Tag: Arkansas Texas A&M

Arkansas baseball clinches SEC West with late comeback at Texas A&M

A look at how the Arkansas Razorbacks won their fifth SEC West title in six seasons.

For the fifth time in six seasons, the Arkansas Razorbacks are SEC West division champions.

The Diamond Hogs overcame a fast start from Texas A&M and scored three runs in the eighth inning for a 6-3 come-from-behind victory at Blue Bell Park in College Station Friday night.

It’s the ninth division title in program history for the Razorbacks (43-11 overall, 20-9 SEC).

Getting it was anything but easy.

Texas A&M (43-11, 18-11) got on the board with two first-inning runs against Arkansas starter Gage Wood. Jace LaViolette reached on a throwing error from Peyton Stovall on a groundball to second base, then Braden Montgomery hit a two-run home run for a quick 2-0 Aggies lead.

The Razorbacks answered with single runs in the second and third innings. After singles from Hudson White and Ryder Helfrick, Peyton Holt notched Arkansas’ third hit of the second inning, an RBI single through the left side off Aggies starter Brad Rudis that cut the lead to 2-1.

An inning later, with Rudis already chased after the three hits he allowed in the second, Wehiwa Aloy tied the game with a 400-foot solo home run to left-center off Texas A&M reliever Justin Lamkin.

The Aggies went back ahead in the bottom of the third when LaViette singled home Gavin Grahovec for a 3-2 lead. Wood maintained his composure and would not allow another run to score. He allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits to go with five strikeouts in five innings.

Arkansas tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth on an RBI single from Ben McLaughlin before their big inning in the eighth.

The Razorbacks got four consecutive hits to start the inning. A leadoff single from Stovall was followed by a double from Aloy down the left field line off reliever Josh Stewart.

White then delivered the crushing blow, a three-run homer to left that gave Arkansas the lead for good at 6-3. White’s home run was his fifth of the season and fourth in the past seven games.

McLaughlin followed White with a single for the Razorbacks’ fourth straight hit to open the inning but was stranded when Tanner Jones retired all three batters he faced in relief of Stewart.

A somewhat unexpected name helped the Razorbacks close things out on the mound. Mason Molina, one of the team’s weekend starters, made his first relief appearance of the season in the seventh inning after Parker Coil hit Travis Chestnut with a pitch to open the frame.

Molina (4-2) then proceeded to retire all nine batters he faced over the final three innings to earn the win. The left-hander struck out two and allowed only two balls to leave the infield.

Stewart (1-2) suffered the loss for the Aggies in 1 2/3 innings. Arkansas finished with 11 hits and limited Texas A&M to seven. One night after allowing the winning run to score on a walk-off walk, Razorbacks’ pitching did not allow a base on balls all night Friday.

Stovall (3-for-4) led Arkansas at the plate with three hits. Aloy (2-5), White (2-3) and McLaughlin (2-4) added two hits apiece.

Game 3 of the series is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m CDT and can be seen on SEC Network and the ESPN app.

Razorbacks get walk-ed off in College Station

Arkansas reliever Will McEntire walked in the winning run in a 1-0 Razorbacks loss to Texas A&M in College Station Thursday.

Three 11th-inning walks doomed No. 2 Arkansas in a 1-0 loss to No. 4 Texas A&M in the opener of the final SEC regular-season series for both schools Thursday night at Blue Bell Park in College Station.

After first pitch was delayed by rain for 90 minutes, the game became every bit a pitchers’ duel as they get between two ace left-handers. Arkansas’ Hagen Smith and Texas A&M’s Ryan Prager were the featured performers, and neither disappointed.

Smith became the Razorbacks’ all-time strikeout leader when he rung up Ali Camarillo looking for the second out of the fifth inning. It was Smith’s 11th strikeout of the night, passing Nick Schmidt’s previous record of 345 strikeouts from 2005-07.

Smith’s night ended after six strong innings. The Bullard, Texas native, who was named a semifinalist for the 2024 Dick Howser Trophy earlier in the day, allowed just two hits and finished with 14 strikeouts. Smith left after recording all three outs in the sixth by way of the strikeout. He threw 98 pitches, 63 strikes.

Prager wasn’t quite as dominant for Texas A&M, but he threw seven scoreless innings and held the Razorbacks to five hits and one walk. He struck out nine batters and didn’t allow an extra base hit, throwing 101 pitches (72 for strikes).

Arkansas threatened in the second inning after getting back-to-back singles from Ryder Helfrick and Hudson White with two out. Both runners were stranded when Prager struck out Jayson Jones to end the threat.

In the sixth, Peyton Stovall led off with a single and Jared Sprague-Lott followed with a walk to give the Diamond Hogs runners at first and second with no one out. Prager escaped trouble by getting Wehiwa Aloy to ground into a double play before striking out Ben McLaughlin to retire the side.

While both teams threatened, things stayed scoreless until the 11th. After Caden Sorrell made a game-saving catch against the wall in left earlier that inning to keep a run off the board, Gavin Grahovac drew a one-out walk against Jake Faherty, the Razorbacks’ fifth reliever of the night. Jace LaViolette then singled through the left side, allowing Grahovac to go from first to third.

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn called for Parker Coil to face switch-hitting Braden Montgomery. Batting from the right side, Montgomery struck out on three pitches for the second out. Jackson Appel was walked intentionally to load the bases and prompt another pitching change.

Will McEntire entered as the Razorbacks’ third pitcher of the inning and seventh of the night to face Ted Burton. The right-hander fell behind 2-1 in the count, then missed with two straight fastballs down in the zone to walk in the winning run.

Faherty (0-1) suffered the loss while Evan Aschenbeck (5-1) earned the win with four scoreless innings of relief. Aschenbeck allowed four hits but didn’t allow a walk and struck out four batters.  The two pitching staffs combined for 33 strikeouts; 20 by Arkansas pitchers, 13 by Texas A&M.

Arkansas outhit Texas A&M, 9-5, but left 10 on base. LaViolette (2-for-5) and Travis Chestnut (2-4) had four of the five Aggies hits. McLaughlin (2-5) and Ty Wilmsmeyer (2-4) had two hits for Arkansas.

Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Friday night at 7 p.m. CDT. The game can be seen on SEC Network.

Diamond Hogs shake up rotation for final SEC weekend

A game behind Kentucky for an SEC title heading into the final weekend, DVH is making some changes.

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn wants an SEC title. And like he has done in the past, he showed Wednesday that he’s not afraid of mixing things up to get what he wants.

Van Horn is altering his second-ranked Diamond Hogs rotation for the team’s final SEC series at Texas A&M. Ace Hagen Smith will start Thursday’s opener, but Van Horn is inserting reliever Gage Wood into the rotation for Game 2. Wood has struck out 44 batters in 29 2/3 innings with only one of his 19 appearances coming as a starter.

That means either Brady Tygart of Mason Molina – or both – will be removed from the rotation for at least the set against the Aggies.

Molina carries a 4.44 earned-run average on the season and struggled last time out against Mississippi State, pitching less than two innings. Tygart has pitched poorly in each of his last two starts, allowing 17 baserunners and nine earned runs in 5 2/3 innings against MSU and Kentucky.

Arkansas is a game behind Kentucky for the regular-season crown and tied with Tennessee for second-place. Texas A&M is a game behind the Razorbacks and Volunteers. The top four finishers in the SEC receive a bye for next week’s SEC Tournament.

Everything Eric Musselman said after Arkansas beat Texas A&M

Arkansas was without three key rotation players and beat Texas A&M on the road, showing what the Hogs are capable of.

The Arkansas basketball team’s turn toward decency appears to have come too late in the season to save Eric Musselman’s NCAA Tournament streak.

But at least it has come.

The Razorbacks beat Texas A&M, 78-71, on Tuesday to take both games in the season series against the Aggies. Arkansas’ win was only its fourth in SEC play this season, though three have have come in the last handful of games.

Musselman is as happy with his team right now as he has been all season. After Tuesday’s win, he said the last 100 minutes or so of basketball – not counting the second half against Tennessee – have been the sharpest his team has looked since Christmas.

Arkansas’ win put the Hogs back at .500 on the season, which is hardly where the team expected to be when the year began. But Musselman said he feels that with the way his players have been treating practices lately combined with largely improved results in games, the Razorbacks can bring legitimacy back to the program in the final few weeks.

Here’s what Musselman had to say Tuesday.

Mitchell & Mark lead Arkansas to inexplicable sweep of Texas A&M

Makhi Mitchell scored a career high and Tramon Mark joined him in the over-20 club as Arkansas swept Texas A&M.

Makhi Mitchell has never played college basketball as well as he’s played college basketball over the last three weeks.

The Arkansas basketball team’s graduate senior scored a career-high 22 points to lead the Razorbacks to a 78-71 win over Texas A&M on Tuesday. Mitchell has scored in double figures in six of his last seven games as Arkansas has gone 3-3 in its last six.

Tuesday’s win over the Aggies also provided the Razorbacks (13-13, 4-9 SEC) with a season sweep over A&M. The result is unusual considering the Aggies entered the game as a projected No. 10-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Both teams were projected to finish in the top five in the SEC before the season.

Texas A&M (15-11, 6-7) didn’t lead in the second half, but pulled as close as three at the final media timeout. Straight back from commercial, Tramon Mark buried a 3-pointer with 2:18 left and made the ensuing free throw to build Arkansas’ lead back to two possessions. The Aggies wouldn’t come within one possession again.

Mitchell scored 10 points by halftime as he and Khalif Battle (10 points) helped the Hogs to a four-point lead at the break. The margin was hardly enough to put Texas A&M away, though.

Arkansas took the game’s first double-digit lead with less than six minutes to play as the Aggies went cold. Texas A&M was in the midst of a stretch in which it shot 1 of 9 from the floor as the Hogs upped the pressure on a home team that could ill-afford a loss.

The key for the Razorbacks was defense. Texas A&M’s guard duo of Tyrese Radford and Wade Taylor combined for 23 points but on 8 of 28 shooting. As a team, the Aggies shot just 33% from the floor.

Mitchell finished with a double-double, chipping in 13 rebounds. He was joined in double figures scoring by Tramon Mark (28), who scored 22 in the second half, and Battle, who finished with 13.

Arkansas is back at Bud Walton Arena on Saturday to host Missouri, a team the Razorbacks beat in Columbia on January 31.

Hogs given less than 10% chance to beat Texas A&M

Arkansas has been dreadful on the road this year. ESPN’s BPI doesn’t see that changing Tuesday.

The Arkansas basketball team can still finish its SEC season without a losing record in conference.

The Razorbacks just can’t lose again.

With six games left, the task is tall, nigh impossible. If the Hogs fall to Texas A&M on Tuesday down in College Station, Arkansas will have clinched a second straight losing season in SEC play for the first time since 2018-19 and 2019-20. Those seasons correspond to Mike Anderson’s last year as head coach and Eric Musselman’s first year.

ESPN’s Basketball Power Index isn’t giving Arkansas much of a shot to avoid such a fate. The BPI provides Texas A&M with a 90% chance of victory when the two teams meet Tuesday. Arkansas did win the first meeting between the two by a point back on January 16. The Hogs have won just two games since.

Arkansas went 8-10 in SEC play last year but made the NCAA Tournament by virtue of a strong results in nonconference play. The only Dance-building win this year came against Duke, which while a high-quality win, is not bolstered by anything else of note.

If Arkansas were to fail to win any of its final six SEC games, the Razorbacks would finish with their worst league record since 2008-09 when they went 2-14.

Behind the box: Arkansas’ luck holds as ref show overshadows

Tramon Mark and Wade Taylor did something no other two players have combined to do this year. And it was overshadowed by officiating.

Doug Shows is not a popular name in the state of Arkansas. And even after his officiating crew provided a big reason for the Razorbacks’ win Wednesday, no one who cheers for the Hogs will see it that way.

The truth is Arkansas needed the officials – and a lot more – to celebrate after the game against Texas A&M. Tramon Mark’s buzzer-beating fadeaway provided the game-winner in a 77-76 victory.

From tip to jubilation lasted about 2 hours, 40 minutes. Fifty foul calls will do that. Not that they were all in Arkansas’ favor. The ejection of guard Devo Davis in the second half was understandable, but a bit iffy.

Still, little of it matters except that ‘W.’ Let’s take a closer look at how it happened as we go Behind the Box.

Everything Eric Musselman said after Arkansas beat Texas A&M at buzzer

Tramon Mark finally let Arkansas coach Eric Musselman smile in his post-game press conference.

Arkansas coach Eric Musselman wanted to see heart. He wanted to see fire.

He might have preferred more attractiveness, too, but that old phrase about beggars and chooses is apt.

His Razorbacks weren’t pretty Wednesday, but they didn’t have to be. They snapped a three-game losing streak to start SEC play by beating Texas A&M, one of the league favorites at the beginning of the season to revive hopes in Fayetteville.

Arkansas’ defense was especially good. Or maybe the Aggies were suffering the effects of the wind chilld. Texas A&M shot just 32% from the floor, a statistic Musselman attributed to changing approaches on the Aggies’ two stars.

But it was Tramon Mark who was the real reason Arkansas picked up its first SEC win. He scored 35 points, including a fadeaway from the game-winner at the buzzer, to keep Arkansas’ hopes alive.

Here’s everything Musselman had to say after the game.

Hideous and long, but a win: Hogs back from the dead against Texas A&M

Tramon Mark buried a fadeaway at the buzzer to lift Arkansas over Texas A&M in a hideous game.

Wade Taylor’s career night ended Arkansas’ season.

Basically.

Tramon Mark saved the day.

Seconds after Wade Taylor  buried a 3-pointer while falling with 7.6 seconds left to give the Aggies their first lead of the night, 77-76, Mark responded with a fadeaway in the lane give Arkansas a 78-77 win.

It capped an otherwise hideous night inside Bud Walton Arena in which eight official reviews took place. Officials called 50 fouls. Arkansas needed nearly 10 minutes to make their first field goal of the second half. Texas A&M shot 32%. An 8 p.m. tip ended at 10:43 p.m.

Mark was the whole reason Arkansas won. He scored 35 points on 8 of 15 shooting and a 17-of-22 mark from the free-throw line.

Arkansas needed every bit of it as the Aggies, one of the best rebounding teams in the nation, almost had as many offensive boards as the Hogs had total. A&M turned those second-chances into 25 points to stick around despite that 32%.

Taylor was the only Aggies player who could get going. He scored a career-high 41 points, including a 3-pointer with about 1:30 left that pulled Texas A&M back within three points. About 40 seconds later, he tied the game at the rim to cap an 11-1 run.

The Razorbacks are back at home Saturday against South Carolina. Arkansas owns a three-game winning streak against the Gamecocks.

Arkansas vs. Texas A&M: How to watch, stream, listen, key players

Arkansas basketball is back at home to face Texas A&M on Tuesday night. Here’s how you can watch, listen and stream all of the action.

[autotag]Arkansas basketball[/autotag] (9-7, 0-3 SEC) is in desperation mode as they welcome a tough Texas A&M (10-6, 1-2 SEC) team to Bud Walton Arena.

Neither team is exactly setting the world on fire to begin conference play, but the Aggies are fresh off an impressive upset over Kentucky this past weekend. It’s a far cry from where [autotag]Eric Musselman[/autotag]’s Hogs are at, limping into this one as losers of their first three SEC games in disappointing fashion.

Concerns are mounting for the Razorbacks, who have yet to develop an identity of any kind, and whose NCAA Tournament hopes are nothing more than a pipe dream as of now. Sure, Arkansas has started out slow in conference play before under Musselman. However, this time feels different.

This team has yet to look competent or competitive in two of these first three SEC contests, and their effort in the loss to Georgia wasn’t exactly inspiring. In years past, the Razorbacks have at least shown flashes of being capable of something special. This team has yet to do that.

If they’re going to prove everyone wrong and begin another impressive run into March, it needs to start tonight at home against Texas A&M.

Here’s how you can catch all of the action between the Hogs and Aggies from Fayetteville.