Razorback Roundup -- April 12

RAZORBACK ROUNDUPApril 12, 2010BASEBALL (26-6, 9-3): The Razorbacks posted a 4-0 record last week with a midweek win over Saint Louis and a weekend sweep at Mississippi State. Arkansas beat Saint Louis 32-8. The Hogs scored 14 runs in the first inning, the school record for runs scored in an inning. Arkansas’ 32 runs are the second-most in program history. The Razorbacks also tied the school mark with 30 team RBI. At MSU, Arkansas earned its first-ever road sweep at Mississippi State. In game one, the Hogs came away with an 8-3 win, which was the 300th win at Arkansas for head coach Dave Van Horn. The Razorbacks took game two, 8-5, and completed the sweep with a 13-3 triumph on Sunday. With the win, Arkansas moved into first place in the SEC Western Division with the help of an LSU loss at Auburn. Collin Kuhn was recognized by CollegeBaseball360 last week as a Primetime Performer. It was the third consecutive week a Razorback was selected to the weekly honor roll. Drew Smyly was selected as the SEC Pitcher of the Week for his seven-inning, five-strikeout performance on the mound against Kentucky in game two of that series. On the upcoming schedule, the Razorbacks will host five games at Baum Stadium, beginning with a Tuesday-Wednesday matchup with New Mexico. Both midweek contests start at 6:35 p.m. Georgia visits Fayetteville for a weekend series to close out the week. Game one of the conference series will be televised by ESPN2 as part of the 2010 SEC baseball television package.MEN’S BASKETBALL: Marshawn Powell earned his first national award over the weekend when Rivals.com named him a third-team Freshman All-American. He is the fourth Razorback in school history to earn a Freshman All-America honor and the second in as many years (Courtney Fortson, 2009). This season Powell averaged 14.9 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds, and was Arkansas’ statistical leader in blocked shots, rebounds and field goal percentage. The Razorbacks are now preparing for the spring signing period which opens this week.WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: The Razorbacks are looking forward to their spring signing period, which begins this week.FOOTBALL: The Razorbacks continue practice this week as Arkansas is in its third week of spring drills. The Red-White Spring Game is scheduled for April 24 and kickoff will be at 6 p.m. MEN’S GOLF: The Razorbacks finished fifth against a very good field at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate in Austin, Texas, last week. Arkansas saved its best round for the final day to finish eight strokes off the pace of Georgia, which won the blustery tournament at 26-over-par. Junior Jamie Marshall and senior David Lingmerth each finished tied for eighth in the individual standings at seven-over-par 220. Marshall shot Arkansas’ best overall round, 70, on the final day to move up the leaderboard. The Razorbacks are back on the course on Friday for the Southeastern Conference Championship at the Sea Island Golf Club on St. Simons Island, Ga.WOMEN’S GOLF: The Razorbacks travel to North River Yacht Club in Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the 2010 SEC Championship Friday through Sunday.GYMNASTICS (12-10-1, 2-3-1): No. 9 Arkansas has advanced to the NCAA Championship for the third straight year and the fourth time in five years. Arkansas’ program has existed for only eight seasons, and the Razorbacks are now in the NCAA Championship for the fourth time and have earned a spot in an NCAA Regional seven consecutive years. The Razorbacks finished second in the NCAA West Regional in Los Angeles this past weekend. The top two teams from each of six regionals advance to the championship. No. 3 UCLA won, followed by Arkansas, No. 21 Arizona, No. 17 Iowa State, No. 32 Arizona State and No. 26 Brigham Young. Arkansas scored 196.675 points, a school record for a regional and the second-highest total ever in any NCAA meet. Arkansas also set an overall school record with a 49.400 on bars. Senior All-American Casey Jo Magee won the regional title on beam, tied for second on floor, was third in the all-around, and tied for fourth on vault and bars. Senior Amy DeFilippo tied for fourth on bars, senior All-American Sarah Nagashima tied for fourth on beam and sophomore All-American Jaime Pisani tied for second on floor. The NCAA Championship is April 22-24 in Gainesville, Fla.SOCCER:Arkansas closes its spring exhibition season with Saturday’s annual alumni match at Razorback Field. The match begins at noon.SOFTBALL (24-16, 8-6): Arkansas lost three games at home this past weekend to No. 4 Florida at Bogle Park. Arkansas fell to 10-6 at home this season. Arkansas was limited to four runs on seven hits over the final two games after coming out the of the gates fast with 10 hits in the series opener. Second baseman Courtney Breault paced the team with a .429 average (3-for-7), one run scored, a double, two RBI and a .571 slugging percentage. Arkansas continues its five-game homestand with a matchup against No. 18/17 Tennessee on Wednesday. First pitch for the midweek doubleheader is scheduled for 5 p.m. The Razorbacks then travel to Baton Rouge, La., for an SEC road series with No. 14 LSU. MEN’S TENNIS (10-14, 1-9): No. 59 Arkansas dropped a pair of SEC matches this past weekend to No. 32 Vanderbilt and No. 11 Kentucky at the George M. Billingsley Center. Highlighting the weekend were junior Matt Hogan and freshman Mike Ward. They went undefeated at the No. 3 and No. 6 positions, respectively. Hogan dominated Alex Zotov of Vanderbilt in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, before defeating Kentucky’s Brad Cox. On court six, Mike Ward controlled the court with wins over ALex DiValerio of Vanderbilt and Alex Lambropoulos of Kentucky. Arkansas wraps up SEC play this week with its final home match against LSU Saturday at 1 p.m. The Razorbacks celebrate senior day immediately following the doubles point. WOMEN’S TENNIS (15-8, 5-5): No. 23 Arkansas took to the road last week to Nashville, Tenn., to take on 31st-ranked Vanderbilt on Friday and Lexington, Ky., to face the Wildcats on Sunday. In the first match, Arkansas won the doubles point behind another strong performance from the team of Kelsey Sundaram and Kate Lukomskaya. In singles, however, Arkansas was only able to win two of six matches and fell, 4-3, at Vanderbilt. The Razorbacks got wins from Sundaram and Stephanie Roy, who each notched their 16th wins of the spring. At Kentucky, the Razorbacks again won the doubles point along with three singles matches to get the 4-3 victory. Arkansas was helped by straight set shutout performances from Sundaram and Claudine Paulson at the No. 5 and 6 spots, respectively. The team has one SEC match remaining at LSU in Baton Rouge, La., on Saturday before the SEC Tournament. The match against the Tigers is at 1 p.m.MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD: Freshman Brede Raa Ellingsen won the high jump, junior LaShawn Butler won the 200 meters and the 4×400-meter relay clocked a season-best time for No. 18 Arkansas at the John McDonnell Invitational on Saturday. Arkansas’ "A" 4×400-meter relay team finished second. The quartet of freshman Chris Muncie, junior Chris Bilbrew, freshman Caleb Cross and sophomore Ben Skidmore clocked a season-best time of 3:10.71. Freshman Brandon Heeger won the hammer event. His toss of 162-8 broke his existing school record of 149-4, set at the Razorback Spring Invitational earlier this season. All of Heeger’s marks were farther than his previous personal best, including two throws of 160+ feet. Ellingsen, in his outdoor debut for Arkansas, won the high jump at 7-1. The Razorbacks compete next when they travel to Austin, Texas, for the Arkansas-Texas dual meet at Mike A. Myers Stadium on Saturday.WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD: Junior Shelise Williams won the 400 meters, sophomore Tina Sutej won the pole vault and the 4×400-meter relay picked up a victory for No. 23 Arkansas at the John McDonnell Invitational on Saturday. The Razorbacks won the final running event of the day, the 4×400-meter relay. The "A" team of senior Karen Thomas, George, Williams and Jones won with a time of 3:37.41. Williams also won the invitational 400 meters. Her time of 52.29 ranks No. 2 in the NCAA and No. 1 in the SEC. Sophomore Tina Sutej finished second overall and first among collegians in the pole vault. She cleared a season- and personal-best 14-1.75. Orley won the 400-meter hurdles with a personal-best of 59.78. The Razorbacks compete next when they travel to Walnut, Calif., for the Mt. SAC Relays Thursday through Saturday. VOLLEYBALL: After two weeks of training, the Razorbacks resume their spring exhibition schedule this weekend with the Blue Valley West Tournament in Overland Park, Kan. Including Arkansas, the four-team field also features Creighton, Kansas State and Saint Louis. Following the tournament, the Razorbacks play Missouri State on April 24 at Barnhill Arena to close out their spring season.