FOOTBALL
Hogs' kickoff times announced for first 3 games
The University of Arkansas will open the 2023 college football season with two afternoon kickoffs before BYU comes in for a night game at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
The SEC and its broadcast partners announced the kickoff times for the first three games of the season for all league schools as well as other selected dates Wednesday at the annual SEC meetings in Destin, Fla.
The Razorbacks, under fourth-year Coach Sam Pittman, will play their opener against Western Carolina at 3 p.m. Sept. 2 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. That game, the first game between the Razorbacks and Catamounts, will be streamed on SEC Network Plus and ESPN Plus.
Arkansas will play the first of its six on-campus games the following week with a 3 p.m. kickoff against Kent State on Sept. 9. That game, also a first between the Hogs and the Golden Flashes, will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
In Week 3, the Razorbacks will host BYU in a return of a two-game, home-and-home series at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 16 on ESPN2. Arkansas downed the Cougars 52-35 last Oct. 15 in Provo, Utah, in the first meeting between the schools.
The Razorbacks -- coming off a 7-6 season and a 55-53, triple-overtime win over Kansas in the Liberty Bowl -- have one other previously announced kickoff time. Arkansas will host Missouri at 3 p.m. on the Friday after Thanksgiving, Nov. 24, on CBS.
-- Tom Murphy
Times, TV set for ASU's opening games
The kickoff times for Arkansas State's first three games this fall were formally announced Wednesday with less than 100 days until the start of the Red Wolves' 2023 season.
ASU will open with a nationally-televised game at Oklahoma on Sept. 2, kicking off at 11 a.m. Central on ESPN. The Red Wolves will then return home for the first of three straight games in Jonesboro. ASU hosts Memphis at 6 p.m. Sept. 9, a game that will streamed on ESPN Plus.
The Red Wolves play Stony Brook at Centennial Bank Stadium on Sept. 16, also at 6 p.m. on ESPN Plus, before opening Sun Belt Conference play with a home game versus Southern Mississippi on Sept. 23. The time and TV network for ASU's game against the Golden Eagles -- as well as its eight remaining games -- will be announced at a later date.
-- Mitchell Gladstone
BASKETBALL
ASU men add 5th transfer to roster
First-year Coach Bryan Hodgson continued to retool his inaugural Arkansas State roster, adding junior college transfer Obadiah Curtis on Tuesday evening. Curtis, who made the announcement via his personal Twitter page, is a 6-5, 195-pound guard from Fresno, Calif., and spent last season playing for Reedley College in the California Community College Athletic Association.
In 26 games for Reedley, Curtis averaged 19.7 points and 8.2 rebounds with 1.7 assists while shooting 46.8% from the field. A 28.6% 3-point shooter, Curtis twice topped 30 points in January and failed to reach double-figure points just once.
Curtis is the Red Wolves' fifth transfer addition of the offseason, joining LaQuill Hardnett (Buffalo), Dyondre Dominguez (Massachusetts), Freddy Hicks (Tarleton State) and Derrian Ford (Arkansas).
-- Mitchell Gladstone
SOFTBALL
Hedgecock, Delce named All-Americans
FAYETTEVILLE -- A pair of Arkansas softball players were named to National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-America teams, the organization announced Wednesday.
Designated player Rylin Hedgecock garnered a first-team selection and pitcher Chenise Delce was awarded second-team honors.
Hedgecock became the seventh Razorback – all since 2021 – to be an NFCA first-team All-American. She took the college softball world by notice this year with 21 home runs, which was tied for fifth-most nationally.
The redshirt junior from Valdosta, Ga., more than doubled her career at-bats in 2023. She entered the season with 78 at-bats from 2020-22 and had 164 this year.
Hedgecock posted a .335 batting average, .774 slugging percentage and tallied 62 RBI. Her 21 home runs and 62 RBI are each third most in a single season by a Razorback.
She is the second Arkansas designated player to earn NFCA first-team honors. Linnie Malkin, the program's home runs record holder, also made the first team as a designated player in 2022.
Redshirt senior pitcher Chenise Delce earned her second consecutive NFCA second-team honor. She is the second Razorback, joining Danielle Gibson, to be named to an NFCA All-America team twice.
Delce posted a 2.02 ERA in 180 1/3 innings pitched and notched 21 wins, which are sixth most by an Arkansas pitcher in a single season. Her 193 strikeouts in 2023 are the ninth most in a season by a Razorback, and she tossed six solo shutouts in her final season.
Arkansas has had players named to NFCA All-America teams 12 times. Eleven of those selections have come since 2019 under the leadership of Coach Courtney Deifel.
-- Ethan Westerman
GOLF
Optimist junior tournament set June 5 in Rogers
Lost Springs Golf Club in Rogers will host an Optimist International Junior Golf Championships golf tournament on Monday, June 5.
The cost is $50 and is open to junior golfers ages 10 to 18. There are more than 50 qualifying tournaments with more than 5,000 golfers participating each year in the junior tournaments. The local tournament will be hosted by TennArk Optimist District.
For more information, contact Tom Rasmussen at (479) 366-8002 or by email at tom.rasmussen.ar1@outlook.com.
-- NWA Democrat-Gazette
TRACK AND FIELD
UA piles up SEC awards
FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas men's and women's track and field teams, which swept SEC Outdoor titles, combined for seven individual awards announced Wednesday in voting by the SEC coaches.
Chris Bucknam, the Razorbacks' men's coach, and Lance Harter, the Razorbacks' women's coach, each were SEC coaches of the year.
Bucknam has been SEC Coach of the Year 30 times in 15 years leading the Razorbacks, earning his eighth honors outdoors along with 10 in cross country and 12 indoors.
Harter, who is in his 34th year at Arkansas and retiring at the end of the outdoor season, won his 46th overall SEC Coach of the Year honor and the 10th outdoors. He has received the honor 22 times in cross country and 14 times indoors.
Arkansas triple jumper Jaydon Hibbert was the men's SEC Field Athlete of the Year and Freshman Field Athlete of the Year.
Hibbert, who won the SEC title and set a collegiate record with a leap of 58 feet, 7 1/2 inches, is the first freshman to claim both field event honors since LSU pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis in 2019. The previous Razorback to sweep both awards was pole vaulter Andrew Irwin in 2009.
Arkansas junior Britton Wilson, who won the 400 and 400 hurdles at the SEC Championships for the second year in a row, is the women's SEC Runner of the Year. She won the SEC 400 title in a collegiate record 49.13 seconds.
Razorbacks senior Ayden Owens-Delerme, last year's NCAA decathlon champion who is focusing on the 400 hurdles this season and is the national leader after winning the SEC title in a meet record 48.26 seconds, is the men's co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year along with Georgia sprinter Matthew Boling.
Arkansas distance runner Ben Shearer is the men's co-Freshman runner of the Year along with Florida's Ryan Willie.
-- Bob Holt