Razorback Roundup -- March 2

RAZORBACK ROUNDUPMarch 9, 2009BASEBALL (5-1) No. 21 Arkansas earned rankings in both the Rivals.com and National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association polls last week. The Razorbacks responded with a 2-1 week coming from behind to defeat Kansas on Wednesday on a walk-off home run by Jacob House in the 10th. The Hogs then dispatched Western Illinois on Friday night with a 10th inning triple by Brett Eibner to earn an 8-7 victory. Weather forced the cancellation of games on Saturday and Sunday at Baum Stadium. No make up has been scheduled at this time. The Razorbacks return to the field on Tuesday for a two-game series with Valparaiso before welcoming California to Baum Stadium for a three-game set starting on Friday.MEN’S BASKETBALL (14-13, 2-12) The “Celebration of a Championship” capped the week in which the 1994 national championship team was honored for the first time since winning the NCAA title. Festivities included a banquet on Saturday, an autograph session with fans prior to the game on Sunday, and the team and staff being recognized on the court at halftime of the Georgia game. Five Razorbacks scored in double figures as the Hogs topped Georgia, 89-67. Freshman Rotnei Clarke had 19 points, and junior Michael Washington his 11th double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. On Wednesday, Arkansas fell at Alabama, 88-67. This week, the Razorbacks play host to Ole Miss in their final regular-season home game on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. The game is not televised. On Sunday, Arkansas closes the regular season with a 1:05 p.m. contest at Vanderbilt, which is being televised by Raycom Sports. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (17-12, 6-8) Tom Collen’s team closed the regular season at 6-8 in SEC play — the best record since 2003 — and enters the 2009 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament as the eighth-seed, facing Ole Miss on Thursday, March 5, at noon in North Little Rock’s ALLTEL Arena. The Razorbacks lost their final regular season game to the SEC champion Auburn Tigers, 94-57, on Sunday. Senior Whitney Jones had a career-high 23 points with 10 rebounds to lead the Razorbacks.FOOTBALL Twenty-eight members of the football team were honored for having at least a 3.0 grade point average in the fall 2008 semester. Senior fullback Lance Thompson represented the team on the Academic Champions list with a 4.0 in exercise science. Seven others were chosen to the Athletic Director’s List with a grade point average of 3.50-3.99 and 20 more were selected to the Razorback Honor Roll with grades in the 3.00-3.49 range. MEN’S GOLF The No. 12 Razorbacks will compete in their second tournament of the spring Friday-Sunday at the Seminole Intercollegiate in Tallahassee, Fla. Arkansas will face SEC teams Auburn, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt with the field also including Alabama-Birmingham, Boston College, College of Charleston, Maryland, Virginia and Western Carolina. The 54-hole event is hosted by Florida State at the par-72, 6,965-yard Golden Eagle Country Club.WOMEN’S GOLF Arkansas returns to action at the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic in Baton Rouge, La., March 13-15.GYMNASTICS (6-4, 3-3) Junior Casey Jo Magee earned her sixth all-around title of the year as the No. 10 Razorbacks just missed the upset at No. 6 LSU Friday in Baton Rouge, La. Junior Michelle Stout was second, followed by freshman Jaime Pisani as the Razorbacks went 1-2-3 in the all-around competition. Arkansas returns to Fayetteville by hosting No. 18 Minnesota in the final regular season meet of the year Friday at 7 p.m. MEN’S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD Second-ranked Arkansas won its 28th conference title, 17th SEC indoor title and head coach Chris Bucknam’s first SEC title last weekend. The Hogs picked up event wins in the 800 meters (Alex McClary), the mile (Dorian Ulrey), the 3K (Dorian Ulrey) and the distance medley relay.WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD No. 11 Arkansas finished third at the SEC Championships last weekend. The Hogs picked up event wins in the 5K (Christine Kalmer) and the long jump (Peter-Gaye Beckford). Arkansas also had runner-up finishes in the 3K, 5K, the 4×400-meter and the distance medley relays.SOFTBALL (9-7): Arkansas opened the doors of its new home, Bogle Park, by hosting the Holiday Inn-NWA Razorback Invitational. The Razorbacks welcomed teams from Ball State, Bradley, South Dakota State and Wichita State. In their home opener, the Razorbacks reached double digits on the scoreboard for the first time this season with a 10-5 victory over Bradley. Sandra Smith had the first hit by an Arkansas player in Bogle Park, Kayla Johnson hit a two-run shot in the third inning and Brittany Robison hit a grand slam in the sixth. Against BSU, freshman Tori Mort scored the game’s only run with an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the fourth. The game was suspended (weather) in the top of the sixth and went official when the game could not be resumed. Play on Saturday and Sunday was called off due to inclement weather. The Razorbacks return to the field Saturday-Sunday for the Oklahoma State Mizuno Classic in Stillwater, Okla.SWIMMING AND DIVING (10-1, 3-1) The No. 18 Razorbacks were idle last weekend after illnesses kept them from traveling to Columbia, Mo., for the NCAA Last Chance Invite. The team is idle this week as well as it prepares for the NCAA post-season meets, beginning with the NCAA Zone Diving Championships March 12-15 in Columbia, Mo. MEN’S TENNIS (6-3): The No. 47 Hogs were idle last week, and open SEC play and the outdoor season with Alabama at 1:30 p.m. on Friday and Auburn at 1 p.m. on Sunday at the George M. Billingsley Tennis Center.WOMEN’S TENNIS (5-2): Seventeenth-ranked Arkansas split its home stand, losing 5-2 to No. 69 SMU before crushing Memphis, 7-0. In the victory, the Razorbacks won all nine matches with sophomore No. 92 Anouk Tigu and freshman Emily Carbone each claiming their 20th singles win on the season. Arkansas begins SEC action Friday at No. 63 Alabama and Sunday at No. 25 Auburn. OLYMPIC SPORTS PRESS CONFERENCETuesday at 1 p.m. in the Barnhill Arena interview room.