Razorback Roundup -- April 26

RAZORBACK ROUNDUPApril 26, 2010BASEBALL (33-8, 13-5): The Razorbacks opened the week with a 9-5 victory over Oral Roberts Tuesday night at Baum Stadium. Arkansas totaled four home runs in the win, including two from Brett Eibner. With 33 career home runs, Eibner moved into a tie for ninth on the program’s all-time list. He shares the spot with Kevin McReynolds (1979-81) and Ryan Fox (2001-03). In the win, Monk Kreder extended his hitting streak to 20 games and the Razorbacks had their 17th consecutive game with 10 or more hits. In the weekend opener, Arkansas beat Florida, 8-3, behind seven innings from Drew Smyly and home runs by Sample, Bo Bigham and Collin Kuhn. The victory ran the Hogs’ winning streak to 17 games, the longest for the program since the 1996 club won 18 in a row to start the season. In game two, the Gators used a six-run sixth for an 8-2 win. Sample and James McCann each had two hits. With his team trailing by a run in the eighth of the finale, Kuhn hit his 10th home run of the season to pull Arkansas even on the scoreboard. Florida plated the game-winning run in the ninth for the 2-1 victory. Away from the field last week, Bigham was the fourth Hog this season recognized by CollegeBaseball360 for his play the previous week against New Mexico and Georgia. Zack Cox was featured as Baseball America’s Golden Spotlight player. The Razorbacks host Missouri State in a Wednesday matchup at 6:35 p.m. The game will be televised by Cox Sports Television (CST). Arkansas stays home for a weekend series against Auburn. Games one and three are also televised by CST. Game times for the Auburn series follow the familiar home schedule of 6:35 p.m. on Friday, 2:05 p.m. on Saturday and 1:05 p.m. on Sunday.FOOTBALL: Arkansas completed spring drills with the Red-White game this past Saturday in front of a crowd of 30,000. Former Razorback Mitch Petrus was selected in the fifth round of the NFL Draft by the New York Giants. MEN’S GOLF: Senior David Lingmerth was named to the European Team of the Palmer Cup last week. The Palmer Cup is a Ryder Cup-style tournament between the best collegiate golfers in the nation. The Tranas, Sweden, native is one of eight players selected to represent the European team. The tournament takes place June 24-26 at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Portrush, Northern Ireland. Redshirt freshman Ty Spinella was named to the SEC Community Service Team.WOMEN’S GOLF: The Razorbacks await word today (Monday) of an NCAA regional bid. Selections for the three regional sites are expected mid-afternoon Monday. The team will go East (East Carolina), West (Stanford) or Central (Indiana) for a May 6-8 regional.GYMNASTICS (13-14-1, 2-3-1): At the NCAA Championship Session II semifinal, Arkansas made its third consecutive appearance in the championship, its fourth in the last five years and its fourth in the eight-year history of the program. The Razorbacks finished fifth with 195.600 points. Senior All-American Casey Jo Magee won the all-around with a 39.550, and she tied for first on bars and beam with a 9.90 on each. She also tied for third with a 9.90 on floor. Sophomore All-American Jaime Pisani tied for first on floor with a 9.925, which is a school record in the NCAA Championship. Pisani tied for sixth in the all-around with a 39.400. Magee earned first-team All-America honors for 2010 in the all-around, and on bars, beam and floor. Pisani earned first-team All-America honors on vault, and second-team in the all-around. Magee advanced to the individual event finals on bars, beam and floor, while Pisani advanced on vault and floor. Magee finished second in the nation in the all-around with a 39.550, which is the best individual finish for a Razorback ever. In the event finals, Magee came in fourth on beam, tied for fifth on bars and was 12th on floor. Pisani was 10th on floor and 12th on vault. SOFTBALL (25-24, 8-14):Arkansas dropped a three-game conference series at home against No. 5 Alabama over the weekend. On Saturday, the Razorbacks were limited to only one run on six hits by pitcher Charlotte Morgan in a 5-1 loss in Game One and couldn’t recover from an early 8-1 deficit in the second game, a 16-8 defeat, despite designated player Miranda Dixon going 3-for-3 with five RBI and a home run. Dixon finished the three-game series with a .750 average (6-for-8) with a double, a home run, five RBI and three walks. She had a slugging percentage of 1.250% and an on-base percentage of .818%. On Sunday, the Razorbacks rallied with six runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but fell 8-6. Freshman Courtney Breault finished Sunday’s game 2-for-3 with three RBI. Arkansas returns to action Wednesday when it travels to Springfield, Mo., to take on Missouri State. First pitch for the midweek game is scheduled for 5 p.m. The Razorbacks return to SEC play next weekend when they hosts Ole Miss for a three-game weekend series at Bogle Park in the final home series of the regular season. MEN’S TENNIS (10-16, 1-10): Arkansas was eliminated from the SEC Tournament with a 4-1 loss to No. 37 Auburn. Taylor King and Bradwin Williams won at No. 2 doubles, and Mike Ward had a singles victory for the Razorbacks at the No. 5 spot. Ward, a freshman, ended the year 4-2 in the SEC and 14-7 overall.WOMEN’S TENNIS (17-9, 6-5): No. 25 Arkansas knocked off No. 55 Auburn, 4-0, in the first round of the SEC Tournament last week before falling in the second round to No. 17 Ole Miss, 4-2. Against Auburn, Arkansas won the doubles point and clinched the match with singles victories from Anouk Tigu, Kate Lukomskaya and Emily Carbone. Kelsey Sundaram and Valentina Starkova had singles wins against the Rebels. The NCAA Women’s Tennis Selection Show is Tuesday, May 4, on ESPN News.MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD: At the Penn Relays, senior Alain Bailey finished second overall and first among SEC competitors in the championship long jump (25-9.5). Freshman Brede Raa Ellingsen competed in the championship high jump, finishing third overall and first among SEC competitors (7-1). In the championship sprint medley relay, freshman Caleb Cross, junior LaShawn Butler, sophomore Ben Skidmore and junior Chris Bilbrew finished seventh (3:22.32). At the Missouri Southern Bill Williams/Bob Laptad Invitational, sophomore Stuart Sparks finished third in the pole vault (15-11). Senior Chad Burnett was fourth (15-5). The Razorbacks compete next when they host the Arkansas Twilight on Friday. WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD: At the Penn Relays, sophomore Tina Sutej won the championship pole vault (13-7.25). Senior Katie Stripling was second (13-3.5). Senior Janice Keppler won the college pole vault (13-3.75). Sophomore Brittany Hyter finished seventh in the championship 400-meter hurdles with a personal-best 59.72. In the championship 4×400-meter relay, junior Shelise Williams, freshman Regina George, junior Edina Brooks and sophomore Whitney Jones finished sixth (3:35.77). At the Missouri Southern Bill Williams/Bob Laptad Invitational, freshman Gwendolyn Flowers won the 100 meters (11.94; 3.1w). She also won the 200 meters and led a 1-3-4 finish in the event (23.22; 2.4w). The Razorbacks compete next when they host the Arkansas Twilight on Friday. VOLLEYBALL: The Razorbacks closed their spring exhibition season with a five-set victory over Missouri State Saturday at Barnhill Arena. Jasmine Norton led the way with 25 kills and 13 digs. Arkansas got strong contributions from its middle hitters as Amanda Anderson had 13 kills with a team-best .473 hitting percentage and Allison Johnson added 12 kills. Defensively, the Razorbacks were led by Mackenzie Rhea’s 17 digs while Kelli Stipanovich tallied 12 digs. Razorback head coach Robert Pulliza travels with the Puerto Rico Junior National Team as it competes in the NORCECA Continental Girls’ Youth Championship this week in Guatemala. The 10-team tournament begins Tuesday and runs through Sunday. Spots in the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and the 2011 FIVB World Championship in Turkey are up for grabs.