Razorback Roundup -- April 5

RAZORBACK ROUNDUPApril 5, 2010BASEBALL (22-6, 6-3): The 10th-ranked Razorbacks posted a 4-1 record last week with a midweek sweep of Centenary and a series win over Kentucky. Arkansas overwhelmed Centenary in game one, 18-2, and came back to the following day for a 9-4 victory. After a 12-8 loss to Kentucky in the series opener, Arkansas responded with wins Saturday and Sunday to clinch the series. In Saturday’s game, Drew Smyly pitched seven innings and allowed just one run. Travis Sample had a career-high three hits and drove in a pair of runs to pace the Hogs’ offense. In the weekend finale, Arkansas and Kentucky combined to score 33 runs but it was Collin Kuhn’s game-winning grand slam in the bottom of the ninth with two outs that was the deciding factor. It was the first grand slam of his Razorback career and his sixth home run of the season. Arkansas has four games this week, a Wednesday home contest against Saint Louis at 6:35 p.m. and a weekend conference series at Mississippi State. The monthly Swatter’s Club meeting will also be held Monday (today) at the Clarion Inn at noon.FOOTBALL: Arkansas started spring practice last Wednesday and completed its first week of workouts this past Saturday. This week, the Razorbacks continue with practices on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. The Red-White Spring Game presented by Cox Digital Cable will be held April 24 and kickoff is set for 6 p.m. MEN’S GOLF: The Razorbacks compete at the Morris Williams Invitational Monday (today) and Tuesday at the University of Texas Golf Club in Austin, Texas. The Razorbacks finished second at the event a year ago behind Oklahoma State and face an 18-team field at the 2010 event. Senior David Lingmerth finished fourth a year ago with a score of 218, five-over-par, and was Arkansas’ top finisher.WOMEN’S GOLF: Junior Kelli Shean posted an even-par 72, leading No. 39 Arkansas to its best score of the weekend at the Bryan National Collegiate in Greensboro, N.C., Sunday. Shean finished tied for 14th overall with a 221, including rounds of 72-77-72 for the three-day event. She led the Razorbacks to a 297, their best score of the tournament, and a 13th-place finish with 903 (306-300-297). Arkansas next travels to the SEC Championship April 16-18, in Tuscaloosa, Ala.GYMNASTICS (8-9-1, 2-3-1): No. 9 Arkansas is at UCLA on Saturday for the NCAA West Regional at 8 p.m.. Arkansas is the second seed. No. 3 UCLA is the top seed. Other teams are No. 17 Iowa State, No. 21 Arizona, No. 26 Brigham Young and No. 32 Arizona State. Arkansas is in a regional for the seventh straight season and looking to advance to the NCAA Championship for the third straight year and fourth time overall. The top two teams from each of the six regionals advance to the NCAA Championship, which is April 22-24 in Gainesville, Fla. Senior All-American Casey Jo Magee and sophomore All-American Jaime Pisani each earned All-SEC honors. They are the fourth and fifth selections in program history. This is the second straight year two Razorbacks have been named all-conference. Last year, Magee and Michelle Stout, who is out this year with an injury but is expected back next season, were All-SEC. Magee is the first two-time All-SEC selection for the Razorbacks.SOFTBALL (24-13, 8-3): Arkansas won its third SEC series of the year last weekend as it traveled to Athens, Ga., and won two of three games against No. 8/11 Georgia. The Razorbacks swept Friday’s doubleheader and extended their winning streak in SEC play to a school record six games. The Razorbacks opened conference play with an 8-2 record, the best start in school history. The back-to-back wins over Georgia represent the first time Arkansas has accomplished that feat since 2001. That was also the last time Arkansas won a three-game series against the Bulldogs. In the series finale, Arkansas fell 4-0. The Razorbacks have won 16 of their last 20 games after a midweek split against Tulsa. Arkansas returns to action with a three-game weekend series against No. 9/6 Florida at Bogle Park. The series begins Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. CDT.MEN’S TENNIS (10-12, 1-7): On the road in Alabama this past weekend, the Hogs dropped matches to SEC rivals Auburn and No. 33 Alabama. Against Auburn, Arkansas trailed the Tigers the entire match but sophomore Matt Walters kick started the Hogs with a win. Freshman Mike Ward followed with a win at the No. 6 position over Michel Monteiro, 6-1, 7-6(5). Next to pin up a win for Arkansas was No. 60 Christopher Nott at the No. 1 position. Nott earned the win over No. 20 Tim Puetz, 6-3, 7-5. The match was decided at the No. 2 position where Dmitry Lebdedv and Tim Hewitt battled. Hewitt took the win and the match for the Tigers in three sets. On Sunday, the Hogs were at Alabama. The Crimson Tide took the doubles point and clinched the match with wins on courts one, three and four. Arkansas returns to action this weekend for a pair of conference matches at the George M. Billingsley Tennis Center. The Hogs host Vanderbilt on Friday at 1:30 p.m. and play Kentucky on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.WOMEN’S TENNIS (14-7, 4-4): The 22nd-ranked Razorbacks went 2-0 last week, moving into second in the SEC’s Western Division with Friday’s 6-1 victory over No. 50 Auburn and Sunday’s 6-1 victory over Alabama. Kate Lukosmkaya clinched the Auburn victory with a win at No. 2 while No. 65 Anouk Tigu knocked off No. 54 Fani Chifchieva at No. 1. Against Alabama, Emily Carbone clinched with win at No. 3 while Tigu recorded a win over No. 47 Alexa Guarachi at No. 1. The Razorbacks are at Vanderbilt at 2:30 on Friday and at Kentucky on Sunday.MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD: At the Texas Relays, the Razorbacks picked up a win in the 4×1,500-meter relay (15:26.43), a bronze finish in the 4×800-meter relay (7:30.87), a ninth-place finish in the sprint medley relay (3:22.68) and a 10th-place finish in the distance medley relay (9:56.37). Arkansas won its 12th-straight title in the 4×1,500-meter relay. Arkansas has won 19 4×1,500-meter relay titles since the start of the event in 1925 with its first win in 1951. The Hogs have 56 Texas Relays titles since the meet’s inception in 1925. Arkansas anchor leg junior Michael Chinchar is a three-time winner in the event. In their first collegiate decathlons, sophomore Terry Prentice finished 14th (6,540 points) and freshman Matt Kirbos was 18th (6,123). Prentice’s total is the No. 4 mark in school history while Kirbos’ total is the No. 6 mark in school history. Arkansas hosts the John McDonnell Invitational on Saturday.WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD: At the Texas Relays, the Razorbacks took wins in the 4×400-meter relay (3:31.20), the 4×800-meter relay (8:35.17), the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the pole vault. They also earned a runner-up finish in the sprint medley relay with a school-record time of (3:44.40). The time in the 4×400-meter and 4×800-meter relays are No. 3 on Arkansas’ all-time list. In her first collegiate steeplechase race, sophomore Taylor Johnson clocked a winning time of 10:50.60. Senior Katie Stripling cleared 13-11.75 to take the pole vault title, her second-straight win in as many weeks. She is a first-time Texas Relays champion. Freshman Leah Orley was seventh in the finals of the 400-meter hurdles (1:00.82). Sophomore Brittany Hyter was ninth in the finals of the 400-meter hurdles (1:01.69). They clocked prelim times of 1:01.67 and 1:01.68, respectively. Junior Shantel Thompson was sixth in the triple jump with a leap of 39-7. Arkansas hosts the John McDonnell Invitational on Saturday.VOLLEYBALL: The Razorbacks hosted an alumni event this past weekend. The alumni roster was scheduled to feature Kim (Storey) Chronister (1995-98), Kelli Cole (2004-07), Jessica Dorrell (2004-07), Christina Lawrence (2004-08), Ashley Miller (2004-07), Jessica (Field) Phelan (1995-98), Kristin Seaton (2005-09) and Jenny (Rangelova) Kirk (2000-01). Destiny Clark (2005-08) and Anna (Velikanova) Vester (2000-02) were also in attendance but did not play. In addition to Saturday’s alumni match, the players–past and current–enjoyed an outing to the Arkansas baseball game Friday against Kentucky at Baum Stadium. The Razorbacks continue their spring exhibition schedule this weekend at the Blue Valley West Tournament in Overland Park, Kan., and face Creighton, Kansas State and Saint Louis.