FOOTBALL
ASU getting another quarterback
Arkansas State has lost two scholarship quarterbacks since the end of spring practice, but it appears it has replaced one of them.
Chad Voytik, who started 14 games for Pittsburgh the last two seasons, will transfer to Arkansas State, the Cleveland (Tenn.) Daily Banter reported on Saturday. Voytik, a graduate transfer, will be eligible immediately to play a final season with the Red Wolves.
Voytik announced in January he would transfer after graduation, and previously said he would transfer to FCS-level Eastern Kentucky before a change of heart.
Voytik started every game in Pitt’s 6-7 season in 2014. He completed 61.3 percent of his passes, for 2,333 yards with 16 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.
He also ran for 466 yards. He started last season’s opener, before being replaced by Nate Peterman for the rest of the season.
He’ll likely compete with another transfer, Justice Hansen, for the starting job this fall. Hansen came to ASU in January from Butler County Community College after starting his career at Oklahoma.
Quarterback James Tabary was dismissed by Coach Blake Anderson the week after spring practice, and quarterback Cameron Birse announced his intentions to transfer this week.
Anderson said Thursday that ASU wouldn’t rule out another transfer quarterback if “we can find one that can help us win this fall.”
— Troy Schulte
GOLF
Mississippi wins Governors Cup
Mississippi carried over its its strong play from Friday afternoon by winning 10½ singles points Saturday to regain the Governors Cup with a 22-18 victory over Arkansas at Northwood Country Club in Meridian, Miss.
Mississippi led 11½ -8½ coming into Saturday after winning 8 of 10 foursome points Friday afternoon. The host team won 5 ½ points from its seniors contingent to lead 17-13 and got 5 more from its amateurs to win its first Governors Cup since 2013 at Texarkana Country Club.
Winners from the Arkansas team Saturday included seniors Ron Richard, Frank Ramey, Ronny Ocker and Louis Lee and amateurs Chris Dixon, Chris Jenkins, Nick Zimmerman, Trey Schaap and Stafford Gray. Bev Hargraves was even in his match with Mississippi’s Stewart Horsley for Arkansas’ other half point.
Arkansas leads the overall series 6-5 and will host next year’s event.
Arkansas women headed to NCAA
Sophomore Alana Uriell finished third individually and the Arkansas women’s team finished fifth overall Saturday at the Stanford NCAA Regional in Palo Alto, Calif., to earn a berth in the NCAA Championship in Eugene, Ore.
Arkansas finished at 879, four strokes ahead of Virginia for the fifth spot. Virginia earned the final spot out of the regional by one stroke over Colorado. Stanford and Southern California tied for the championship with an 856, followed by Ohio State and North Carolina.
Uriell shot an even-par 71 on Saturday and finished at 3-under 210 for the tournament. Teammate Cara Gorlei tied for 30th at 222, while fellow Razorbacks Maria Fassi (t-42, 224), Summar Roachell (t-52, 226) and Regina Plasencia (t-55, 227) all had good showings.
UCA’s Svensson shoots final round 75
Central Arkansas freshman Emma Svensson shot a final round 3-over 75 on Saturday and picked up four spots to finish in a tie for 55th at the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Baton Rouge Regional at The University Club in Baton Rouge.
Svensson, from Halmstad, Sweden, shot 77-77-75—229 in her first regional appearance, finishing 22 strokes back of South Carolina’s Katelyn Dambaugh. She finished her final round with four birdies, three bogeys and two double bogeys.
There were 96 golfers competing in the field. The top six teams and the top three individuals not on one of those teams advanced to the NCAA national championship.
Florida and South Carolina tied for first at 857, followed by Washington (863), Duke (870), Oregon (882) and Brigham Young (884), which all qualified for the NCAA Championships. The three individuals that qualified were Elise Bradley of LSU (213), Linnea Strom of Arizona State (215) and Leonie Harm of Houston (215).
BASKETBALL
Blytheville names Pierce as new coach
McKenzie Pierce has been hired as the head boys basketball coach at Blytheville High School.
Pierce spent the last two seasons as the boys coach at East Poinsett County, leading the Warriors to the Class 2A state title game in March. EPC finished the season with a 16-11 record.
Prior to his two years at EPC, Pierce was a graduate assistant at the University of Arkansas.
Blytheville finished 8-14 last season, which included a 5-9 mark in the 5A-East.
BASEBALL
Arkansas Tech advances
Arkansas Tech (23-29), which entered the Great American Conference tournament as the No. 8 seed, defeated Southwestern Oklahoma State (33-15) 13-6 to advance to the next round against Henderson State on Thursday in Arkadelphia.
The Wonder Boys rallied from a 6-2 deficit, scoring 11 unanswered runs in the final four innings. Trailing 6-5 with two out in the seventh, Seth Wheeler had a two-run single to give the Wonder Boys a 7-6 lead. Marcus Wilson followed with a three-run home run to make it 10-5.
Braden Bohuslav (3-4) picked up the victory, pitching 2 1/3 innings in relief. Wilson led the Wonder Boys going 3 for 6 with 4 RBI and scored 4 runs. Colin O’Neil went 3 for 6 with 2 RBI. Parker O’Dell went 2 for 2 and scored 2 runs. Connor Brady went 2 for 4 and scored 2 runs.
Reddies knock out Muleriders
Henderson State (29-23) defeated Southern Arkansas 9-5 on Saturday at Clyde Berry Field in Arkadelphia to advance to the next round of the Great American Conference Tournament.
The Reddies trailed 3-0 in the second inning before scoring four runs to take the lead with Hayden Lessenberry delivering a two-run single to put the Reddies up 4-3. Joseph Gary, who went 4 for 5, had a home run in the third to make it 5-3 before the Reddies scored two runs in the fourth, one in the fifth and another in the seventh.
Chris Hunt (5-6) had three strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings for the victory.
UAM moves on
Arkansas-Monticello defeated Harding 7-5 on Saturday to advance in the Great American Tournament.
The Boll Weevils (33-14) are the No. 2 seed in the tournament, will face Southeastern Oklahoma State on Thursday at Clyde Berry Field in Arkadelphia in the four-team double-elimination tournament.
Arkansas-Monticello scored four runs in the first inning with consecutive singles by Nick Cerda and Guy Halbert.
After Harding used two home runs to tie the game 5-5 in the fourth inning, UAM’s Corey Wood hit his third home run of the series that scored Kevin Fitzpatrick to break the tie.
UAM’s Braden Chambers (11-0) picked up the victory, despite giving up 5 runs on 7 hits in 6 innings. Gavin Johnson, Chris Bradford and Dawson Moser combined to allow 1 hit over the last 3 innings.