BASKETBALL
UALR signs transfer guard
Chris Beard’s roster reconstruction continued Saturday when the UALR men’s basketball coach confirmed that the school signed transfer guard Jermaine Ruttley.
Ruttley, a 6-3, 200-pound guard from Radcliffe, Ky., averaged 17.4 points and 6.7 rebounds for Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference member Florida A&M in 2014-15. Ruttley, who will be a senior, left Florida A&M after last season’s 2-27 finish and is eligible immediately because of Florida A&M’s Academic Progress Rate sanctions.
Ruttley originally committed to Louisiana Tech, and the school announced April 18 that he had signed a grant-in-aid with the school. The Monroe (La.) News Star then reported earlier this month that Ruttley was re-opening his recruitment after Louisiana Tech Coach Mike White was hired to replace Billy Donovan at Florida.
Ruttley follows forward Lis Shoshi, a forward and transfer from Howard College in Big Spring, Texas, and Jalen Jackson, a guard and Northwest Florida State transfer, as additions since Beard took over April 7. UALR is committed to nine scholarships for next season. The NCAA Division I men’s basketball limit is 13.
— Troy Schulte
BASEBALL
Reddies advance to region championship
Henderson State defeated Minnesota State-Mankato 9-6 Saturday to advance to the finals of the NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament in St. Cloud, Minn.
The Reddies (29-19) will play St. Cloud State (53-4) at noon today for a trip to the NCAA Division II College World Series in Cary, N.C., which begins Saturday.
The Reddies broke the game open with three runs in the third inning and four in the fifth to take an 8-0 lead. The big hits in the third came on a single by Conner Brackhahn that scored Claude Johnson and a two-run single by A.J. Kruzel which scored Brackhan and Lance Fields.
In the fifth inning, Kruzel singled in Tadarious Hawkins and Fields. Carlos Rodriguez singled in Kruzel and Hunter Mayall’s sacrifice fly scored Kruzel.
After Rodriguez’s ground out scored Brackhahn in the seventh, Mankato came back with six runs in the ninth. Kevin Kramer had a two-run single to score Conner McCallum and Hunter Harnisch to make it 9-2. Kyle Toth singled to score Josh Crosby to make it 9-3 before Josh Henderson relieved Henderson starter Clody Jones. A bases-loaded walk to Dylan Dresel allowed Kramer to score to make it 9-4. Harnish singled to score Eric Peterson and Toth.
Jordan Taylor relieved and got McCallum to fly out to end the game.
Southern Arkansas (40-18) lost 4-0 to St. Cloud State earlier Saturday.
The host Huskies scored three times in the first inning on one hit off Southern Arkansas starter Yumezo Densaki. Densaki lasted 5 1/3 innings before reliever Jared Fieden finished up. St. Cloud added another run in the eighth inning.
GOLF
Arkansas men eliminated in regional
Arkansas finished 11th in the New Haven Regional at The Course at Yale in New Haven, Conn.
The Hogs finished with a three-round total of 871 (301-289-281) which left them 22 shots back of LSU which captured the fifth and final spot for the NCAA Championship on May 29-June 3 at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla.
South Florida won the regional with an 826, 14 shots ahead of San Diego State’s 840. Also qualifying for the national championship were Oklahoma State (842), Vanderbilt (844) and LSU (849).
Arkansas’ top players were Alvaro Ortiz, who finished tied for 34th with a 215 (77-71-67) and Kolton Crawford, who finished tied for 37th at 216 (70-72-74).
Oklahoma State’s Jordan Niebrugge, the 2013 Western Amateur champion at The Alotian Club in Roland, won the individual title with a 203 (72-62-69), finishing three strokes ahead of Ohio State’s Addison Coll’s 206 (72-70-64), Troy’s Tolver Dozier (70-69-67) and Vanderbilt’s Mathias Schwab (69-67-70).
Golden Suns finish 10th
Arkansas State finished 10th Saturday at the NCAA Division II Women’s Championship in Allendale, Mich., following a fourround total of 1,286.
Indianapolis won the team title with a four-round total of 1,212, five strokes ahead of Rollins.
Rebecka Surtervall and Megan Jeffery were the Golden Suns’ top finishers, posting a 315 for 37th and 318 for 44th respectively. Midwestern State’s Brenna Moore won the individual title with a 297.