FAYETTEVILLE -- University of Arkansas All-American golfer Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira will continue his tremendous junior season with a career highlight this weekend at the Arnold Palmer Cup.
Fernandez de Oliveira, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, will play for Team International in the 26th annual Palmer Cup teeing off today in Geneva.
The No. 31 player in the World Amateur Golf rankings and the first Argentinian to play in the Palmer Cup, he cemented his spot in the event by winning the South America Amateur Championship in January. Fernandez de Oliveira followed that up with a runner-up showing in the Latin America Amateur the next week.
Fernandez de Oliveira, a transfer from TCU prior to last season, won his first collegiate title with the Razorbacks at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup at The Alotian Club in Roland, where he defeated Palmer Cup Team USA selection Palmer Jackson of Notre Dame in a playoff.
Fernandez de Oliveira had six top-10 finishes as a Razorback, including three in the top five, and he placed ninth at the NCAA championships in Scottsdale, Ariz. His scoring average of 70.88 led the team and ranked third in UA golf history.
Fernandez de Oliveira is the 11th UA golfer, and the seventh male Razorback, chosen to compete at the Arnold Palmer Cup. He follows David Lingmerth (Sweden) in 2010, Sebastian Cappelen (Denmark) in 2011-13, Alvaro Ortiz (Mexico), Maria Fassi (Mexico) and Alana Uriell (USA) in 2018, Dylan Kim (USA) in 2018-19, and Julian Perico (Peru) and Brooke Matthews (USA) in 2021.
Perico and Fernandez de Oliveira are two of only five South Americans to compete for Team International in the event.
Hardball commits
Arkansas landed a commitment this week from the top fielding third baseman in junior college baseball.
Ben McLaughlin (6-3, 175 pounds) announced that he will transfer to the Razorbacks from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College. McLaughlin, a native of Golden, Colo., has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
As a sophomore, McLaughlin batted .411 with 19 home runs and 83 RBI, and was successful on 7 of 11 stolen-base attempts. He had an .804 slugging percentage and .511 on-base percentage for an OPS of 1.315.
During the second game of a doubleheader against Pratt (Kan.) Community College on April 3, McLaughlin went 3 for 5 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI.
The American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings announced McLaughlin as the Gold Glove Award winner at his position for NJCAA Division I. He had a .986 fielding percentage as a sophomore.
McLaughlin will be a candidate to fill an expected void left by third baseman Cayden Wallace, who is projected to be drafted and signed professionally this summer. Wallace, a sophomore, is ranked the No. 54 prospect for the MLB Draft by Baseball America.
McLaughlin is the eighth junior college player who has committed to the Razorbacks in 2023. Other infield JUCO commits include Hunter Grimes of McLennan (Texas) College; Isaac Webb of East Oklahoma State College; Peyton Holt of Crowder (Mo.) College; Harold Coll of San Jacinto (Texas) Junior College; and Tyson Fourkiller of Connors (Okla.) State.
Right-handed pitcher Cody Adcock of Crowder and left-handed pitcher Hunter Hollan of San Jacinto have also committed. Adcock, a Texarkana native, previously pitched at Ole Miss.
The Razorbacks have also received a commitment from transferring outfielder Jared Wegner from Creighton. According to an Arkansas team spokesman, Adcock, Grimes, Webb and Coll have signed letters of intent.
Attendance champs
Arkansas led college baseball in cumulative and average paid attendance during the 2022 season.
According to NCAA attendance figures that are based on tickets sold, the Razorbacks' total attendance of 363,153 and average attendance of 10,376 edged LSU, which had a total attendance of 362,759 and an average of 10,365. Both teams played 35 home games.
It is believed to be the first season Arkansas has ranked first nationally in attendance, though an NCAA site that tracks attendance is missing data for some years.
The Razorbacks ranked first in average attendance in 2007, but LSU played six more home games and led in total attendance that year. The 2007 season was the first following a large-scale expansion that added seating to Baum-Walker Stadium.
The Razorbacks had a total actual attendance of 169,402, based on tickets scanned, for an average of 4,840 per game. Arkansas had a 28-7 record at Baum-Walker Stadium with a schedule that included games against heavyweights Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU and Vanderbilt.
As has been the case for the past decade, the SEC dominated attendance rankings with eight of the top 10 teams. Arkansas and LSU were followed in cumulative attendance by Mississippi State (3), Ole Miss (4), South Carolina (5), Florida (7), Texas A&M (8) and Tennessee (10).
Arkansas' five games at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., were all among the 18 most-attended games of the year. The Razorbacks' 3-2 victory over Ole Miss on June 22 had the third-highest attendance (25,401) this season behind the two national championship games between Ole Miss and Oklahoma, which drew announced attendances of 25,792 and 25,813.
Arkansas' largest announced attendance at Baum-Walker Stadium was 11,772 for a May 13 game against Vanderbilt. The 9,961 tickets scanned for that game were also a season high.
Hano out
Gymnastics assistant coach Felicia Hano turned in her letter of resignation last month, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette learned through a recent Freedom of Information Act request.
Hano, a four-time All-Pac 12 selection with UCLA (2017-20), was a member of the 2014-15 USA Senior National Team prior to that.
She dated her resignation letter on June 6, addressed to Katherine Devenport, the chief of staff of the UA Athletics department.
Hano joined the program as a volunteer assistant in the fall of 2020 and served in that position for the 2021 season. She was elevated to a full-time assistant's role last August after the departure of Catelyn Orel, who took over as head coach at Lindenwood University.
Hano's focus was on the vault and floor exercise for Coach Jordyn Wieber, the former UCLA volunteer coach, who will begin her fourth season with the Razorbacks this fall.
SEC takeover
The Razorbacks come up second in the alphabetical listing of SEC schools in the spotlight in the annual summer SEC Network takeover starting Saturday on the network.
Alabama is first out of the gate on Saturday, followed by the Razorbacks on Sunday. The highlighted Arkansas events that will be replayed on the network are the Outback Bowl, which originally aired on Jan. 1, 2022, and the SEC softball championship game played on May 14.
The Razorbacks defeated Penn State 24-10 in the Outback Bowl for their first bowl victory over a Big Ten opponent and their fourth trophy game win under second-year Coach Sam Pittman following regular season wins over Texas A&M, LSU and Missouri. Quarterback KJ Jefferson was named the game's most valuable player, of the Outback Bowl after completing 14 of 19 passes for 98 yards and rushing for 110 yards and a touchdown.
Coach Courtney Deifel's Razorbacks blanked Missouri 4-0 in Gainesville, Fla., for the program's first SEC Tournament championship. Chenise Delce pitched a complete-game two-hitter with 5 strikeouts.