Arkansas couldn't muster enough offense together Friday to make its way to the winner's bracket of the NCAA Stanford Regional.

The Razorbacks were limited to three runs and stranded 10 runners on base in a 4-3 loss against No. 2 seed Pepperdine at beautiful Sunken Diamond in Palo Alto, Calif. For Arkansas, that now means it's win or else.

The Diamond Hogs must now win four straight games in three days to make their way out of the regional. Any loss in between and the season is over....

More tomorrow from sunny Palo Alto!!! 

Posted by Vernon Tarver at 09:05 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Alex Abrams at 04:47 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

It's NCAA Regional time!!

I'm sitting in the Bud Klein press box here at Sunken Diamond Stadium in beautiful Palo Alto, Cal., as Arkansas is set to begin its NCAA Regional baseball game with Pepperdine.

The trip out west was definitely a long one yesterday, but the Razorbacks are hoping their stay here in the Stanford Regional is even longer.

Posted by Vernon Tarver at 02:04 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Arkansas hasn't officially released its basketball schedule yet, but the Mobile (Ala.) Press-Register reported today that the Razorbacks have entered a four-year series with South Alabama.

Yep, that's the school Arkansas coach John Pelphrey came from, and apparently, there was a clause in his previous South Alabama contract that required him to do this when he left the school.

The first game will take place this Nov. 26 in Mobile, the report stated. The only other confirmed nonconference games that Arkansas will play this season are at Missouri State, against Baylor in North Little Rock and at home against Oklahoma and Texas.

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Posted by Alex Abrams at 09:48 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

 

Posted by Alex Abrams at 11:25 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

  Arkansas hoops coach John Pelphrey could be looking to add to his remodeled roster with a transfer.

  Former Iowa State player Welsey Johnson has asked to transfer and been given permission to speak to eight schools. One of them, it seems, is Arkansas. Check out the story here in the Des Moines Register. Obviously, Pelphrey can't comment on his interest in Johnson but the 6-foot-7 forward could help fill a void next season. The other seven schools Johnson is considering include: Connecticut, Marquette, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Villanova and West Virginia.

  Johnson, who is from Corsicana, Texas, was the Cyclones second-leading scorer last year (12.4 points). He also averaged 12.3 as a freshman.

Posted by Robbie Neiswanger at 08:47 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

  By now you've seen the story. So now we ask the question: Was leaving the Atlanta Falcons before the end of his first season really the hardest thing new Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino has ever done in his life?

  In case you missed it, Petrino spoke with the media covering the SEC spring meetings in Destin (sorry, no sun and sand for us unfortunately). Here is a story. For many of the media outlets, it also was the first chance to talk to Petrino about his departure and the backlash it created outside of the state of Arkansas.

  The situation has been addressed here. But here is the response it generated there:

  Is it? That probably depends on who you ask. The Atlanta-Journal Constitution has a poll posted on their Web site today and it should be no surprise what most people feel: They're not buying it. There have been roughly 3,400 votes as of 3:15 p.m. and 93.6 percent of those say they don't believe it.

  One more interesting nugget for Arkansas fans in Petrino's comments. He also said something intriguing when asked about the Arkansas job. The Knoxville News-Sentinel has it here.

  "I feel like this needs to be my last job," Petrino said. "Professionally, there's no question that's how it needs to be. And that's also what I want."

  Where is the poll on that one? How many would buy that? How many would sell it?

  Again, it probably depends on your demographic.

Posted by Robbie Neiswanger at 02:28 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

  The Blog has been painfully neglected this week for no good reason other than the fact we were trying to catch our breath during a fairly slow week. No baseball. No track and field. No big football or basketball news.

  But since we've been away, we owe you something. Here are a few items of interest from the week:

  • Arkansas announced that its game at Texas has been picked up by ABC Sports. Maybe it's a good omen for the Hogs. Arkansas' last regular season game televised by ABC was the 2003 game at Texas. Of course Matt Jones, Cedric Cobbs and the rest of that crew stunned the Longhorns 38-28.

  • In case you missed it, Houston Nutt was back in Arkansas last night — how dare he! The Ole Miss coach slipped back over the border and spoke to the Central Arkansas Rebel Club in his hometown of Little Rock. The KTHV Web site has some details of the engagement. I don't think Oct. 25 will ever get here.

  • Google alerts pointed me to this today: Guess which former Razorback football player is dealing with some contract issues. .... Buffalo Bills left tackle Jason Peters. The former Arkansas tight end skipped voluntary workouts and the NFL Network is predicting he may miss the mandatory minicamp. Peters is scheduled to make $3.25 million in BASE salary this year. But there seem to be issues he wants answered. Interesting.

  • Uh oh. Felix Jones has upset Darren Woodson. The former Arkansas running back is wearing No. 28 in Dallas. It happens to be the number Woodson, a former safety and the team's all-time leading tackler, wore during his career. Jones is the second player to wear the number since Woodson retired and, apparently, Woodson isn't happy about it. Here is what he told the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram: “That’s my number, that’s just how I feel. It’s hard to swallow." Hey Felix....RUN!

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Posted by Chris Dunivan at 04:06 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

  The Arkansas track team just got a big lift from an unlikely person this afternoon at Auburn.

  Freshman Luke Laird just won the javelin in his Arkansas debut. We don't know much about Laird right now other than the fact he has been using the spring to train and was competing at the SEC Championships for the first time. His win gives the meet-leading Razorbacks 10 big points on this critical day. More to come.

  The Lady'Backs also are hoping for a strong finish today, starting the final day in second place. Florida is leading the meet, but LSU remains the favorite. We'll see how things shake out on that end, too.
 

Posted by Robbie Neiswanger at 01:37 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

It's already been a long day for the Arkansas softball team here at the NCAA Tournament in Norman, Okla. I drove over to Sooner country this morning and watched the Lady'Backs fight and scrap for 3 hours and 34 minutes earlier today, only to lose 6-5 to the host Oklahoma Sooners in 11 innings. Oregon spent about half of that time in eliminating Tulsa from the Norman Regional just now, by a score of 1-0.

So now, Arkansas must turn around and quickly face Oregon in an elimination game, starting here at Marita Hynes Field in about five minutes. I'll be interested to see whether Arkansas can match the intensity it showed against the No. 7 team in the country.

Will tying the game at 5 on Miranda Dixon's two-run blast to left-center field in the bottom of the seventh but then losing in 11 innings be too much of an emotional blow? Guess we'll see ...

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Posted by Alex Abrams at 05:00 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

  This is coming a little late, but Alex Abrams and I are here in Auburn, Ala. for the SEC Outdoor Track Championships.

  Friday was a good and bad day for Arkansas. The Razorbacks got a strong start thanks to their second, third and fourth finish in the 10,000 meters last night, scoring 19 points in the race. Shawn Forrest, James Strang and Peter Kosgei ran strong races to help the Hogs pile up points.

  Arkansas coach John McDonnell was pleasantly surprised about it, too. He said afterward he was expecting 14 points. So the result was promising for the Razorbacks, who are in second place.

  It wasn't as good of a day for the Lady'Backs. It started Thursday when Etienne Chaplin no heighted in the high jump. Distance runner Catherine White also came down with a stomach virus and couldn't compete in the 10,000 last night. She, of course, was the favorite to win the event.

  The good news is that the Lady'Backs got good performances from Denise Bargiachi and Miranda Walker in the event to pull out 10 points. They also got points from Peter-Gaye Beckford in the heptathlon and Michelle Rossio in the hammer throw. The Lady'Backs are tied for third entering Saturday.

  One other note: I had an error in my Lady'Backs story today. Walker finished fifth in the 10K, not sixth. Sorry about the mistake.

  Check back later today for more results and news.

Posted by Robbie Neiswanger at 10:37 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Well, Arkansas certainly didn't help itself Thursday night in a 6-5 series opening loss against Mississippi State here at Dudy Noble Field. But as it turns out, the Razorbacks weren't really hurt that much by the loss either.

The Diamond Hogs entered the night in eighth place in the SEC baseball standings. And with only the top eight teams advancing to the conference tournament next week, Arkansas needed to at least stay where it was at to head to Hoover, Ala. But thanks to South Carolina's 13-2 loss against Tennessee, the Razorbacks actually did stay right where they were before the game began. Even with the loss, a 13-14 in SEC play Arkansas team is still in eighth place in the league.

And now, the Razorbacks need just a win coupled with another South Carolina loss this weekend to clinch a spot in the tournament... 

Posted by Vernon Tarver at 09:29 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Chris Dunivan at 04:49 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

It took a three-game sweep, but Arkansas has finally battled its way back into the top eight of the Southeastern Conference baseball standings.

After spending most of the season in 9th, 10th or even 11th place in the SEC, the Razorbacks are now in 8th place in the conference after three consecutive wins against South Carolina over the weekend. And the reason that's important is because only the top eight teams from the league advance to the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala.

Another reason it's so important for Arkansas to make the SEC Tournament is many believe it's neccessry to make an NCAA Regional as well. With just one regular season series remaining — at last place Mississippi State on Thursday through Saturday — the Razorbacks just need to hold onto one of the top eight spots and their NCAA ticket should all but be punched... 

Posted by Vernon Tarver at 04:24 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Nothing is going to match the drama and excitment provided by Jacob House on Friday. But the Arkansas Razorbacks are probably plenty happy with another come-from-behind win against South Carolina.

One day after House delivered a game-winning, grand slam homer in the bottom of the ninth, Arkansas again played from behind Saturday. This time, it was a four-run seventh inning that made the difference for the Hogs.

With the win, Arkansas still remains on the outside looking in as far as the SEC Tournament is concerned. But with the win, the Razorbacks also have made their task of advaning to Hoover, Ala. a whole lot easier.

The Diamond Hogs are currently 12-13 in the SEC, just one half game behind four different teams. That means Arkansas is not only an eyelash out of eighth place in the league, but an eyelash out of fifth place as well. 

Posted by Vernon Tarver at 06:43 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Arkansas freshman forward Michael Sanchez is headed to China. The UA athletics department announced today that Sanchez had been named to the Reach USA squad.

Reach USA, a division of the Christian sports ministry Sports Reach, is sending Sanchez and eight other college players to China for eight exhibition games against Chinese professional teams on May 11-25.

Sanchez, a 6-foot-8 Springdale Har Ber High graduate, redshirted last season but should figure heavily into coach John Pelphrey's frontcourt rotation this season.

Posted by Ryan Malashock at 01:40 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

  Just got done with a post-spring practice press conference with Bobby Petrino. The post-spring depth chart was released. Nothing earth-shattering, but here are a few highlights from the gathering:

  • Petrino said cornerback Jerell Norton underwent surgery on his hamstring, which sidelined him most of the spring. Norton went down early in spring ball and didn't return. He isn't even listed on the three-deep depth chart at cornerback. Petrino said the surgery is supposed to help the recovery time and he expects Norton to be available when the Razorbacks return for fall practice in August.

  • Freddie Fairchild was another player not on the depth chart. He was suspended for the spring, of course, because of his arrest. Petrino simply said there was nothing new with Fairchild's status. Clearly his future with the Razorbacks remains uncertain. Which brings us to...

  • Petrino said the biggest concern leaving spring ball is depth at linebacker. Elston Forte, Jerry Franklin and Ryan Powers are the first-team guys for now. But the Razorbacks need more bodies at the position.

  • There was one surprise on the depth chart. Jake Bequette is listed as the first-team guy at defensive end ahead of Damario Ambrose. It may be a surprise to us, but Petrino said there is nothing shocking about Bequette's appearance with the starters. He said the redshirt freshman has earned it.

  • All in all, Petrino said the post-spring depth chart is nothing more than a "worksheet" to build on entering fall practice. The Razorbacks are taking final exams now. Summer school begins May 19. The summer conditioning program will get underway in June. Preseason practice begins August 3.
 

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Posted by Chris Dunivan at 04:16 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

  It appears Weston Dacus isn't the only former Arkansas defensive player who did enough this past weekend to earn an NFL contract as an undrafted free agent.

Posted by Alex Abrams at 10:09 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

  Former Arkansas middle linebacker Weston Dacus agreed Monday to a two-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent.

  Dacus had hoped to be taken in last month’s NFL Draft, but he instead earned a deal with the Chiefs after impressing their coaches at a rookie minicamp this past weekend.

  “It felt great. I was disappointed at first; I was expecting to get drafted,” said Dacus, a Searcy native. “But everything happens for a reason, and Kansas City is close to home."

  Read more about Dacus in Tuesday's edition of The Morning News.

Posted by Alex Abrams at 03:00 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

After two losses to open the series against Alabama, the Arkansas Razorbacks knew they had to win Sunday. At least, if they hoped to play in the Southeastern Conference Tournament they had to win.

And that's just what the Diamond Hogs did, scoring the winning run on a stolen base throwing error in a 5-4 decision against the Crimson Tide.

Despite the two losses this weekend, Arkansas (28-20, 10-13 in the SEC) still somehow remains just one half game out of eighth place in the SEC. The Razorbacks, of course, need to get into the top eight to advance to the SEC Tournament.

Posted by Vernon Tarver at 05:47 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

 

Posted by Alex Abrams at 10:59 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

For the second day in a row, Arkansas couldn't overcome a pair of big innings by Alabama.

The Crimson Tide scored two runs in the fourth and six in the eighth inning and rallied for an 11-6 win Saturday. And now — with the two losses — the Razorbacks find themselves in a tough position in the Southeastern Conference race.

Arkansas has dropped to 9-13 in the SEC and now sits in 11th place overall. The Razorbacks need to climb back into the top eight spots in the conference to advance to the SEC Tournament, but time is running out.

“Basically what it comes down to, if we want to keep playing baseball in three weeks we’re going to have to win every game from here on out," Ben Tschepikow said. "That’s really all it comes down to. We can’t afford to lose anymore games. We put ourselves in a really big hole and it’s going to be tough. But I think we’re going to come back and give it everything we have. It’s going to be tough, but hopefully we can pull it out.” 

Posted by Vernon Tarver at 06:13 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

  Friday nights are supposed to be the pitching duels. Sunday's are supposed to be messy.

  But the fact this game is two hours old and we're only in the fifth inning is a sign that the pitching hasn't been very good here at Baum Stadium tonight. After falling behind 7-4, the Razorbacks got two runs back in the bottom of the fourth inning to make it 7-6. They had a chance to add more off reliever Jimmy Nelson, but Tim Smalling struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

  Now, Arkansas is on its third pitcher. Reliever Travis Hill has given up a leadoff triple to start the fifth and has been pulled and replaced by Mike Bolsinger.

  I'm not good at making predictions, but I'm going to go out on a limb with something: There are going to be some more runs scored tonight here at Baum Stadium.

  And since it's getting late (deadline is in two hours), I might not be able to check back in with you until it's all over.

Posted by Robbie Neiswanger at 07:35 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

  Here's an interesting stat: Alabama is 6-for-10 with 7 runs and 6 RBIs with two outs tonight.

  It's no surprise numbers like that will give you a lead, something the Tide has built after putting together a 6-run, fourth inning here at Baum Stadium. All of the runs came with two outs. 'Bama chased starter Dallas Keuchel by scoring two runs to pull to within 4-3 with two outs. But reliever Travis Hill couldn't keep the lead.

  Brandon May reached on an error, which scored the game-tying run. Alex Avila followed him with a single. Then Kent Matthes hit a three-run home run over the left field fence to make it 7-4.

  Arkansas is up in the bottom half of the inning. The good news for Hogs fans is that there's still plenty of at-bats to go in this slow moving game. But there has been plenty of damage done by Alabama.

Posted by Robbie Neiswanger at 07:13 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

  The second inning was an eventful one here at Baum Stadium.

  First of all, Dallas Keuchel got into a bases loaded jam in the top half of the inning. But he got out of the inning unscathed after Alabama's Alex Kubal grounded into a double play.

  Then, Arkansas responded by scoring two runs in the bottom of the inning. Casey Coon, Tim Smalling and Brett Eibner hit consecutive singles to start the inning. Coon scored on Eibner's hit. Catcher Ryan Cisterna drove in Smalling two batters later with a sac fly to center field.

  We're moving on to the third inning. Arkansas leads 2-0.

Posted by Robbie Neiswanger at 06:20 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

  We are sitting here in the press box at Baum Stadium waiting for first pitch of the Arkansas-Alabama series.

  It's no secret how important this could be for both teams. Alabama and Arkansas are second and third in the SEC West, respectively. The Crimson Tide trails Ole Miss by one game. The Hogs trail by 1 1/2. Both teams are fighting for one of the eight slots in the SEC Tournament.

  Actually, this series could go a long way to determining which team will slide in the tourney field and which one won't. And, of course, it means the chances of making an NCAA Regional could be determined here too.

  Arkansas is sending Dallas Keuchel (3-2) to the mound. Alabama will counter with Miers Quigley (4-4).

  We'll let you know how things are going as the game goes on.

Posted by Robbie Neiswanger at 05:31 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

  This shouldn't be shocking news to anyone, but quarterback Ryan Mallett's appeal to be eligible to play in 2008 has been denied by the NCAA.

  Mallett was asking to be eligible after the coaching change at Michigan in the offseason. He left the Wolverines, enrolled at Arkansas and practiced with the Razorbacks until he was sidelined for good with a thumb injury. Mallett will have to sit out the 2008 season and has three years of eligiblity remaining beginning in 2009.

  This also means the obvious: Senior Casey Dick is the odds-on favorite to lead coach Bobby Petrino's offense in 2008. That shouldn't come as a shock to anyone, either. Dick was clearly the best quarterback throughout the spring and will have a chance to put up big numbers next fall.

Posted by Robbie Neiswanger at 01:33 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Chris Dunivan at 03:00 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

  Former Arkansas coach Lou Holtz was elected to the College Hall of Fame on Thursday, joining a class that includes former UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman and former LSU star Billy Cannon. 

Posted by Alex Abrams at 12:46 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

  It's pretty clear Arkansas' athletic department is undergoing a complete overhaul under new athletic director Jeff Long. Another piece was put in place today, when Long announced the hiring of Jon Fagg, the senior associate athletic director for compliance and student-athlete services.

  It sounds like Fagg's primary duties will be to oversee all aspects of the compliance department.

  Not sure what that means for current assistant athletic director for compliance Marvin Caston. The former Arkansas football player has been in charge of the department for the past couple years. We'll let you know.

Posted by Robbie Neiswanger at 11:21 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

  Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino was scheduled to hold a post-spring practice press conference today, but it has been delayed until next week because of a schedule conflict. So the blog is going to try to fill some space by offering a few items/observations/random stuff to ponder today.

  • Everybody knows six Arkansas players were selected in the NFL Draft last weekend, but did you know that five of Bobby Petrino's former players at Louisville were selected, too. The group included QB Brian Brohm, WRs Harry Douglas and Mario Urrutia, TE Gary Barnidge and OT Breno Giacomini. All five were offensive players — a QB, two WRs, a TE and an OT. And the OT came to Louisville as a TE, but moved down to the offensive line after gaining a lot of weight in workouts. Sounds about right.

  • AJC writer and SEC analysis Tony Barnhardt wrote about lessons learned during spring practice in the SEC. His analysis of Arkansas includes the sentiment that many feel after 15 practices: "The Hogs might be OK on offense." Click here to read everything else about Arkansas and the other 11 teams here.

  • Another link — Rivals.com sent one of their national writers to Fayetteville for Arkansas' spring game for a big piece on quarterback Casey Dick. If you'd like to read here, click here. Most of it has been written and covered throughout the spring, but it's an outsider's perspective on the QB. There's some charts and graphs, too.

  • This is day-old stuff, but the Cotton Bowl has formally announced that it will be changing its date and time next year. The game will be played on Jan. 2 and kickoff is set for 1 p.m. But unfortunately for the Cotton Bowl, it appears it will still take some time before it will become a BCS bowl. The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram writes that one door closed after 11 conference commissioners rejected the "plus-one" talk yesterday.

Posted by Robbie Neiswanger at 09:44 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)