GOLF
Mississippi leads Governors Cup
Mississippi went 8-2 in Friday's afternoon foursome matches to take an 111/2-81/2 lead over Arkansas heading into today's singles matches of the Governors Cup at Northwood Country Club in Meridian, Miss.
Arkansas, the tournament's two-time defending champion, led 6 1/2-3 1/2 after Friday morning's four-ball matches, but could only get an outright victory by Stan Lee and Louis Lee and halves from the Stephen Cox-Nick Zimmerman and Matt Feimster-Trey Schaap teams in foursomes.
Arkansas' five senior teams went 4-0-1 in four-ball play. Robert Green and Ron Richard opened with a 2-up victory which was followed by a half from Louis Lee and Frank Ramey. Ronny Ocker-David Shirey (3 and 2), Stan Lee-Clark Fitts (2 and 1) and John Tetens-Bev Hargraves (2 and 1) teams ran off three consecutive victories for Arkansas for the early 4-0-1 advantage.
Wes McNulty and Schaap were defeated 1 up in their match with Steve Wilson and Richard Reed, but Zimmerman and Chris Jenkins defeated Josh Lampley and Brett Parker 3 and 2 to make it 51/2 to 11/2. Mississippi teams defeated Cox and Beau Glover (4 and 3) and Kevin Walker and Stafford Gray (1 up) before Chris Dixon and Feimster closed the session with a 3-and-2 victory.
Mississippi needs nine points in today's 20 singles matches to regain the cup.
UA women fifth behind Uriell
Arkansas sophomore Alana Uriell shot a 4-under 67 Friday to move into a tie for first place at the Stanford NCAA Women's Regional Championship in Palo Alto, Calif.
Uriell's round put her at 3-under 139 and helped move the Razorbacks from eighth place to fifth at 21-over 589, 20 strokes behind the host school heading into today's final round. Teammate Cara Gorlei is tied for 14th at 3-over 145.
The Razorbacks need to finish in the the top six to advance to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., on May 20-25.
UCA's Svensson shoots 77 in regional
Central Arkansas freshman Emma Svensson shot a second-consecutive 77 in the NCAA Women's Regional in Baton Rouge.
Svensson, who has a 154 through the first two rounds and is 18 shots behind leader Katelyn Dambaugh of South Carolina, is playing individually. The top six teams and three individuals not on those teams will advance to the national championship.
SOFTBALL
Florida blanks Arkansas
Florida defeated Arkansas 9-0 Friday night in Gainesville, Fla.
The Gators (50-4, 18-4 SEC) scored three times in the first inning, once in the second and five times in the fifth. Florida had nine runs on 10 hits while holding Arkansas (17-37, 1-21) to three hits.
TRACK AND FIELD
Brooks sets UA women's long jump mark
Taliyah Brooks went 20-113/4 to win the long jump Friday night at the Arkansas Twilight meet and break a 23-year-old UA record.
Brooks, a redshirt sophomore from Wichita Falls, Texas, broke the school record of 20-10 set by Toshei Weeks in 1993.
Brooks' record-setting jump came on her sixth and final attempt into a headwind measured at 2 meters per second.
Arkansas freshman Damajahnee Brich won the 400-meter hurdles in 56.45, which ties for the second-fastest time in program history.
In men's competition, Arkansas freshman Erich Sullins threw 187-1 in the hammer to break his school record for the third time this season.
BASEBALL
UAM tops Harding
Arkansas-Monticello (32-14) scored seven runs in the second inning and defeated Harding (24-27) 19-5 in a run-rule shortened game at Weevil Field in Monticello in the first game of a best-of-three series in the Great American Conference Tournament.
The second game will be played today at noon and a third game, if necessary, will follow.
GAC Player of the Year Corey Wood went 3 for 4, scored 4 runs and had 7 RBI for UAM. He had two three-run home runs, one in the the first and one in the fifth. Travis Steinke had three doubles and Nick Piraino went 4 for 5.
UAM reliever Ben Aldridge (2-4) pitched 12/3 innings to get the victory after starter Zach McKnight allowed 5 runs in 11/3 innings.
Arkansas Tech stuns SW Oklahoma
Arkansas Tech (22-29) which entered the GAC Tournament as the No. 8 seed, upset No. 1 seed Southwestern Oklahoma State (33-14) 5-3 Friday afternoon in Weatherford, Okla.
Both teams will play at 1 p.m. today in the second game of the best-of-three series. A third game, if necessary, will follow.
Josh Watkins, who went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI, had a two-run triple in the sixth to give the Wonder Boys the lead. Zach Skelton pitched 72/3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits with 7 walks and 10 strikeouts to get the victory.
SOCCER
Rangers drop first league match
The Little Rock Rangers dropped their first National Premier Soccer League contest, falling to FC Wichita 2-0 Friday night at War Memorial Stadium.
Corey Cantor scored FC Wichita's first goal in the 21st minute, and Luis Fernando Pinto closed the scoring in the 58th minute.
FC Wichita had 13 shots, with 10 on goal, for the night. The Rangers (0-1) managed six shots, with only two on goal. Goalkeeper Logan Miller stopped six shots for the Rangers.
The Rangers are scheduled to be back in action Thursday against the Tulsa Athletics at Tulsa Athletics Field. The Rangers next home game is May 15 against the Houston Regals at 6 p.m.
PREP BASKETBALL
Gravette hires Busch
as new boys basketball coach
Matt Busch became Gravette’s new boys basketball coach after the school board approved his hiring during Thursday’s meeting.
Busch replaces Greg White, who left after two years with the Lions to take over the same position at Bentonville West. “I feel like this is an opportunity to work with a school district that is well-respected and puts its kids first,” Busch said.
Busch, a native of nearby Grove, Okla., just completed his fifth season at Watson Chapel, which finished 18-10 overall and placed second in the 5A-South Conference with a 10-4 record. The Wildcats were a combined 100-41 during Busch’s tenure and reached the Class 5A state tournament each year. He also coached two years at Warren, and he served as a student assistant at Arkansas for two years under Stan Heath and two years under John Pelphrey.
“What I want is a team that values every possession,” Busch said. “I like to have the ball and put the ball in the hands of our best players.
“Defensively, we’re going to protect the paint and strive to do the little things. I value effort, and I want guys that will buy into the system. Our main goal is to hold teams under 50 points each game and control what we can control.”
PREP SIGNINGS
Gentry’s Adkins signs with Lyon College
Zac Adkins signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Lyon College during a ceremony on Wednesday.
Adkins was named the 4A-1 All-Conference team and was also a member of the Pioneers’ football team.
“Zac is one of the hardest working kids I have ever met and is a true testament to what Gentry baseball is all about,” Pioneers coach Justin Ledbetter said. “Zac will not only represent the school and community of Gentry in a positive way, but is a kid that will flourish at the next level.”
Gentry bowler signs letter of intent
Wyatt Clark played just about every sport Gentry had to offer, but he will focus his attention to bowling in college after signing a letter of intent with West Texas A&M on Thursday.
Clark played baseball, football and basketball in addition to his bowling prowess, where he earned All-Conference and All-State three straight years. He was the state runner-up in 2015. “I have been fortunate enough to coach Wyatt in three different sports during my time here, and I couldn’t have asked for a better kid to coach,” Gentry coach Justin Ledbetter said. “Wyatt is an amazing representative of Gentry High School and its community. I think that we have only seen the beginning of what a great career this kid is going to have.”
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Greenland’s Hipps named top female athlete
University of the Ozarks seniors Ashley Hipps and Travis Leach were named the school’s 2015-2016 Female and Male Athlete of the Year winners.
The Athlete of the Year award is given to a student-athlete who has outstanding athletic accomplishments, combined with academic excellence and superior career credentials. The award is voted on by the university’s athletic staff.
Hipps, a senior basketball player from Greenland, was among the most productive guards in the American Southwest Conference during the 2015-2016 season. The 5-foot-7 guard led the conference in assists (4.8), and ranked fourth in scoring (17.2). She was sixth among ASC players in three-point percentage (30 percent) and seventh in free throw percentage (76 percent). During her collegiate career, she was a member of the ASC All-Academic Team and ASC All-Freshman Team.
Sports on 05/07/2016