Arkansas
Arkansas wins ugly to extend season; now need just one more to make history
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Over the past 56 games, Arkansas’ season is filled with plenty of different pretty moments.
Three of the program’s 17 no-hitters came within the last three months. Twenty-three run-rule victories is a program record for a season that shattered the old record of 16 (2014).
In an elimination game, none of it was pretty. Lefty starter Payton Burnham was throwing up just hours before she took the mound to spin a complete game shutout.
Although she retired the final 14 hitters, she had to strand a runner on base in each of the first three innings in a 2-0 game.
Burnham had her Jordan flu game moment, battling an illness over the past 36 hours.
“ Resting [and] recovering,” Burnham said. “Just trying to get back to at least 80% as fast as possible.”
The Arkansas offense, ranked eighth in runs in the NCAA that averaged nearly eight runs a game, was held to just six hits on four runs.
All the runs were aided by less than stellar Ole Miss defense.
The two runs in the first came without the ball ever leaving the infield. The two runs in the fifth came directly as a result of a pair of errors.
“It doesn’t matter what it looks like,” coach Courtney Deifel. “Tonight it was a phenomenal performance on defense and our hitters did enough, and that’s really all that matters.”
In a season of pretty wins, historical moments and beauty prizes of offensive brilliance, it was perhaps the most ugly duckling of them all that extended its season an extra day.
“ She wants the ball,” Deifel said about Burnham. “She wants the moment. If you’re gonna be a pitcher, you have to want that. It takes a special breed to do that. She thrives in it, and she was just really excited to feel better.”
Now Arkansas finds themselves in the same position that they were nearly three years ago. The Hogs managed just five hits across seven innings in a decisive game three in 2022 against Texas.
Their season ended with a whimper, as the Longhorns took the ticket to Oklahoma City away from Deifel and the Razorbacks on their home field.
The Hogs look to avoid that same fate three years later, win and make program history.
“ I don’t know another team that would be able to do what they did yesterday,” Deifel said. “Just was incredibly proud of ’em.”
“For them to turn the page from yesterday and show up today and play loose with their backs against the wall, but never feeling that from them was really special.
“They know tomorrow’s about toughness. It’s gonna take a lot of guts, a lot of heart, and a lot of toughness. They’ll be ready.”
Ole Miss doesn’t have the same scar tissue, with the first game being the first Super Regional win in school history. It’s a one game shootout where the pressure cooker gets cranked up to another level.
“Having the ability to let go,” Ole Miss coach Jamie Trachsel said. “The great players, the elite players, they just do it faster than everybody else. We would have liked to win, we didn’t. Our team has done a pretty good job of flushing and moving on.”
First pitch between Ole Miss and Arkansas is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
Arkansas
Vrba Heads to Orlando for ITA Singles Championships
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas men’s tennis team will have a representative at the ITA Singles Championships for the first time since 2022, as Jakub Vrba takes part in the tournament after qualifying through the ITA Central Sectional Championships. The last Razorback to reach this feat was Alex Reco.
Vrba has posted a 9-3 record in ITA singles events, including five wins against ranked opponents. He collected his highest ranked victory of the fall after a win against No. 30 Alexander Bernard (Ohio State). Vrba started the preseason ITA rankings at No. 123 and navigated his way through multiple qualifying tournaments to earn his bid to the NCAA Singles Championships.
No. 123 Vrba will take on No. 49 Peter Benjamin Privara (Harvard) on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 8 a.m. CT in the Round of 64.
The tournament will take place at the UTSA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., with a total of 64 singles player qualifying for the competition. Singles matches begin on Tuesday, Nov. 18, with one round of play taking place each day of the tournament with the championship match being scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 23.
The NCAA Singles Championships bracket is here and will be updated after results are final each day. Live streaming will be available on ESPN+.
For the latest information on all things Arkansas Men’s Tennis, follow the Hogs on social media by liking us on Facebook (Arkansas Razorback Men’s Tennis) and following us on Twitter and Instagram (@RazorbackMTennis).
Arkansas
Kentucky volleyball clinches another SEC title with Arkansas sweep
The Kentucky Wildcats volleyball team swept the Arkansas Razorbacks on Sunday, and completed a sweep of the SEC in the process. The Cats won their 19th straight match 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-12) and finished the regular season with a 22-2 record and 15-0 in the conference. The win gives Kentucky their 9th consecutive SEC championship, edging out the Texas A&M Aggies.
Kentucky jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first set, then extended the lead with a four-point run that put them up 19-12. Brooklyn DeLeye had six kills and the Cats closed it out 25-16.
The second set was a closer one. Arkansas actually took a 9-8 lead early one, but the Wildcats scored four straight points. They’d lead 19-12 at one point, but the Razorbacks fought back valiantly, cutting into the lead, but ultimately fell 25-20.
Set three wasn’t competitive. Kentucky got out to an 18-12 lead, then scored the final seven points of the set to take the set 25-12, and the match 3-0.
Eva Hudson had 15 kills in the match to lead the way for the Wildcats, and DeLeye added 13 of her own along with 3 service aces. Kassie O’Brien had 35 assists.
Next up is the SEC Tournament. Kentucky will play on Sunday, Nov. 23 against an opponent yet to be determined. Congratulations on the SEC championship.
Arkansas
Postgame Thoughts: LSU 23, Arkansas 22
Of all the LSU football games I’ve seen in my life, that was certainly one of them but the Tigers (6-4, 3-4) won its first game in five weeks, clinched bowl eligibility, and held off Arkansas by the slimmest of margins Saturday morning in Tiger Stadium.
Frank Wilson got his first win as interim head coach of the Tigers, while Michael Van Buren, making his first start as quarterback for LSU in place of an injured Garrett Nussmeier, made enough plays with his arms and legs to win. Did he perform well enough to be the clear-cut, unquestioned QB1 for the Tigers heading into 2026? Well…let’s revisit that later.
Maybe it was the early start, but LSU looked completely disinterested in the first quarter of today’s game. Arkansas moved right down the field on the game’s opening drive, but fumbled a toss dive on 3rd and 1 deep in LSU territory to squander that early opportunity.
The Hogs wouldn’t have to mourn the missed chance however, as Arkansas forced an LSU three and out on its opening possession, blocked a Grant Chadwick punt, and recovered it for a touchdown to go up 7-0.
LSU went three and out its second time possessing the ball, and Arkansas’ offense marched methodically down the field to go up 14-0.
To LSU’s credit, the Tiger offense responded with three straight scoring drives, using a touchdown and two field goals to chip away and make it a 14-13 game. Get this, the Tigers were able to do that largely by “running” the ball, which is a foreign concept but something that maybe ought to have been explored more earlier this season. The tandem of Harlem Berry and Caden Durham carried the ball 23 times for 117 yards, and as a team LSU finished with 155 yards rushing.
While the LSU offense chipped away and away and eventually gained the lead, the only reason they were able to do so was because the Tiger defense made some great adjustments after the first quarter. They got some help from Arkansas (two interceptions, a failed fourth and goal from the 1 and a missed 48-yard field goal that would have given the Razorbacks a late lead) but only allowed one scoring drive over Arkansas’ final eight possessions. LSU may be a bad team, but Arkansas is an all caps B A D team and that showed up today.
Stop me when you’ve heard this one before: Harold Perkins terrorized Arkansas’ offense. Perkins had his best game of the season with four tackles, a sack, 2.5 TFLs, and also intercepted a pass, that LSU was able to turn into three points.
Did Michael Van Buren do enough to earn the starting job for next season? Maybe, maybe not. The numbers look a lot better than the eye test would tell you (21 of 31 for 221 yards, one touchdown and no picks) but the bulk of those completions were at or near the line of scrimmage. Van Buren was an okayish 6 of 12 on passes beyond 10 yards, and was also sacked four times. But the whole offensive operation is so rotten (the scheme, the offensive line) that I think Van Buren probably did as well as he possibly could given the circumstances; and, if nothing else, it was nice watching a healthy quarterback. Would LSU still be a 6-4 team if the change at quarterback were made sooner? We’ll never know for sure, because the offensive line and play calling is just so bad, but I think things would look a little better. Maybe not “CFP Contender” better, but not…wherever we are now.
The LSU and Arkansas game almost always plays out like today (derogatory) and in this year’s edition LSU made just enough plays to keep The Boot in The Boot.
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