BASEBALL
Lanzilli, Ramage sign free-agent contracts
Two University of Arkansas baseball players signed with the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.
Outfielder Chris Lanzilli and right-handed pitcher Kole Ramage signed undrafted free-agent contracts with the White Sox, they announced on social media. The White Sox have not announced the signings.
Both are expected to report to Birmingham, Ala., this weekend for a physical, according to sources. The White Sox have a Class AA affiliate, the Birmingham Barons, located in the city.
Both Lanzilli and Ramage exhausted their eligibility while playing for the Razorbacks in 2022. Ramage spent five seasons at Arkansas, while Lanzilli transferred to the Razorbacks from Wake Forest following the 2021 season.
Lanzilli led Arkansas with a .326 batting average and .937 OPS. He hit 11 home runs, 9 doubles and had 40 RBI in 59 games.
Ramage was the Razorbacks' most-used reliever and finished the season with a 4.80 ERA over 502/3 innings and 31 appearances. Ramage's 94 career appearances rank second all-time at Arkansas, and he and classmate Zebulon Vermillion became the first Razorbacks to be on three teams that played in the College World Series.
Lanzilli and Ramage are the first known Arkansas players to sign contracts since the 20-round MLB Draft concluded Tuesday. The Razorbacks had nine players drafted, including right-handed pitcher Peyton Pallette (second round) and catcher Michael Turner (ninth round) by the White Sox.
-- Matt Jones
FOOTBALL
LRTD Club lineup to be announced Aug. 2
The Little Rock Touchdown Club's speaker lineup for the 2022 season will be announced at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 2 on the second-floor suites of War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
After the lineup announcement, a tailgate party is scheduled from 11 a.m.-noon.
For the 2022 season, 15 dates are scheduled at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Little Rock, beginning with Aug. 15 and concluding Nov. 21. The club will meet most Mondays during the 2022 season, except for three consecutive Tuesdays (Aug. 30, Sept. 6 and Sept. 13). The end-of-season awards banquet is scheduled for Jan. 12.
Memberships for the 2022 season are currently on sale at lrtouchdown.com and range from $90-$450. Weekly meal costs for each meeting are $25 for members and $35 for non-members.
-- Democrat-Gazette Press Services
GOLF
UA students receive ASGA scholarship
Will Green and Derrick Olsbo, both students in the University of Arkansas' Horticulture Department, were named inaugural recipients of the Garland Tynes Memorial Scholarship on Wednesday.
The scholarship is named in honor of the late Garland Tynes, who served as golf course superintendent at the Pine Bluff Country Club for 45 years until his retirement in 2019. Tynes died in December 2021 returning from a hunting trip in Kansas.
Green of St. Louis has worked at Bethpage State Park Golf Course in New York and Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis. He has been interning at The Olympic Club in San Francisco this summer.
Olsbo of Neosho, Mo., is interning this summer at The Alotian Club in Roland and previously worked at Stonebridge Meadows Golf Club in Fayetteville.
Green and Olsbo will be recognized at the Golf Course Superintendents Association of Arkansas fall meeting Oct. 10 at Shadow Valley Country Club in Rogers.
-- Democrat-Gazette Press Services
Pair advance at U.S. Girls Junior Amateur
Mackenzie Lee of North Little Rock and Grace Kilcrease of Springdale advanced to today's Round 0f 32 at the U.S. Girls Junior Amateur at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Ky., with victories Wednesday.
Lee, the tournament's No. 24 seed, def. No. 41 seed Michelle Liu of Canada, 4 and 3. Lee will take on ninth-seeded Justice Bosio in a Round of 32 match this morning.
Kilcrease, the No. 31 seed, took down No. 34 seed Nikki Oh of Torrence, Calif., 4 and 3. Kilcrease will meet the No. 63 seed, Thienna Huynh of Lilburn, Ga., minutes after the Lee-Bosio match begins.
Huynh upset second-seed Natalie Vo of San Jose, Calif., 4 and 3 to set up her match with Kilcrease.
-- Democrat-Gazette Press Services
BASKETBALL
UALR women add forward from Spain
University of Arkansas-Little Rock women's basketball Coach Joe Foley will have an eighth newcomer for the 2022-23 campaign in Elena Moreno.
Moreno, a native of Malaga, Spain, played for Unicaja Malaga last season, averaging 2.1 points and 2.2 rebounds in 19 games. Her team finished 16-10 in Spain's second women's division.
-- Mitchell Gladstone
Arkansas reliever Kole Ramage leaves the field Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, after being replaced on the mound by Zack Morris against Illinois State during the seventh inning of the Razorbacks' 3-2 loss at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)