Razorback Roundup -- Sept. 14

RAZORBACK ROUNDUPSept. 14, 2009BASEBALL: The Razorbacks began fall practice a week ago at Baum Stadium with head coach Dave Van Horn stressing the fundamentals of the game. Coming off a third-place finish at the College World Series, the Razorbacks need to fill several holes left by seniors and the Major League Draft, but have a solid crop of newcomers the coaching staff has high expectations of. Arkansas’ fall workouts conclude with its annual Cardinal-White series slated for early to mid-October. MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY: Both squads were off this weekend but will return to competition Saturday at the Missouri Southern Stampede in Joplin, Mo. The women’s 5K race will run at 9 a.m. while the men’s 8K race will start at 9:45 a.m.FOOTBALL (1-0): Following a bye week, the Razorbacks open SEC play Saturday at 6:45 p.m. against Georgia in Fayetteville in a game televised by ESPN. The Razorbacks kick off their 18th Southeastern Conference season and are 9-8 in their previous 17 conference openers since joining the league in football in 1992. MEN’S GOLF: Arkansas ended day one of the fifth-annual Gopher Invitational in a one-over tie with tournament host Minnesota for second place. The Razorbacks are just two strokes behind leader SMU, which shot 575 (285-290). The Hogs, in their first appearance of the 2009-10 season, started slower in the first round, shooting an eight-over 296, but battled up the leaderboard from fifth place to a tie at second with a seven-under 281 in the second round. The tournament concludes Monday (today).WOMEN’S GOLF: Junior Kelli Shean finished with a two-under 69 playing to a one-under finish at the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas LPGA Championship at Pinnacle Country Club this weekend. Shean earned her way into the event by winning Tuesday’s qualifier. She is the first Razorback qualifier to make the cut and she finished tied for 27th overall. Former Razorback Stacy Lewis finished tied for 21st and last year’s Arkansas grad Lucy Nunn missed the cut with a two-round 150. The Razorbacks open the 2009-10 season at the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque,N.M., Saturday and Sunday.SOCCER (5-0-1): Arkansas had just one match this week and came away with a 3-0 victory Sunday over Stephen F. Austin at Razorback Field. Using a three-minute spurt of three goals in the first half against the Ladyjacks, Arkansas improved to 5-0-1, continuing the team’s program-best start to the 2009 season. Kelly O’Connor, Allie Chandler and Laurel Pastor each notched a goal in the Razorbacks’ win. With the goal by O’Connor, all four of Arkansas’ starting defenders have scored a goal this season. In goal, junior Britni Williams notched the fourth shutout of the season to lift her career total to 17 and into a tie for second place on the program’s all-time list. She lowered her goals against average to 0.35. The Razorbacks travel to the state of Florida for their final non-conference matches, a Friday contest against Florida Atlantic and a Sunday contest with FIU. Arkansas returns to Fayetteville the following weekend to open the SEC season against Tennessee and Georgia.SOFTBALL: The softball team opened its fall season Saturday with a doubleheader sweep of Lake Land College at Bogle Park. With the pair of wins, Arkansas began its run under new head coach Mike Larabee. Courtney Breault and Miranda Dixon each had two hits and an RBI in the opener to lead the Razorbacks to a 5-1 victory. In the finale, Arkansas capitalized on two Lake Land miscues to come away with a 3-0 win. In the circle, Dixon and Kim Jones picked up the wins throwing four and five innings of shutout ball, respectively. Arkansas returns to the field Sept. 26 for its second doubleheader of the fall, a meeting with regional foe Tulsa at Bogle Park. Game one of the twin bill is set for a 1 p.m. start.WOMEN’S TENNIS: Arkansas opened the 2009 fall season with strong singles play at the SEC Fall Coaches Classic this past weekend at Vanderbilt. Three different Razorbacks picked up wins, including freshman Valentina Starkova, who won the championship match of her flight with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Auburn’s Heather Bybee. Starkova advanced to the final after wins over Kentucky’s Chane Hines and LSU’s Keri Frankenberger. In Friday’s opening round, freshman Kelsey Sundaram defeated Brittany Borsanyi of Florida while sophomore Emily Carbone picked up a come-from-behind victory over Kentucky’s Lauren Meier. In doubles, Starkova and Carbone picked up an 8-3 win over Auburn’s Bybee and Plamena Kurteva. Arkansas returns to action this weekend at the Wichita State Invitational in Wichita, Kan. VOLLEYBALL (6-5): Amanda Anderson earned her second career all-tournament team selection leading Arkansas to a third-place finish at the Arkansas Invitational in Barnhill Arena Saturday. The Razorbacks went 1-2 in tournament play. Arkansas opens SEC action at home this weekend hosting South Carolina Friday and Florida Sunday.OLYMPIC SPORTS PRESS CONFERENCE:Tuesday at 1 p.m. in the Barnhill Arena interview room.