Razorback Roundup -- May 4

RAZORBACK ROUNDUPMay 4, 2009BASEBALL (31-14, 14-9): Arkansas went 2-2 on the week against two of the nation’s best teams with a midweek victory over then-No. 9 Oklahoma, 8-7 in 10 innings, before taking the first of three games with No. 4 LSU, 11-4, and falling 5-0 and 4-3. The Razorbacks are now 10-5 against ranked teams and 5-4 against teams ranked among the top 10. Sunday afternoon’s game with LSU set an Arkansas record for tickets sold in a season as the Razorbacks ended the day with 238,194, breaking last year’s mark of 236,522; Arkansas still has four home games remaining. In the national polls last week, the Razorbacks remained steady, even improving in some; the Hogs ranked as high as No. 7 in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and as low as No. 12 in both Baseball America and the Collegiate Baseball Writers. The Razorbacks’ extra inning win against Oklahoma on Tuesday night was their sixth extra inning game of the season; the Razorbacks are 6-0 when a game goes more than nine innings and all six games Arkansas has won in 10 innings. Sophomore Brett Eibner was the catalyst to Arkansas’ victory against Oklahoma as he hit two home runs and won the game with a walk-off walk. Freshman Zack Cox continues to swing a hot bat for the Razorbacks, batting over .500 a week ago and following it up with a .400 week. Junior Dallas Keuchel continues to be a force on the mound for the Razorbacks as he won his seventh game of the season on Friday night against LSU. Keuchel is now 6-1 in SEC games and ranks second in the league in wins. Sophomore Andy Wilkins belted a pair of home runs this week to give him 15 on the year, the most since Danny Hamblin hit 22 in 2007. The Razorbacks have no midweek games this week because of finals and travel to Alabama this weekend for another pivotal SEC matchup.MEN’S BASKETBALL: Juniors Stephen Cox and John Paul Noland, and redshirt freshman Michael Sanchez have all been named to the Southeastern Conference’s Winter Academic Honor Roll. Head coach John Pelphrey also announced the signing of freshman forward Glenn Bryant (6-7, 190, Oak Hill Academy) of Roseville, Mich., and junior forward Delvon Johnson (6-9, 220, Indian Hills CC) of Richton, Ill. Freshmen forwards Andre Clark and Brandon Moore have decided to transfer. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Coach Tom Collen signed his first player for the 2009 spring National Letter of Intent period with Skye Rees of nearby Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. A former top Australian prep player with considerable experience in the youth leagues of Victoria, Rees averaged 17.0 ppg and 6.0 rpg last season for the Lady Norse at NEO A&M. An honor student at the JUCO, Rees’ teams went 46-16 her two seasons at Northeastern. Back home in Drouin, Australia, Rees played prep basketball in the southern state of Victoria from 2003 to 2007. She was a member of the Victoria Under-20 team that won the national tournament in 2007.FOOTBALL: More than 500 University of Arkansas faculty members were in attendance at the Arkansas Red-White Spring Game to participate in Faculty Appreciation Day. The event was held to show appreciation to faculty for their efforts and desire to continue to enhance a partnership in higher education. This is the second time the event has been hosted and this year’s attendance total doubled that of 2008. Faculty members of all ages and their guests were entertained in the East Indoor Club in Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium as they viewed the game. Faculty members were encouraged to bring their children, many of which were seeing the Razorbacks for the first time. The faculty members were part of a crowd of 30,000 who attended the spring game. MEN’S GOLF: Seventh-ranked Arkansas awaits word of its NCAA Regional Championship selection via a selection show later today (Monday). Head coach Brad McMakin earned SEC Coach of the Year honors and three Razorbacks were recognized by the league office last week. McMakin is the first Arkansas coach to earn SEC Coach of the Year honors. Andrew Landry was named first-team All-SEC and David Lingmerth to the second team while Ethan Tracy is on the all-freshman team. Regionals are scheduled for May 14-16 at one of six pre-determined sites. Should Arkansas advance, it will take part in the NCAA Championship May 26-30 at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. WOMEN’S GOLF: The 16th-ranked Razorbacks depart Tuesday for the 2009 NCAA West Regional Championship in Tempe, Ariz. The Razorbacks hope their game is as hot as the forecasted 99-degree temperatures as they fight for one of the top eight finishes, allowing them to move on to the NCAA Championship in Owings Mills, Md.MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD: At Stanford’s Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational late Saturday night, Shawn Forrest set a school record in the 10,000 meters. Running in the top heat of the 10K, Forrest clocked a time of 27:52.10 for a bronze finish. He finished first among collegians with his school record time. He replaced the previous school record of 28:07.27 set by former Razorback Josphat Boit in 2005. Forrest’s time is a personal best by 30 seconds, leads the SEC by nearly 30 seconds, ranks second in the NCAA and is the ninth-fastest in the world for 2009. With his time, he is now automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships in the event. James Strang competed in the second section of the 5,000 meters. With his time of 14:05.40, he finished 16th overall and 11th among collegians. His time is an NCAA regional qualifier and ranks eighth in the SEC.WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD: Distance runners Christine Kalmer and Jillian Rosen improved their regional-qualifying marks late Saturday night at Stanford’s Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational. Kalmer, competing in the 5,000 meters, clocked a time of 16:11.77 to finish 11th overall and fifth among collegians. Her time is a personal best and an improved regional qualifier. She currently ranks fourth in the SEC. Rosen, competing in the 1,500 meters, clocked a time of 4:23.61 to finish 11th overall and ninth among collegians. Also improving her regional qualifier, Rosen’s time is a personal best and ranks fourth in the SEC. Before the rain took over Friday at the Arkansas Twilight, freshman Whitney Jones finished second overall and first among collegians in the long jump. Her best jump of the day measured 20-1.75 and is an improved personal best and regional qualifier. She ranks third in the SEC. Katie Stripling won her fifth-straight pole vault competition of the season. She cleared 13-11.75 to lead a 1-3-4-5-6-8 finish for Arkansas in the event.SOFTBALL (27-26, 10-16): The Razorbacks closed the regular season with a 2-2 record this week. Against UMKC in a midweek doubleheader, the Arkansas bats broke out of a recent slump with a 23-run outburst. In game one, Kayla Johnson had two RBI, Miranda Dixon had a two-hit effort and Kim Jones earned her 11th complete game of the season to lift the team to a 7-1 victory. In game two, the Razorbacks collected a season-high 16 runs and 18 hits. Four players had at least two RBI and six players at least two hits, including Dixon who blasted her 10th home run of the season. With the two-run shot, she became the first player in school history with back-to-back seasons of double-digit home runs. Inclement weather delayed the start of Arkansas’ weekend series with Georgia. The teams finally met Sunday and the ninth-ranked Bulldogs came away with a pair of wins at Bogle Park. In defeat, Dixon hit her 11th home run of the season, a two-run knock to right field. The 2009 seniors, Brandy Baze, Whitney Cloer, Brandy Foust, Hillary Freeman, Amie Hubbard, Johnson and Jocelyne Moncrief, were recognized and honored during the break between games. Despite the losses, Arkansas travels to Knoxville, Tenn., as the No. 7 seed in the SEC Tournament. The first round opponent is second-seeded Alabama. Game time is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. (CT) from Sherri Parker Lee Stadium on the University of Tennessee campus.MEN’S TENNIS (10-14, 2-9): Senior Blake Strode was announced as the No. 15 seed in the NCAA Men’s Tennis Singles Championship last week. The draws for the tournament, which runs May 20-25, will be announced May 19. Strode also garnered Southeastern Conference honors last week as he was named the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and first-team All-SEC.WOMEN’S TENNIS (13-7, 8-3): Arkansas is hosting an NCAA Regional this week. The Razorbacks are the No. 1 seed and face fourth-seeded Oral Roberts Saturday at 3 p.m. at the George M. Billingsley Center. The first match on Saturday has second-seeded TCU playing third-seeded Tulsa at noon. The two winners play Sunday at 2 p.m. Arkansas advanced to the Elite Eight last year with wins over No. 46 Wake Forest, No. 14 North Carolina and No. 2 Georgia. OLYMPIC SPORTS PRESS CONFERENCE:Tuesday at 1 p.m. in the Barnhill Arena interview room.