Arkansas’ Davonte Davis (11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) said JD Notae’s shot at the buzzer that fell in didn’t surprise teammates at all.
Razorbacks keep rolling with 17th straight win, downing South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Arkansas hit two home runs, and pitcher Mary Haff struck out 10 in a 4-1 victory over South Carolina in the SEC opener at Carolina Softball Stadium on Friday night.
The Razorbacks (18-2, 1-0 SEC) added to the school record by winning their 17th straight game, and for the third straight year won the league opener against a ranked opponent.
With infielder Braxton Burnside and designated player Linnie Malkin’s home runs, the Razorbacks lead the SEC hitting 49 bombs this season, which is tied for ninth-most in a single-season in program history.
How it happened
Haff sizzled through the first three innings, facing two over the minimum and striking out five. In the second, she wiggled out of a two on, one out mini jam by striking out the side.
She coasted through the third and fourth stanzas, facing the minimum while striking out three and throwing just 14 pitches.
After outfielder Sam Torres was hit by a pitch, Burnside broke up the scoreless game in the top of the fifth, giving Arkansas a 2-0 lead on a two-run homer to left.
Burnside’s 12 homers this year lead the SEC and rank second nationally. South Carolina (13-4, 0-1 SEC) cut the lead in half in the frame’s home side on three singles.
Haff limited the damage and stranded runners on first and second, with third baseman Nicole Duncan’s diving grab on a popped up bunt serving as the key play.
Malkin immediately got the run back leading off the sixth, rocketing a moonshot homer to left, which gave Arkansas a 3-1 lead.
The Razorbacks added an insurance run as outfielder Ryan Jackson worked a walk and was sacrificed to second by outfielder Larissa Cesena, setting up Lauren Graves’ pinch hit RBI single.
Haff (11-1) pitched tremendously and allowed just six singles with 10 strikeouts. She did not walk a hitter and picked up her nation-leading 11th win.
Kelsey Oh (1-3) went the distance for South Carolina, allowing seven hits, four earned runs and three walks with three strikeouts. Arkansas out-hit the Gamecocks, 7-6.
The Razorbacks and Gamecocks play the middle game of the series at 1 p.m. CT tomorrow, March 13 on SEC Network+.
Martin recapping Tigers’ loss to Razorbacks in SEC Tournament
Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin talked with the media about the offensive fouls making it hard to get momentum on offense.
Razorbacks suffer second loss of spring on road at South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Arkansas women’s tennis dropped a 4-0 decision at South Carolina on Friday, the second of the spring.
Arkansas came out strong against South Carolina’s doubles duos but ultimately dropped the doubles point with losses on courts two and three.
Razorback pair Morgan Cross and Indianna Spink fell to No. 20 Silvia Chinellato and Emma Shelton 6-1 and shortly after, Kelly Keller and partner Laura Rijkers dropped a 6-2 decision to Gamecock duo Ana Cruz and Alli Gretkowski.
The Razorbacks were on the hunt for four singles wins but South Carolina’s momentum was too much to overcome.
Rijkers was the first to finish for Arkansas, falling to Gretkowski on court five 6-1, 6-2. On court three, senior Tatum Rice dropped her first set to Chinellato 6-1 and despite making the right adjustments in the second set, dropped her match to Chinellato 6-1, 6-3.
South Carolina managed to clinch the match on court four, as Arkansas’ Cross fought back against the attack of No. 93 Shelton.
Cross showed great promise in the second set after losing the first, but eventually fell to Shelton in straight sets 6-1, 6-4.
There was no lack of gritty play in the Razorbacks today, with Keller leading one set none on court two against No. 36 Megan Davies.
Freshman Indianna Spink was bouncing back on court one, leading No. 34 Mia Horvit 4-1 in the second set. Senior Lauren Alter was holding strong as Arkansas’ No. 6, leading Cruz 1-0 in the second set after dropping the first 7-6 (6).
Sunday’s match at Florida is set for a noon start.
Listen to Hogs-Tigers online here or on ESPN Arkansas stations
• Who: No. 8 Arkansas Razorbacks (21-5, 13-4 SEC) vs. Missouri Tigers (16-8, 10-8 SEC)
• What: Arkansas is 14-2 in SEC Quarterfinal games.
• When: Friday, March 12, 6 p.m. (pregame starts at 5:30 p.m.).
• Where: Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
• TV: SEC Network (Tom Hart and Jimmy Dykes) CLICK HERE
• ONLINE: HitThatLine.com LISTEN HERE
• Radio: ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home (Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — No. 8 Arkansas opens SEC Tournament play Friday in the quarterfinal round against Missouri, who downed Georgia on Thursday night.
Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. and is on the SEC Network.
Pregame coverage starts at 5:30 p.m. and you can LISTEN HERE or on the radio at ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home or ESPN Northwest Arkansas 99.5 in Fayetteville.
Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman will have all the coverage.
Arkansas is the No. 2 seed in the tournament, Missouri is seventh.
• Arkansas is 27-27 all-time at the SEC Tournament and 14-2 when playing in the SEC quarterfinal round.
• Arkansas is 6-7 all-time at Bridgestone Arena. Arkansas has reached the final of two SEC Tournaments played at Bridgestone Arena (2015 and 2017).
• The Razorbacks have reached the semifinals in three of the last seven SEC Tournaments (2015, 2017 and 2018).
Arkansas defeated Vanderbilt last year, 86-73, in the opening round:
• Desi Sills scored 20 off the bench, making 5-8 FG (5-of-6 3PT).
• The game was the last competition in the SEC (in any sport) until this past fall before the rest of the season was canceled Feb. 12 due to covid-19.
• Eric Musselman is 3-0 in games played at Bridgestone Arena, winning two games with Nevada in the 2018 NCAA Tournament and going 1-0 at last year’s SEC Tournament. Musselman is 7-3 when coaching in a conference tournament and 14-7 overall as a collegiate head coach in the postseason.
Torres just glad basketball being played after big void last year
Fox Sports Radio’s Aaron Torres is happy conference tournaments are being played and finds out Hogs’ Jailyn Williams won’t play in SEC Tournament.
Tabor on staying more focused going on road in college baseball
Former Razorbacks pitcher Scott Tabor talked on The Morning Rush about how going on the road will require more concentration.
Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast – Preview Hogs/Mizzou, BSB vs. LA-Tech, & Girl Scout Cookies
Tye and Tommy are joined by Clay Henry today, previewing Arkansas/Missouri in the SEC Tournament, preview Arkansas Baseball’s weekend series with LA-Tech with Scott Tabor, and their opinions of the world-famous girl scout cookies. All that and more!
Don’t expect anything to be settled soon at quarterback for Hogs
We’ll find out this year with Arkansas if players can make enough dramatic improvements from one year to the next to make a difference.
Sam Pittman is talking positive about this team making off-season improvements, but even he acknowledged Monday that’s kinda normal.
“Everybody says they’ve had a good off-season, but we have,” he said.
He does have a lot of returning starters coming back from a team that was 3-7. Considering the covid issues, you can try to translate that to a normal year any way you want.
The hope for Razorback fans is that Bear Bryant was wrong in 1971 before the season when it was pointed out to him he didn’t have a lot of starters coming back from back-to-back 6-5 teams.
“Worst damn thing in the world is to have a bunch of guys coming back from a bad team,” he grumbled.
The Hogs have a bunch of guys returning, but the most important player from last year had a pro day for NFL scouts earlier this week and Feleipe Franks will get a shot to be playing on Sundays.
He won’t be back and that’s the biggest question mark.
KJ Jefferson has the job right now and, apparently, he’s going to have to lose it. In the 50 minutes or so the media got to watch practice Thursday he was inconsistent, to be polite.
It’s clear he’s got the arm strength to throw the ball through a brick wall but the question is, well, which wall was he aiming for? Especially on deep passes (at one point he overthrew four fade routes … 40 yards downfield).
He’s good running the ball and better throwing on the run, but in the SEC sooner or later you’ve got to hit the deep passes or you’re going to have a problem.
Against Missouri in his only start, he threw enough that he finally hit a deep one to Treylon Burks.
It’s spring and it’s early, though. There are no warning bells … yet. Way too early for that based on a very limited number of displays.
What Jefferson has is teammates and coaches pulling for him.
“He’s getting better every day and our timing is getting better every day,” wide receiver Mike Woods said Thursday after practice.
Things are also different off the field, too.
“He’s being a lot more vocal,” Woods said. “We have a lot more communication with him. Even when we come off the field and shoot him a text, or whatever, we just have a lot more communication between him and the receivers.”
Pittman made it clear Monday that Jefferson is No. 1. The media hasn’t had Jefferson for interviews since he’s been here, but we were told Thursday after Zooms with Woods and linebacker Bumper Pool that was coming soon.
The guy that is the most intriguing at quarterback is Malik Hornsby, who threw a nice, deep fade pass on the money to John David White.
That is a tough route that requires arm strength, touch and accuracy because the only way to describe it is take a trash can 40 yards away and try to drop the ball into it.
“Malik looks great,” Woods said. “We all know he’s a speedster. He’s got a rocket for an arm. It will be a great battle this season.”
All of which is why you have to wonder if Jefferson being named No. 1 right now is as much trying to boost his confidence as anything else.
The guess is there’s a lot of time before the season kicks off.
And Jefferson still has to earn the job.
Missouri’s Martin after downing Georgia to advance to face Hogs
The Tigers downed Georgia on Thursday night and move ahead in the SEC Tournament against Arkansas for third time this year.
