LITTLE ROCK — BASKETBALL
Van Horn to speak at Tip-Off Club
Arkansas baseball Coach Dave Van Horn will be speak at the Downtown Tip-Off Club’s luncheon today from 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel in North Little Rock. Guests expected to attend with Van Horn are former Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles and former Arkansas baseball coach Norm DeBriyn.
In addition to hearing from Van Horn, the Downtown Tip Off Club will honor Chelsey Rhodes of Monticello and Darian Harris of Shiloh Christian as the Arvest Outstanding Players.
Annual membership is $40. Luncheon cost is $15 for members and $20 for non-members. Lunch reservations are requested; walk-ups are welcome. To join or make a luncheon RSVP, contact Morgan at Morgan.ford@nlrchamber.org or 501-372-5959.
GOLF
No. 6 Arkansas finishes second
Senior Ethan Tracy finished tied for third and sophomore Sebastian Cappelen for ninth in leading the No. 6 Arkansas men to a second-place finish Sunday at the Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla.
Arkansas, who had the best round of the day, shot seven-over par to move up one spot in the team standings, passing the host Florida Gators on their home course, the Mark Bostick Golf Course. No. 2 Auburn won the event and was followed by the Razorbacks, Florida, No. 17 Central Florida and Florida State. Arkansas’ second-place finish is their fifth top two finish in six tournaments this season.
BASEBALL
Radack’s 3 RBI propel Hendrix
Sophomore left fielder Collin Radack drove in three runs and freshman right fielder Matt Simmons hit a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to guide Hendrix College to a 4-3 victory over Freed-Hardeman on Sunday afternoon in Tyler, Texas.
The Warriors (3-3) hit the Lions (2-3) for nine hits to close out the Texas-Tyler Clements Fluids Classic with a 2-1 record.
Senior Matt Diehl (1-0) picked up the win, going 5 innings and allowing 4 hits, 5 walks, an earned run and a strikeout.
The Warriors also defeated the host No. 23-ranked Texas-Tyler 12-8 Saturday after the Warriors churned out 12 hits, including home runs by senior Nathan Harr and sophomore Collin Radack.
Harding sweeps Maryville in doubleheader
Harding’s pitching lived up to its preseason billing during a season-opening pair of 3-1 victories over Maryville (Mo.) on Saturday at Jerry Moore Field in Searcy.
Junior Logan Holthaus (1-0) allowed only 1 run in 6 innings and struck out 3 in the opener. Freshman Andrew Fiddler pitched 3 innings of hitless relief for the save.
Harding’s first run came in the third without the benefit of a hit. With two outs, Arkansas transfer Kyle Atkins walked. He stole second base on the first pitch, third base on the next pitch, and scored when Maryville catcher Kyle Kinyon’s throw went into left field.
Harding junior Hayden Shirley (1-0), coming off ligament replacement surgery, gave the Bisons the other victory, striking out seven and allowing only two hits and no runs in 5 innings.
Wonder Boys churn out 12 hits in victory
Arkansas Tech continued play here Sunday in the Mulerider Classic by using 12 hits and a pitching performance from senior Caleb Powers to post a 5-3 victory over Lindenwood (Mo.) at Goodheart Field in Magnolia.
Powers, who was making his first start of the season for Arkansas Tech (3-3), pitched into the sixth inning and allowed 6 hits and 3 runs, while recording 3 strikeouts and walking 1 to pick up his first win of the season.
The Wonder Boys recorded 12 hits, including 9 hits in the first 5 innings and scored 5 runs in opening 3 innings.
Solid outing carries Henderson State
Brittain Diamond turned in a solid pitching performance to lead Henderson State to an 8-0 victory over Cameron (Okla.) in the first game of a doubleheader, Saturday at Clyde Berry Field in Arkadelphia.
The Aggies managed to come-from-behind to win game two, 6-5 in 8 innings to salvage one game in the four-game series.
In the opener, Henderson State had 12 hits including getting a 4-for-4 performance by Josh Salmon. Salmon also had a pair of RBI and a double in the game.
Diamond pitched 6 innings for the Reddies (3-1) allowing 4 hits while striking out 4 batters. No Aggies player reached third third-base in the game.
Miscues doom Southern Arkansas
Two rough innings cost the Arkansas-Fort Smith a possible doubleheader sweep of the No. 11 St. Mary’s’ on Friday, and errors ruined their chances of salvaging at least one win in the series on Saturday at Wolff Stadium in San Antonio.
UAFS committed a season-high six errors that led to five unearned runs as the Rattlers swept the Heartland Conference series with a 6-4 victory. It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Diamond Lions (1-4, 1-4).
Lions closer Kyle Thompson (0-1) inherited a two-run lead after relieving starter Sam Meloy to start the sixth inning, pitched a scoreless final two frames, but suffered the loss, allowing just one earned run on three hits and striking out three.
Ouachita Baptist picks up first victory
After dropping the first game against North Alabama, the Ouachita Tigers (1-6) split Sunday’s doubleheader with the Lions (5-1), finally securing their first victory of the season in Game 2 of Sunday’s action in Florence, Ala.
The Tigers lost the first one by a score of 7-6, but rebounded in the next game, clinching a 5-2 victory.
SOFTBALL
Henderson State takes pair to end skid
After dropping a pair of games on Friday, Henderson State rattled off four consecutive victories including beating Delta State 13-9 and Missouri Western 6-2 on Sunday at the HSU/ OBU Softball Classic in Arkadelphia
In the opener, Henderson (5-3) scored nine runs in the first inning and held on to beat Delta State for the second time in the tournament.
Henderson State, 5-3 on the year, collected 16 hits in the game including a grand slam in the opening inning by Katey Gorsage.
Razorbacks win Getterman Classic
Arkansas won the Getterman Classic tournament with an 8-0 victory over Wichita State to finish 4-1 for the weekend in Waco, Texas.
Sophomore Amanda Geile began the Razorbacks’ string of runs in the bottom of the second when she blasted a home run over the left-center field wall. Following Geile’s home run, sophomore Jennifer Rambo and added another home run for the Razorbacks.
After a bunt single by sophomore Ashley Martindale and two walks, freshman Devon Wallace singled to left field, bringing in Martindale and third baseman Chloe Oprzedek. Geile came back to the plate in the same inning and hit a two-run triple to give the the Razorbacks a 7-0 lead.
Central Arkansas wins tournament
Central Arkansas earned two victories Sunday to win Southern Miss Coca Cola Classic after going 3-1 on the weekend. The two victories, which improved UCA to 4-1, came in completely different fashion as UCA ran past Rhode Island, 10-2, and then had to claw their way back to defeat the Golden Eagles 10-9.
Sports, Pages 17 on 02/13/2012