Tag: Arkansas Ole Miss

Did Arkansas’ series loss to last-place Ole Miss mean anything? Well, maybe

What happens next for the Razorbacks will determine their station, not what happened against Ole Miss.

The Arkansas softball regular season came to an end Saturday in a way less than ideal for the No. 11 Razorbacks.

Arkansas lost its series and season finale to Ole Miss, 4-3, ultimately dropping the series to the Rebels two games to one. The Hogs still finished fourth in the SEC standings and will receive the No. 4-seed for the league tournament later in the week.

But falling to the last-place team in the conference isn’t helpful for the bigger picture of Arkansas’ hopes to host in the NCAA Tournament. Certainly coach Courtney Deifel’s team is in prime position and it really is hard to imagine Arkansas not getting hosting duties for the Big Dance.

But what happens if they lose immediately at Auburn in the SEC Tournament? Rhetorical. We would probably still bet Arkansas hosts as a Top-16 seed at Bogle Park for the NCAAs.

Most likely, the loss to Ole Miss was just a hiccup. Arkansas had reeled off five straight SEC series wins before that, anyway. And the flip side is more likely, if also unlikely.

If Arkansas uses the losses to the Rebels as a springboard and goes out to win the SEC Tournament, not only are hosting duties obvious, a top-eight national seed is in play, too.

And that will have made it all worth it.

Ole Miss, Arkansas split Friday doubleheader

Arkansas is locked into the No. 4 seed for the SEC Tournament.

Last-place Ole Miss beat No. 10 Arkansas in the early game Friday before the Razorbacks bounced back to the second of a doubleheader at Bogle Park.

The rubber game and regular-season finale is set for Saturday at 3 p.m., though regardless of the outcome, Arkansas is locked into the fourth in SEC standings and Ole Miss is last.

Grace Sparks limited Arkansas to three hits in Ole Miss’ 6-0 win. The Rebels entered with just five wins in league play, but Sparks upped her record to 7-2 personally. Home runs from Aynslie Furbush and Angelina DeLeon powered the victory.

Arkansas rallied in the nightcap to the tune of a 12-2 run-rule in five innings. Razorbacks starter Robyn Herron gave up just two baserunners on two base knocks while striking out six. On the offensive side, seven of the nine Arkansas starters picked up at least one hit. Furbush and DeLeon homered again to provide the Rebels with their lone two runs.

The SEC Tournament will begin Tuesday from Auburn. All the seedings will be determined by Sunday night.

Razorbacks roll UCA in final nonconference game of the season

Arkansas finished off its noncon season with a run-rule of the old Sugar Bears

Robyn Herron is ready for the SEC Tournament. Maybe even the NCAA Tournament.

The ace of the No. 10 Arkansas softball team was her on game Tuesday night, throwing a shutout of Central Arkansas, 8-0, in the Razorbacks’ final nonconference game of the season.

Herron, who moved to 10-8 on the season, struck out nine Sugar Bears batters and gave up just two hits in the six-inning, shortened game. Her counterpart, Julia Petty, wasn’t nearly as sharp. Arkansas collected its eight runs on nine hits and seven walks.

Nia Carter went 3 for 4 with three singles to lead the Razorbacks in knocks. Reagan Johnson and Hannah Camenzind also each had two singles. But Kennedy Miller had the best day. She was 1 for 2 at the plate with two walks, three RBI and two runs. Her sixth-inning two-run home run was the game sealer, finishing things early when UCA couldn’t respond in the bottom of the frame.

Arkansas has just one more SEC series in the regular season before the SEC Tournament starts Tuesday at Auburn. The Razorbacks host Ole Miss at Bogle Park on the weekend, starting with a first pitch Friday at 6 p.m.

No. 1 Arkansas takes Game 2, series, from Ole Miss on Saturday

Arkansas continued to look like the best team in the country. The Hogs go for a sweep Saturday.

The flirtation between Arkansas and Ole Miss only extended to basketball this weekend. On the baseball field, the Diamond Hogs wanted no part of it.

Top-ranked Arkansas clinched the series win Friday night with an 8-3 victory over the Rebels. The win came after a 5-2 triumph the night before an ensured another weekend in which Arkansas would not drop a series.

Things began quickly for the Diamond Hogs offense after Andrew Fischer gave Ole Miss a lead in the top of the first on a solo home run. Arkansas responded with four runs in the bottom of the frame to provide more than enough runs for the win.

Kendall Diggs walked with the bases loaded, Jared Sprague-Lott followed with a two-run single and Ryder Helfrick’s RBI groundout provided the fourth run.

Ole Miss did manage to chase Arkansas starter Mason Molina before he reached five innings. Molina allowed three runs on three hits and three walks and coach Dave Van Horn inserted Koty Frank. Frank, who would pick up the win, was the recipient of two more Arkansas runs in the bottom of the sixht as Wehiwa Aloy popped a two-run home run.

Arkansas will go for the sweep on Saturday at 2 p.m. from Baum-Walker Stadium.

No. 1 Diamond Hogs handle Ole Miss in series opener

Hagen Smith’s number were middling…for Hagen Smith. Anyone else would kill for such a day.

Even Hagen Smith’s middling days are awfully good.

Arkansas’ left-handed ace and front-runner for most national pitching awards struck out 11 batters in six innings to help the No. 1 Diamond Hogs to a series-opening win over Ole Miss on Thursday, 5-2.

Smith, whose earned-run average sits at 1.76 after allowing both runs to the Rebels, walked four batters and allowed four hits. Both runs came in the third inning as Ole Miss picked up three of its four hits against Smith in that frame and one of the walks.

In the sixth inning, Wehiwa Aloy’s three-run home run provided Arkansas the lead, 4-2, after Jared Sprague-Lott’s RBI groundout in the fourth put the Razorbacks on the board. Sprague-Lott would then follow Aloy two batters later in the sixth with a solo home run to provide Smith a lead on his way out the door.

Will McEntire worked 2 2/3 innings to nearly finish before Stone Hewlett entered to collect the game’s final out.

The win provided Arkansas (25-3, 9-1) with a two-game lead in the SEC West, but the Diamond Hogs have just a half-game lead over Kentucky out in the East. Game Two is set for Friday at 6:30 p.m. from Baum-Walker Stadium.

Beyond the box score: Arkansas fails every major category again

Arkansas was a mediocre team with Tramon Mark in the lineup. Without him? The Razorbacks are maybe the SEC’s worst right now.

Before Wednesday night’s game against Ole Miss, strengths could found with this year’s Arkansas basketball team.

But after their worst loss to Ole Miss in more than 50 years and the potential shelving of their two best players, the Razorbacks are dire need of a miracle. Those strengths are withering.

Arkansas was without leading scorer Tramon Mark against the Rebels and played without forward Trevon Brazile for most of the second half. The Rebels took advantage in a 77-51 win by not having to worry about any of Arkansas’ wings or guards being overly aggressive by attacking or any of Arkansas’ forwards stretching the floor and forcing defensive shifts because of athleticism.

In other words, the Hogs became incredibly easy to play against.

Coach Eric Musselman said after the game that Brazile is considered day-to-day for now until his sore knee is checked out by the team doctor back in Fayetteville. He didn’t clarify – purposefully – which knee was bothering the player who missed all of SEC play last season because of knee surgery. Mark should be back sooner rather than later, but migraines are difficult cases, too.

That’s the future, though. Let’s examine just what Ole Miss did, or what Arkansas didn’t do, on Wednesday.

Everything Eric Musselman said after Arkansas’ loss at Ole Miss

Eric Musselman is exhausted. He’s exhausted by the questions. He’s exhausted with his team’s play. Arkansas is in a bad, bad spot.

Eric Musselman is not about to give up trying to make his Arkansas basketball team better.

It’s unclear, though, what else he can do.

The Razorbacks were annhilated Wednesday night at Ole Miss, 77-51, suffering the team’s second worst loss in school history to the Rebels and worst loss in more than 50 years.

It was a loss that provided Arkansas’ worst start in SEC play since 2008-09 when the Razorbacks won just two SEC games. Musselman, now in his fifth year as the Hogs’ head coach, has never encountered anything like this year’s team. Arkansas went to the last three NCAA Tournaments and the worst any of his four Nevada teams ever finished was 24-14.

Fourteen wins for Arkansas this year would be about where most people have the Razorbacks pegged at this point. With Kentucky up next and Arkansas perhaps without leading scorer Tramon Mark and likely NBA draft pick Trevon Brazile, the road isn’t getting easier any time soon.

That leaves Musselman grasping at something, anything to get his time animated enough to put up another fight.

Here’s what Musselman had to say after Arkansas’ loss Wednesday.

Photo gallery: Arkansas embarrassed at Ole Miss

At some point, the disappointment is going to turn to outright anger for the Arkansas basketball program.

Whatever happened to the Arkansas basketball over the last six weeks must be a disaster of epic proportions.

Coach Eric Musselman’s 2023-24 Razorbacks team started the year ranked in the Top 25. They were predicted to finish in the top five of the SEC. Most though they had a legitimate shot at a fourth straight Sweet 16.

At this point of the season, just seven games into league play, the NIT looks like a pipe dream.

Arkansas fell for the sixth time in those seven games Wednesday as Ole Miss demolished the Hogs from the opening whistle until the final buzzer, 77-51. Arkansas didn’t lead a single time for the second straight game.

The last time Arkansas was this bad this late into the season was in John Pelphrey’s second season when the Razorbacks went 2-14 in SEC play. But that season’s team lacked the talent this that season’s team has.

Epic disaster, indeed.

Here are the best photographs from a forgettable night in Oxford.

Arkansas suffers worst loss to Ole Miss in more than 50 years

Arkansas was laughed out of the building against Ole Miss on Wednesday.

The Arkansas basketball team was scheduled to play at Ole Miss on Wednesday night.

They played, all right. Got played.

Ole Miss had zero trouble with the Razorbacks, sending Arkansas to its fifth loss in six SEC games, 77-51. The 1-6 start is the team’s worst since 2008-09 when the Hogs started league play 1-12. That was then-coach John Pelphrey’s second season of four.

Current head coach Eric Musselman is in his fifth season. The previous three, he took the Razorbacks to the Sweet 16. The first two of those NCAA Tournament appearances resulted in trips to the Elite Eight.

Arkansas looks more like the former team than the latter right now and it isn’t close.

Ole Miss led from the opening tip Wednesday, marking the second straight game the Razorbacks haven’t even had a lead. Arkansas’ offense was anemic, shooting just 33% from the floor as the Rebels also took advantage 10 first-half Arkansas turnovers, leading to 17 Ole Miss points and a 12-point halftime lead.

It didn’t matter who Musselman turned to offensively. Without Tramon Mark, the team’s leading scorer who didn’t play because of a migraine, little production came. Every healthy scholarship player on the roster played at least six minutes. Khalif Battle ultimately led with 11 points.

Four Ole Miss players scored 10 more points, led by Jaylen Murray’s 21.

Arkansas’ margin of defeat was the worst the Hogs have had against Ole Miss in more than 50 years and the second worst ever.

Next up for the Razorbacks is old rival Kentucky. College GameDay will be on-campus Saturday morning for that evening’s tip at Bud Walton Arena.

Arkansas baskeball vs. Ole Miss: How to watch, stream with coaches, key players

Arkansas basketball needs a win to stay alive. Ole Miss could use one to strengthen its resume. Tip is set for 8 p.m.

At this point, it’s must-win, isn’t it?

If the Arkansas basketball team goes on the road Wednesday night and loses to Ole Miss, a middling SEC team, no one can really expect the Razorbacks to pick up the necessary victories over the final half of the SEC season to have a real shot at the NCAA Tournament.

A win isn’t some magical savior, either. It’s a call to the shoreline for help. Arkansas’ fans will see if those calls are fielded at about 8 p.m. Wednesday when the two teams tip from Oxford, Mississippi.

Arkansas leads the all-time series, 52-33, and has dominated the last couple years, too. The Rebels have lost nine of the 10 games in the matchup with the last win other than that one coming back 2016.

Ole Miss looks like a different bunch in 2023-24 with coach Chris Beard in his first year. The Rebels found themselves in the “Last Four In” part of Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology update on Tuesday. Arkansas, with its 1-4 start in SEC play, isn’t even close.

Take a look at the key players, the coaching matchup and how to watch, stream and listen below.