the tiebreaker when the match ended.
The Razorbacks return home to Fayetteville and have a bye-week before resuming action for their final home series of the season on March 26 against Auburn and March 28 against Alabama.
Hogs sweep South Carolina with 3-2 win Sunday afternoon
COLUMBIA, S.C. — For the first time since 2009, No. 19 Arkansas swept an SEC series on the road as it won the weekend finale, 3-2, over No. 20 South Carolina in Columbia on Sunday afternoon.
Two Razorback (20-2, 3-0 SEC) home runs by infielder Braxton Burnside and outfielder Linnie Malkin proved to be the difference in the team’s 19th straight win.
How it happened
Outfielder Sam Torres took a four pitch walk to leadoff the game, and on the fifth pitch delivered by South Carolina starter Kelsey Oh, Burnside smashed a two-run dinger to dead center, giving Arkansas a 2-0 lead.
Burnside homered four times in the series and has totaled 15 bombs this season, which is tied for second-most in a single-season in school history.
Throughout the year, Arkansas has outscored its opposition, 37-6, in the first inning.
Much like it has all series South Carolina fought back, tying the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the third on a two-run double to left.
Malkin gave Arkansas all in it needed in the top of the fourth, launching a no-doubt solo homer to left for her ninth bomb of the campaign.
The Hogs loaded the bases in the fifth on Torres’ single and walks issued to Burnside and infielder Danielle Gibson, but struck out twice, leaving the bags full.
The Gamecocks (13-6, 0-3 SEC) put a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the fifth, but never threatened beyond that as Mary Haff closed the door in the final two innings.
Redshirt freshman hurler Jenna Bloom (4-1) recorded the first SEC win of her career and tossed 4.1 innings allowing four hits, two earned runs and three walks with three strikeouts.
Haff did not allow a batter to reach base over 2.2 innings of relief and recorded eight outs on just 17 pitches to earn her second save of the year. Haff struck out two and lowered her season ERA to 0.90. Oh (1-4) was the loser going 4.0 innings and allowing all three runs.
In 2009, the Hogs swept an SEC three-game series at Mississippi State (March 17-19) 8-3, 5-1, and 3-2. Arkansas has won five of the last six games in the all-time series against South Carolina.
Arkansas returns home to Bogle Park at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 16, for a single non-conference game against Liberty.
Louisiana Tech hands Hogs first loss of season Sunday
RUSTON, La. — Undefeated no more.
No. 1 Arkansas’ winning streak ended on Sunday as the Hogs were silenced, 2-0, by Louisiana Tech in the series finale at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
The Razorbacks, winners of their first 12 games to start the year, had won 16 straight dating back to the final four contests of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Starter Lael Lockhart turned in a strong effort, striking out three in five innings of work. He held the Bulldogs scoreless through his first four frames before allowing two runs on soft contact in the fifth.
Right-handers Caleb Bolden and Blake Adams combined for three scoreless innings of the work out of the bullpen. Adams struck out two in his two frames of action.
The Razorback bats, meanwhile, could not get it going. Arkansas scratched out two hits against LA Tech starter Jarret Whorff, including catcher Casey Opitz’s second-inning single.
The base knock extended Opitz’s hitting streak to a team-leading 11 consecutive games.
Arkansas’ best threat came in the top of the ninth. Outfielder Christian Franklin was hit by a 3-0 pitch before designated hitter Matt Goodheart drew a six-pitch walk, putting two on with one out.
It was not meant to be, though. Whorff retired the next two Hog batters to finish off his 10-strikeout complete game and secure the win.
Arkansas faces a quick turnaround, hosting Oklahoma on Tuesday night at Baum-Walker Stadium. First pitch against the Sooners is set for 5 p.m.
Hogs have bad game, still in NCAA, but Muss wanted to win
One of the things I’ve liked about Eric Musselman is he doesn’t tolerate losing very well and he doesn’t appear to do a whole lot to hide it.
You get the idea he hates losing more than he likes winning. That’s usually what you find in championship-type coaches, by the way.
Saturday, Musselman was about as miserable as he usually is following a loss after LSU knocked Arkansas out of the SEC Tournament, 78-71.
“We just had some guys not play well at all,” Musselman said. “You can’t do that in a tournament setting.”
The Razorbacks had several that were just, well, not sharp at all.
As it does so often, missed free throws made a difference. The Hogs were 11-of-19 and in a seven-point loss that drives coaches crazy.
Players, too.
“I don’t know what it was … a lot of them just weren’t falling,” said Moses Moody later. He had 28 points, but missed four free throws. “Myself and the team, the ball was just going in and out. Sometimes it just goes that way.”
Justin Smith added 21 points, but only four other players registered points at all.
Overall, they just looked sloppy offensively.
“We did a poor job of taking care of the basketball,” Musselman said.. “We had 10 second-half turnovers. We drove the ball into traffic.”
Those were things this team hadn’t done very often while piling up 13 straight SEC wins to become one of the hottest teams in the country by the end of the year.
Jaylin Williams being out for the tournament finally caught up with the Hogs. When they needed a body with some fresh legs, they didn’t have anybody.
“We just didn’t have enough gas in the tank tonight on a back-to-back,” Musselman said.
And through all of that, Arkansas still had a shot to win the game down the stretch.
They cut it to a single point, 72-71, with 37 seconds left but JD Notae had a live-ball turnover when he just flat lost the ball while dribbling and LSU hit free throws to close it out.
“I give our guys a lot of credit for playing until the very end,” Musselman said. “We cut that thing back to one.”
Some coaches don’t mind losing in the conference tournament. When you’re safely in the NCAA, it really doesn’t matter. When Arkansas won the national title in 1994, Kentucky ran them out of The Pyramid in Memphis in the SEC semifinals, 90-78.
Nolan Richardson wasn’t too worried about it. He had a bigger goal in mind.
But Musselman wants to win every single time there is a game. Probably of just about any type. He’s a competitive guy.
Which, for fans, is what they should want and expect. It’s what you have to have to compete for championships.
And should be the goal … in every single sport.
Musselman has that and will have a shot at a bigger championship starting next week.
The Hogs will probably be a No. 3 seed when the rankings come out Sunday, starting at 5 p.m. Winning the entire tournament wouldn’t have improved that seeding, in the opinion of ESPN’s Joe Lunardi on Saturday morning.
That doesn’t change anything for Musselman.
If you’re keeping score, he wants to win.
Hogs get 58-point surge on last day to claim another championship
A surge of 58 points scored by the Razorbacks on the third and final day of the NCAA Indoor Championships secured another national championship.
The Razorbacks totaled 68 points to chase down the 16-point lead Texas A&M built over the first two days.
The Aggies finished as runner-up with 57 points with LSU third at 39. The rest of the top 10 schools included USC (35), Georgia (31), Florida (30), BYU (29), Texas (25), Baylor (24), and Auburn (20).
Arkansas’ total is the third highest winning score over the history of the NCAA Indoor Championships, dating back to 1983, trailing only 84 by Oregon in 2017 and 71 by Texas in 1988.
The Razorbacks also became the first women’s team to capture an indoor national title without an individual or relay victory.
“We started the day with 10 points and knew we had some scoring ability because of all the events that we covered for today,” Arkansas coach Lance Harter said later. “I met with the milers, being the first event, and reminded them a lot of times momentum starts with the first event and has a positive flow for the rest of the meet.
“They took it to heart, had a big scoring punch, and then it went to the next events, including a school record for Shafiqua in the 800m. Then all of sudden we’re only two points down and we knew we had the 3,000 and mile relay remaining.”
Scoring on the final day started with 14 points in the mile with a 2-3 combo for Krissy Gear and Kennedy Thomson behind the winning effort of Colorado’s Sage Hurta (4:30.58).
Gear posted a 4:32.37 while Thomson established a career best of 4:33.95, which is No. 6 on the UA all-time list.
Arkansas cut Texas A&M’s lead in half at that point after the Aggie total reached 34 points with a runner-up finish in the triple jump.
With a pair of points from Jada Baylark in the 60 off a 7.23, five points followed for the Razorbacks in the 400 as Tiana Wilson and Rosey Effiong placed sixth and seventh. Wilson hit another career best as her 52.02 moves her to No. 5 on the UA all-time list while Effiong followed in 52.50.
The Aggies picked up 13 points in the 400 off a 2-4 finish, putting their lead at 47-31 with five events remaining.
When Daszay Freeman clocked a career best of 7.99 as runner-up in the 60m hurdles, moving to No. 3 on the UA all-time list, the Razorbacks closed the gap to 47-39.
A school record from Shafiqua Maloney earned a bronze medal in a tight 800m final. Maloney registered a 2:01.22 behind Aaliyah Miller of Baylor, who won in a meet record of 2:00.69, with Clemson’s Laurie Barton runner-up in 2:01.21, just a fraction ahead of Maloney.
Maloney bettered the Arkansas record of 2:01.96 set by Aneita Denton in 2005 and improved her own national record for St. Vincent and the Grenadines. She also moved to No. 8 on the all-time collegiate indoor list.
Just as vital, her six points pulled the Razorbacks within two points of the Aggies, 47-45, with three events left.
Neither team had anyone in the final of the 200m, but Arkansas had four entrants in the 3,000m.
Three Razorbacks scored in the race, combing for 17 points to secure the national champion prior to the final event, the 4×400 relay.
“We met with the 3k girls and said let’s take the pressure off the mile relay and make a statement here,” said Harter. “If we can get ahead by 3 or 4 points, then we can put this meet away. They obviously over-achieved and the meet was over.”
Lauren Gregory led the charge, placing second in 9:01.67 behind BYU’s Courtney Wayment (9:01.47).
Katie Izzo and Abby Gray followed in fourth and fifth place, posting times of 9:03.85 and 9:05.52. The mark by Gray is a career best and ranks eighth on the UA all-time list. Logan Morris just missed adding a point in ninth place with a time of 9:10.40.
Following that strong showing the Razorbacks launched into the lead, 62-47, to defend the 2019 NCAA Indoor championship they won, but were unable to defend in 2020 with the national meet was canceled due to the pandemic.
In capping the championship in style, Arkansas set a school record in the 4×400 relay with a 3:28.07, topping the record of 3:28.50 they set to win the SEC title two weeks ago.
The Razorback foursome included Paris Peoples (52.83), Morgan Burks-Magee (52.17), Wilson (52.24), and Maloney (50.83). Texas A&M won the relay in a meet record of 3:26.68 while USC placed second in 3:27.91.
Hogs win another to keep streak alive, but need extra innings
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Senior infielder Braxton Burnside hit the second of her two homers on the day to left field in the top of the 10th inning, sending No. 19 Arkansas to a 7-5 win in 10 innings over No. 20 South Carolina.
The Razorbacks (19-2, 2-0 SEC) pushed their program-record win streak to 18 games and claimed the first two games of the series against the Gamecocks.
Trailing 4-2 entering the sixth inning, the Hogs scored a pair of two out runs in the stanza to tie the game and took a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh before finishing the job in extras.
Senior infielder Danielle Gibson had a career day at the plate, going 5-for-5 with a pair of doubles and a walk.
How it happened
Making her first career start against an SEC foe, freshman pitcher Lauren Howell allowed a walk and hit by pitch in the first inning but buckled down and left runners on second and third by striking out back-to-back hitters.
Burnside gave the Razorbacks an early lead in the top of the third, launching her first tank of the day for an opposite field solo home run to right.
The Razorbacks increased their lead to 2-0 as Gibson doubled to left and was plated the next hitter on catcher Kayla Green’s two bagger to left.
South Carolina (13-5, 0-2 SEC) answered immediately by putting up a four-run bottom half to take a 4-2 lead.
A walk and error got the inning started, and the Gamecocks sent eight batters to the plate totaling four hits.
After two quiet innings, Arkansas’ offense went to work with two outs in the top of the sixth and tied the game, 4-4.
All five hitters in the stanza reached with two outs as outfielder Sam Torres reached on an error, Burnside singled and Gibson walked, setting up Green’s bases loaded walk and outfielder Linnie Malkin’s infield single to tie it.
The Hogs grabbed a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh with designated player Aly Manzo’s leadoff single to center table setting the inning.
Infielder Nicole Duncan laid down a sacrifice bunt and pinch runner Audrie LaValley went all the way to third on an errant throw that went wide of second base. Infielder Keely Huffine then lifted a sacrifice fly to center and LaValley slid home, beating the throw.
South Carolina sent the game to extras tied at 5-5 in the home half of the seventh after two singles and a safety squeeze single.
Torres walked in front of Burnside before she tomahawked her second homer of the day to left, her SEC-leading 14th homer of the year and the team’s 51st, giving Arkansas a 7-5 lead it would not relinquish.
Howell went the first 2.0 innings allowing just one hit and two earned runs with two strikeouts.
Fellow freshman hurler Allie Light was next in line, throwing 3.0 innings and allowed one run and four hits while fanning two. Mary Haff (12-1) built on her national lead in victories, working the final 5.0 innings and allowed three hits and one earned run with four strikeouts.
The Gamecocks used a quartet of arms with Karsen Ochs (2-2) taking the loss in 3.0 innings. She allowed three runs and struck out one.
Arkansas has won both of its extra inning games this season at true road sites and defeated McNeese on Feb. 20, 6-4, in 14 innings.
The team’s 13 hits tied its season-high. Arkansas has now won four of its last five games in the all-time series against South Carolina.
The Razorbacks and Gamecocks wrap up the series at noon Sunday on the SEC Network.
Razorbacks drop series opener at home to Tennessee
Arkansas was off to a hot start on Saturday in Barnhill Arena, jumping to an early 1-0 lead over Tennessee with a 25-18 set-one win.
But the Lady Volunteers responded with a set win of their own and Arkansas could not overcome the Vols momentum, falling to Tennessee, 3-1 (18-25, 25-20, 25-13, 25-21).
Arkansas recorded a team-best 15 kills on 30 attempts in the first set, committing only five errors for an impressive .333 hitting percentage. The Razorbacks defense held Tennessee to a team-low 12 kills in the first set, forcing eight attack errors on 34 attempts.
Tennessee answered Arkansas’ impressive first set with a cleaner attack in the second set. The adjustments made by the Volunteers proved to be enough for the Lady Vols to push ahead and take a 2-1 match lead.
Arkansas and Tennessee were tied early in the fourth set, trading side out points until the 6-6 mark. The Volunteers posted back-to-back kills to take the lead, and despite a valiant late effort by the Hogs, Tennessee managed to hold on to the lead and come out with the four-set victory.
Freshman Taylor Head was a key part of the Razorback offense, registering 15 kills and swinging .324 across the four sets. In combination with her 13 digs, Head posted her team-leading 12th double-double of the season.
Working with Head at the net was senior middle block Liz Pamphile, who recorded a match-best .417 hitting percentage among players with 10 or more kills.
Pamphile’s 11 kills and lone attack error made for her second-most efficient performance of the season, just behind her career-best .452 hitting percentage at Mississippi State last fall.
Arkansas posted more attacks than Tennessee but led by the SEC Defensive Player of the Week, Madison Bryant, the Lady Volunteers turned 71 of the Razorbacks’ 147 attempts into successful digs, a notable 48%.
Junior setter Gracie Ryan notched her 10th showing of 40 assists or better against Tennessee, accounting for 42 of the Hogs’ 43 assists.
Ryan has now accumulated 1,476 career assists, just 24 away from eclipsing the 1,500 mark.
Sunday’s rematch between the Razorbacks and Lady Vols will be available to live stream on SEC Network+ and will begin at 2 p.m.
Slavens’ homer, Vermillion’s pitching gives Hogs 8-1 win
RUSTON, La. — Another day, another game, another win.
No. 1 Arkansas scored two in the top of the first and never looked back, beating up on Louisiana Tech, 8-1, to clinch the series win on Saturday afternoon at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
The Razorbacks, now 12-0 on the year, are off to the best start of the Dave Van Horn era and the second-best start in program history. Arkansas won a program-record 18 games in a row to begin the 1996 campaign.
The Hogs have won 16 consecutive dating back to the final four contests of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Arkansas came out swinging and put up two runs in the first on Saturday. First baseman Brady Slavens drove home designated hitter Matt Goodheart and right fielder Cayden Wallace with a two-run double to left.
Supported with early runs, righty Zebulon Vermillion went to work and was magnificent. The big right-hander ultimately tossed eight innings of one-run ball, striking out two while allowing three hits and three walks.
The Hogs scored twice more in the fourth, including a run on Wallace’s second solo shot in as many days. The Bulldogs scored their one and only in the bottom of the fourth, but Arkansas quickly responded.
Slavens’ hot day at the plate continued as he ripped a double to right, scoring Christian Franklin and extending the advantage to 5-1 in the fifth. Vermillion, gifted with a four-run lead yet again, resumed his dominance on the mound, shutting out Tech the rest of the way.
The Razorbacks put the ballgame away for good in the eighth. Two runs came across on wild pitches before Wallace, who had three hits on the day, delivered his second RBI on a single to center.
Righty Kole Ramage locked down the final inning of the ballgame, striking out one to seal Arkansas’ 8-1 series-clinching win.
Tomorrow’s finale, originally scheduled for 1 p.m., will now start at 11 a.m. due to forecasted rain in the area. The Hogs go for their third straight series sweep of the season on Sunday.
Hogs scramble to finish seventh at NCAA Indoor Championships
Scoring 22 points, 16 of which were accomplished on the final day, enabled Arkansas to finish in a tie for seventh place in team scoring at the NCAA Indoor Championships hosted inside Randal Tyson Track Center.
“We battled all weekend, and James Milholen’s anchor leg on the 4×400 typified what we’ve been going through all year, coming from behind and trying to eek out every point we could,” said Arkansas coach Chris Bucknam. “I’m really happy with how our kids fought. We never gave up and finished in the top 10.”
Oregon claimed the national team title with 79 points while LSU was runner-up at 56 points and Georgia placed third with 35 points.
The rest of the top 10 included Florida (34), North Carolina A&T (30), Florida State (23), Alabama (22), Arkansas (22), Tennessee (21) and Ole Miss (20).
“We just didn’t have anything go our way,” added Bucknam. “We had some injuries, and some misfortune. It’s tough to see those points slip away.”
In placing fourth in a very competitive 60m hurdle final, Phillip Lemonious set another career best this weekend in clocking a 7.54 to improve upon the 7.60 he ran in the prelims. LSU’s Damion Thomas won the race in 7.51, the collegiate leader for 2021, with Iowa’s Jamal Britt runner-up at 7.52 and Florida State’s Trey Cunningham third with a 7.53.
Behind Lemonious in fifth place was LSU’s Eric Edwards in 7.58 while another Razorback in the race, Tre’Bien Gilbert, placed eighth in 7.79.
“Phillip is just an outstanding athlete, improving like he did over the past few weeks,” said Bucknam of the January transfer. “It shows his upside and we’re very proud of him as well as Tre’Bien Gilbert, who had a big breakthrough this year. It wasn’t the final he wanted, but it will go a long way going forward.”
Another Razorback claiming fourth place points was Amon Kemboi in the 3,000m as he posted a time of 7:50.54 while teammate Gilbert Boit finished 11th in 7:57.90.
“That 5k the previous night is on me,” said Bucknam. “We did not think it was going to be that hot in the first mile. Our goal was to run with the leader, since we knew he was the king pin and the guy to beat. Our goal was to run with that athlete. It just went out in a torrid pace and ruined Amon.
“To see him come back and run like he did was very encouraging. Again, it shows you the type of athlete he is. He was very disappointed with the 5k, and for him to rally in one day and come back, along with Gilbert, shows you the character of those guys.”
In the 4×400 relay, the Razorbacks placed sixth overall, finishing as runner-up in the second of three sections, clocking a 3:06.35 just behind Florida’s 3:06.31 and ahead of Texas A&M’s 3:06.77.
An anchor leg split of 45.64 by James Milholen nearly had Arkansas knocking off the Gators. The first three legs for UA included Jeremy Farr (47.56), Jalen Brown (46.88), and Rhayko Schwartz (46.27).
North Carolina A&T won the final section in 3:03.16 over Kentucky (3:03.61) and Tennessee (3:04.10).
Kieran Taylor finished seventh in the 800m with a 1:50.79, joining his father Gary as an individual Razorback All-American.
“KT ran a really smart prelim,” said Bucknam. “Any time you get into a final like that in that race, it’s a danger race. For him to do that shows his experience. I know that he wished he had a little faster time and faster run in the final.
“To go along with his dad Gary, that doesn’t happen very often in the world of sports, certainly in track and field. So glad to see it and so happy for them. It was a big two points for us today.”
Competing in the pole vault after contesting the heptathlon the past two days, Etamar Bhastekar tied for 12th at 17-4½ (5.30).
Collegiate record holder KC Lightfoot of Baylor cleared 19-5½ (5.93) in winning the event while setting a meet and facility record. The previous NCAA meet record was 19-4¾ (5.91) set by Akron’s Shawn Barber in 2015 while the facility record of 19-5 (5.92) was established by LSU’s Mondo Duplantis in 2019.
