State sports briefs

BASKETBALL

Forward White leaving UALR

New UALR Coach Chris Beard has lost another piece to his first Trojans team.

Forward James White, who was UALR’s second-leading scorer before suffering a stress fracture in his leg in January, has asked for and been granted a release from his scholarship, an athletic department spokesman confirmed to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Friday.

White’s release is a blanket release, meaning he is free to transfer to any school outside of the Sun Belt Conference, the spokesman said. White, who is from suburban Atlanta, has an option for an appeal if he chooses to transfer to a Sun Belt school.

White, who is scheduled to graduate this summer, showed flashes of athleticism but struggled to keep his weight up and stay healthy.

White started the past season by being named second-team preseason All-Sun Belt, and but his season ended in the middle of January after he was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his tibia.

White missed four games in 2013-2014 with a high ankle sprain, and his true freshman season ended after two games because of tendinitis in his knee.

He averaged 11.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game this past season and finished his UALR career with averages of 9.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in 77 games.

White’s release comes one week after guard James Reid announced he was leaving to walk on at Boise State.

The departures leave UALR with eight scholarships players. The NCAA Division I limit is 13.

— Troy Schulte

GOLF

Arkansas’ Lopez, Plasencia named All-SEC

Arkansas juniors Gabriela Lopez and Regina Plasencia earned first- and second-team All-SEC honors Friday.

Lopez, a junior from Mexico City, led the Razorbacks with a stroke average of 71.76 and an .867 winning percentage. She had 15 rounds of par or better and four top-10 finishes.

Plasencia had a stroke average of 73.16 with four top-10 finishes. She won the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic this spring.

UALR, ASU golfers earn SBC honors

UALR’s Beau Hanson, Alfred Kerstis and Johann Voss and Arkansas State’s Matthew Loicano earned honorable mention honors on the All-Sun Belt Conference team.

Kerstis led the Trojans in scoring average at 73.48 while competing in eight events. He tied for third at the ASU Fall Beach Classic. Voss played in all 11 events and had a 74.13 scoring average. He tied for seventh at the UALR/First Tee Collegiate in March. Hanson played in nine events and had a 74.69 scoring average in 26 rounds.

Loiacano had four top-25 finishes this season and had a season-best 15th-place finish at the Red Wolves Inercollegiate.

BASEBALL

Arkansas-Fort Smith sweeps Oklahoma Christian

Arkansas-Fort Smith swept Oklahoma Christian 4-1 and 15-6 Friday in Fort Smith.

Jordan Cordray (4-3) allowed 1 run on 6 hits with 3 strikeouts in 7 innings to pick up the victory for the Lions (27-18, 15-9 Heartland Conference) in the first game.

Derek Jones went 2 for 3 with 1 double and 1 home run, and Kyle Lacy went 1 for 3 with 1 double. Tyler Lein went 1 for 3 with a home run in the first inning. Josh Vanderpoll went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI and a home run.

In the second game, Arkansas-Fort Smith sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six runs in the first inning. They also sent 11 batters to the plate in the seventh inning and scored five runs. Justin Shely went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. Lein went 2 for 5. Ryan Justus went 2 for 6 with 2 RBI. Ozzie Hurt went 2 for 4 with a double and 1 RBI.

Wayde Roth (8-2) replaced starter Kellen Smith after 4 1/3 innings and picked up the victory, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits with 1 walk and 1 strikeout over 1 inning.

Arkansas Tech’s Castleberry GAC player of the year

Arkansas Tech’s Patrick Castleberry was named the GAC’s player of the year Friday while Ouachita Baptist took home awards for pitcher of the year, freshman of the year and coach of year.

OBU’s Connor Eller was named pitcher of the year, John Franklin Matros was named freshman of the year and Jeremy Haworth was named coach of the year.

Castleberry led the GAC in hits, runs, home runs, RBI and total bases and was second in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and doubles.

Eller led the GAC in 70 strikeouts, tied for the league lead with 8 victories and his 2.53 ERA was 0.02 off the lead. Matros posted a 4-3 record with 4 complete games and allowed 2 home runs in 53 1/3 innings pitched.

Haworth led the Tigers to a second-place finish after being picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches poll. The Tigers are ranked seventh in the most recent NCAA Division II Central Region poll.

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