Connect with us

Arkansas

UA survives scare, takes down SEMO | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Published

on

UA survives scare, takes down SEMO | Arkansas Democrat Gazette


FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 12 University of Arkansas softball team survived a scare against Southeast Missouri State in its first game of the NCAA Fayetteville Regional on Friday.

The Razorbacks (37-16) scored three runs in the fifth inning and came from behind to defeat SEMO 3-2 in front of an announced crowd of 2,655 at Bogle Park. Arkansas advanced to play Arizona, which defeated Villanova 14-3 earlier in the day, in the regional winners bracket.

“I’m just really proud of our team for finding a way to win tonight,” Arkansas Coach Courtney Deifel said. “That’s exactly what we expected to get from SEMO. They’re tough, they’re gritty and they gave us everything we could handle tonight. I’m just really proud of the way we stayed the course and found a way to win.”

The Razorbacks and Wildcats are scheduled to play Saturday at 2 p.m. The winner will advance to Sunday’s regional final.

Advertisement

Arkansas entered the bottom of the fifth inning with two hits before Rylin Hedgecock led off with a double down the first-base line. It was the onset of a four-hit, two-walk inning for the Razorbacks.

Reagan Johnson delivered an RBI double to pull Arkansas within 2-1. Nia Carter then sent Johnson home with single to right field, which tied the game at 2-2.

“I would say that we trusted our plan of being flat, driving the ball,” Johnson said when asked about adjustments made during the three-run fifth. “(We were) just hitting line drives, which is what we always try to do. We finally trusted that plan, stayed together and did it.”

After Bri Ellis singled up the middle, SEMO elected to intentionally walk Hannah Gammill with two outs. Freshman Kennedy Miller then drew a full-count, bases-loaded walk to give Arkansas a 3-2 lead.

“She’s a freshman by year, but she’s not a freshman at this point,” Deifel said of Miller. “She’s battle-tested. She’s been through it all and she’s been clutch for us. In that moment for anybody, it’s hard: senior, fifth-year, sophomore, it doesn’t matter when you’re in that moment and the bases are loaded and you’re in postseason and the lights are on and everyone’s cheering.

Advertisement

“There is a certain level of just controlling your emotions and just being really present. She was just so locked in in that moment. … It’s huge to not stretch your zone and just take your base in that moment. And it was the final dagger, fortunately.”

SEMO (28-25) went ahead 2-0 in the second inning when Brittany Affolter singled with the bases loaded. It came after the Redhawks loaded the bases to chase Arkansas starter and All-SEC first-team selection Morgan Leinstock.

“I was just looking for a pitch to hit, and I figured that they were going to come in on me,” Affolter said. “I just needed a pitch to hit and luckily it went up the middle and scored two runs. It’s probably the best feeling I could have had. It’s just nice to be able to come in there and not be afraid, step in the box, take a deep breath and just do what you know how to do.”

The Razorbacks turned to sophomore Robyn Herron, who provided a dominant relief performance.

Advertisement

The sophomore left-hander from Tampa, Fla., threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings and shut down the Redhawks after Affolter’s go-ahead hit.

“I really just wanted to have Morgan’s back because she’s been great for us all season long,” Herron said. “I just wanted to attack every hitter, every pitch, and never take a pitch off. Just my goal was to win — win every batter, win every pitch.”

The Redhawks threatened in the sixth inning with a one-out single. But in the next at-bat, Herron caught a liner hit and flipped to first base for an inning-ending double play. It was not the final time the Razorbacks made an energizing defensive play.

In the seventh inning, Carter robbed the Redhawks of a leadoff hit with a diving grab in left field.

SEMO Coach Mark Redburn said he tipped his cap to Arkansas for making tough plays on defense.

Advertisement

“We knew it was going to be a big environment, and it was,” Redburn said. “I thought that they handled it really well. We didn’t commit any errors, we outhit them 7-6 and we hit a couple of really good balls that they made some great defensive plays on and robbed us.

“I thought we came out and we did exactly what we wanted to do. We played on the big stage and (the team) battled and competed. Just unfortunately this time right here, we just fell a little short.”

Arkansas advanced into the winners bracket of a regional for the fourth consecutive year.

The Razorbacks will play Arizona for the third time this season and the eighth time since 2021. Arkansas split a pair of games — each by a 3-2 score — in February against Arizona during the Bear Down Fiesta it hosted.

Advertisement

“They’re an explosive offense,” Deifel said of the Wildcats. “They’re a team that pitches by committee and they do a good job of mixing their pitchers in with different looks. They have exceptional defense and so we know that everything that we get, we’re going to have to earn. It’s going to be a battle.”

SEMO will play Villanova in an elimination game Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

    Arkansas center fielder Reagan Johnson (above) celebrates after scoring on Nia Carter’s RBI single in the fifth inning Friday against Southeast Missouri State at Bogle Park in Fayetteville. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
 
 



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Arkansas

Johnell Davis, Karter Knox find their grooves in Arkansas basketball’s rout over UMES

Published

on

Johnell Davis, Karter Knox find their grooves in Arkansas basketball’s rout over UMES


FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas basketball has been waiting throughout the first few weeks of the regular season for breakout performances from Johnell Davis and Karter Knox

Both players came to life for the Razorbacks (5-1) on Monday night, unleashing an offensive onslaught in a 109-35 romp over Maryland Eastern Shore. The 74-point win tied for the third-largest margin of victory in school history.

The usual suspects — Boogie Fland, Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivišić — all shined, but it was the emergence of Davis and Knox that powered the best offensive performance of the season. Knox led all scorers with a career-high 21 points, while Davis chipped in 16 to post his highest scoring output since joining the Hogs this offseason.

Advertisement

“If everybody is good, no one has to be great,” Arkansas assistant coach Chin Coleman said after the win.

“So we have a team that we feel like if everybody is good, we don’t have to have someone go in the phone booth, put on the cape and be Superman. We’ve got a good collective of guys that if everybody is good, no one player has to be great, so we need (Davis and Knox) to be good.”

Knox was a five-star recruit in the 2024 class, viewed as an elite scorer who could get to the basket in a variety of ways. Unfortunately, his jumper has been cold to start his collegiate career, and he entered Monday night 1 of 15 on 3-pointers.

Advertisement

But against UMES, Knox went 3 of 8 from long range. He made a pair of corner 3s and found time to paint the basket for easy points. After one 3-pointer, he exchanged words with the Arkansas bench, a sign of relief after failing to score more than six points through the first five games.

“It felt good to get going. I’ve been putting the work in the gym,” Knox said. “Teammates kept believing in me. They knew it was going to fall, tonight was the night.”

Davis’ early-season struggles have been puzzling. He averaged 18.2 points on 48% shooting last year at Florida Atlantic, but he hadn’t scored more than eight points since the Hogs’ season-opener. Coleman admitted during a recent press conference that Davis is adjusting to being surrounded by other top options, instead of being a clear-cut leader of the offense.

Advertisement

With Arkansas, Davis has been more of a stretch-the-floor shooter through the first three weeks. It makes sense, given that Davis shot 41.4% from 3 last season with the Owls, and he finally got hot Monday night by going 4 of 7 against the Hawks.

“We saw him the other day make 40 in-a-row. It was just a matter of time,” Coleman said. “The only thing in between him and making shots is air and opportunity. So he had an opportunity tonight, and he made them.”

The next question is how repeatable were these performances. Maryland Eastern Shore represents arguably the worst opponent on Arkansas’ schedule. Things are about to get much tougher, beginning with a Thanksgiving showdown against Illinois.

In their last matchup against a Power Four school, Davis and Knox combined for eight points on 2 of 12 shooting against Baylor. They could hold the keys to a first signature victory in the John Calipari era this Thursday.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Arkansas

New statewide group promotes, aids prescribed burns | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Published

on

New statewide group promotes, aids prescribed burns | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette


The newly formed Arkansas Prescribed Burn Association held its first meeting in mid-October.

The association works as an umbrella organization, recruiting and maintaining new groups of landowners to conduct prescribed burns throughout the state.

“Properly planned prescribed burns reduce the fuel load, which can lessen or even eliminate wildfires,” said Thomas Baldridge, one of the association’s three directors. “But that’s only part of the benefit of prescribed fire. It’s the best tool available to land managers to increase wildlife habitat for turkeys, quail, deer and all sorts of other species.”

North American bird populations have declined by more than 2.9 billion birds in the last 50 years and the loss of grassland habitat is one of the largest contributors to that loss, according to a recent study conducted by Kenneth Rosenberg and highlighted by the National Audubon Society. Fire helps open up dense underbrush to promote seed-producing grasses and plants that are beneficial to grassland species on a year-round basis.

Advertisement

Instead of manipulating land through dirt work or planting food plots, many landowners can turn the tide on the loss of wildlife habitat with the proper use of prescribed fire.

Baldridge said the formation of the prescribed burn association was a natural evolution to what the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and other partnering organizations had been studying the last few years.

“Game and Fish started building prescribed burn associations a few years ago. Most of our members have been fortunate to have worked with many of the staff from Game and Fish, Quail Forever and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on burns and other private land habitat projects. The prescribed burn association just sort of seemed to be a missing piece to the puzzle that was already being put together,” Baldridge said.

Hunter Johnson of Des Arc and Catrina Mendoza of Searcy share director duties with Baldridge, who also lives in Searcy.

Baldridge said the association used states like Oklahoma and Florida as templates to follow in their formation.

Advertisement

“Oklahoma really sets the standard for a statewide prescribed burn association. They’ve grown to a massive organization with a budget over $1 million and eight full-time staff members to support all of their chapters.”

Game and Fish, Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Quail Forever all pitched in financially to help the new association build a firm foundation. Game and Fish granted the organization $25,000. Fish and Wildlife gave it $50,000 and Quail Forever provided $17,000 derived from its specialty license plate sales.

Baldridge says trailers, safety gear and other prescribed burn necessities also were donated to the association, increasing its startup assistance to more than $200,000 in funding and equipment. Since the organization is entirely volunteer-based, all of this funding is put directly into putting prescribed fire on the landscape.

Visit www.arfire.org for more information and to learn how to set up a new prescribed burn association in any area of Arkansas.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Arkansas

Arkansas' official depth chart for Missouri game

Published

on

Arkansas' official depth chart for Missouri game


FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks (6-4, 3-4 SEC) have released the depth chart for Saturday’s regular season finale against the No. 24 Missouri Tigers (8-3, 4-3 SEC) at Razorback Stadium.

Arkansas recovered from a slow start to take down Louisiana Tech, 35-14, over the weekend in Fayetteville. Missouri bounced back from a loss to South Carolina on Sept. 16 with a 39-20 win at Mississippi State on Saturday.

A few changes were made to this week’s depth chart, most notably the absence of junior defensive end Nico Davillier at the defensive end position. The pass-rusher did not play against Louisiana Tech on Saturday due to a knee injury, and senior Anton Juncaj is the lone listed starter in Davillier’s place. Backing up Juncaj is freshman Charlie Collins.

At safety, sophomore TJ Metcalf and junior Miguel Mitchell no longer have an “or” listed between them. Metcalf is the starter with Mitchell backing him up. Finally, redshirt sophomore Brooks Edmonson is listed as the backup center behind Addison Nichols instead of redshirt sophomore Amaury Wiggins, who is no longer listed on the depth chart.

Advertisement

Here is the full Arkansas depth chart ahead of Saturday’s game against Missouri, which is set to kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network at Memorial Stadium.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending