Arkansas Baseball Notebook

May 27, 2007

Week: 3-1

Overall Record: 41-19

SEC Record: 18-12 – SEC Western Division Champions / 2nd Overall / SEC Tournament Runner-Up

Wednesday, May 23: #15 Arkansas 6, Alabama 0

Thursday, May 24: #15 Arkansas 6, #9 South Carolina 0

Saturday, May 26: #15 Arkansas 3, #9 South Carolina 2

Sunday, May 27: #1 Vanderbilt 7, #15 Arkansas 4

Noting the Razorbacks

No. 15 Arkansas came up just short of its first SEC Tournament championship on Sunday afternoon with a hard-fought 7-4 loss to top-ranked Vanderbilt … the Commodores evened the season series with the Razorbacks at two games apiece with the win … UA tied a school record with four players earning All-SEC Tournament recognition as Nick Schmidt, Jess Todd, Danny Hamblin and Casey Coon were honored … Schmidt and Todd were named first-team All-SEC prior to the start of the SEC Tournament with Dallas Keuchel gaining Freshmen All-SEC honors as a relief pitcher … Arkansas was also named a NCAA Regional host on Sunday … it is the second straight year for the Hogs to host a regional and the fourth in school history … the Razorbacks strung together three of the best starting pitching performances in recent memory to open the tournament … Nick Schmidt got things started with a 6-0 shutout of Alabama as he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and finished with a two-hit shutout – the first complete-game shutout of his career … the two hits allowed by Schmidt were an SEC Tournament record … Jess Todd followed that with one of the most dominating pitching performances in school history with a school and SEC Tournament record 17 strikeouts in a 6-0 win over No. 9 South Carolina … he allowed just two hits over eight innings while striking out the first nine batters of the game swinging … Duke Welker then found his groove on the mound in the semifinal game on Saturday to once again beat the ninth-ranked Gamecocks – this time 3-2 to advance the championship game … he allowing just one run over seven innings with eight strikeouts … it was the first back-to-back shutouts for the Razorbacks since 1989 … Keuchel was hit hard in his start on Sunday, but the Razorbacks’ bullpen showed why they can be counted on down the stretch, allowing just three runs over the final eight innings with eight strikeouts … Arkansas’ top-three starting pitchers compiled a 0.37 ERA in 24-of-27 innings over the first three games with 31 strikeouts and a .131 opponent batting average … for the tournament the Razorbacks’ entire pitching staff compiled a 1.50 ERA with 41 strikeouts and a .200 opponent batting average … UA did not allow a run over the first 20 innings of the SEC Tournament, snapping a streak of 25.1 consecutive scoreless innings in the third inning on Saturday … the streak began in the final regular-season game of the season … Travis Hill also made two appearances, allowing just one run and saving his third game of the season on Saturday vs. South Carolina … the offense was paced by Jeff Nutt, Coon, Logan Forsythe, Hamblin and Wayne Hrozek … Nutt led the way with a .417 batting average, a double and a .533 on-base percentage … Coon hit .385 with three RBI and a .500 on-base percentage … Forsythe it .333 with a home run, four RBI and a .500 on-base percentage … Hamblin connected for two home runs to give him 22 on the season and pass Ryan Lundquist for the career home run record at Arkansas (57) … he also hit .308 with six RBI and a .769 slugging percentage … Coon now has 70 RBI, while Hamblin has 60 and Forsythe 50 this year … UA is 36-9 this season and 3-0 this week when scoring first … the Razorbacks are also 38-0 when leading after eight innings and 29-10 when their starting pitcher goes at least five innings.

National Pitcher of the Week Nominee

Jr. RHP Jess Todd and Jr. LHP Nick Schmidt

· The duo of Nick Schmidt and Jess Todd turned in two of the most dominant performances in recent memory at the SEC Tournament

· Nick Schmidt got things started with his first career complete-game shutout in a 6-0 win over Alabama on Wednesday.

· Schmidt took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Crimson Tide and allowed just two infield hits with six strikeouts to improve to 10-3 on the season with a 2.85 ERA. The two hits allowed were the fewest in SEC Tournament history. Schmidt has five complete games this season.

· Todd followed that with a record breaking performance of his own on Thursday against No. 9 South Carolina. He fanned an Arkansas and an SEC Tournament record 17 Gamecock batters, including the first nine of the game.

· Todd allowed just two hits over eight innings – both singles – en route to a 9-2 record. He has a 0.91 ERA over his six starts with 64 strikeouts and a 5-0 mark during that span.

Records Watch

On the individual career record watch Danny Hamblin became the career leader in home runs with 57 after his 22nd homer of the season in the SEC Tournament Championship Game on Sunday … he passed Ryan Lundquist, who had 56 from 1996-99 … he is also first player in school history with 900 at bats and currently has 926 … Hamblin is third in hits (281), third in doubles (61), fourth in runs scored (199), second in RBI (219), second in total bases (519), third in sacrifice flies (16), tied for first in games played (242), sixth in walks (116) and second extra-base hits (121) … Jake Dugger is Arkansas’ career leader in walks (162), tied for third in games (235), fourth in at bats (848), seventh in home runs (34), seventh in runs (180), ninth in RBI (157), seventh in total bases (390), eighth in hits (239) and tied for seventh in hit by pitches (27) … LHP Nick Schmidt is second in career starts (51), third in career wins (27), third in innings pitched (333.1) and tied for eighth in ERA (2.89).

On the single-season charts, Hamblin is second in home runs with 22 … Casey Coon is ninth in RBI (70) and second in hit by pitches (21) … Schmidt is tied for eighth in victories (10), tied for third in starts (18), tied for fifth in innings pitched (117) and sixth in strikeouts (107) … Jess Todd is fourth in strikeouts (124) and Duke Welker is tied for third in starts (18).

The Razorbacks are also quickly moving up the record books in team categories as well … UA’s 102 hit by pitches are a school record … 127 doubles are tied for eighth all time … the Hogs’ 70 home runs are tied for fifth-most … the 410 RBI and 280 walks rank ninth … the 34 sacrifice flies are tied for fifth … the 36 sacrifice hits are 10th … the 534 innings pitched are 10th … the 534 strikeouts are second … five shutouts are ninth.