State sports briefs

TRACK UA’s Lazas captures decathlon

In his first decathlon of the 2013 outdoor season, University of Arkansas junior Kevin Lazas scored 7,537 points to win the event at the Arkansas Invitational at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville. The finish placed him in the No. 10 spot on this year’s collegiate performance list. This weekend’s meet was Lazas’ first multi-event competition since winning the heptathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.

After fourth- and fifth-place finishes to begin the day in the 110-meter hurdles and discus, respectively, Lazas won the pole vault (16-4.75, 910 points) and the javelin (185-5, 685).

Lazas of Brentwood, Tenn., wrapped up the two-day, 10-event competition with a time of 4:44.62 in the 1,500 meters, the third-fastest time of his career. In addition to the top-10 national ranking, the score moves Lazas in to the No. 3 spot on the conference list. Lazas began the day in third place with 3,860 points.

BASEBALL Boll Weevils down Muleriders

The No. 12-ranked Southern Arkansas baseball team wrapped up its 2013 regular season on Sunday with an 11-3 loss to visiting Arkansas-Monticello. The Boll Weevils (29-18, 17-13 Great American Conference), who managed just six runs on 15 hits in being swept Saturday by the Muleriders (36-14, 23-7 GAC), came back in the series finale on Sunday and nearly doubled their run output as they scored 11 runs on 20 hits.

Wonder Boys, Bisons split

Arkansas Tech and Harding split a doubleheader Sunday at Tech Field in Russellville. For Arkansas Tech,Thomas Biocic went 3 for 7 with 1 run and 1 RBI, Cesar Abreu went 2 for 5 with 1 RBI, Jonathan Finnegan had 1 hit and 1 run, senior Drew Stanton had 2 RBI, and senior Scott Sammons went 2 for 6 with two runs as the Wonder Boys ( 31-19, 18-12 Great American Conference) won the first game 5-2 with the Bisons (27-20, 16-14 GAC) taking the second.

OBU sweeps Reddies

Ouachita Baptist defeated Henderson State 7-2 and 3-2 to conclude Great American Conference play Sunday at Rab Rodgers Field in Arkadelphia, Ark. But OBU (22-24-1, 14-16) ended its season with the victories, finishing one game behind sixth-seeded Harding for the final spot in the Great American Conference tournament, which starts Saturday. Henderson State (23-25, 17-13) goes in the tournament as the No. 4 seed, facing third-seeded Arkansas Tech (31-19 and 18-12) on Saturday at David Allen Ballpark with the first pitch set for 7 p.m.

Warriors lose in semifinals

Hendrix College lost to top-seeded Millsaps in the semifinals of the Southern Athletic Association Tournament at Twenty Field in Jackson, Miss. The fourth-seeded Warriors (21-22) needed to win one game to advance to next weekend’s Championship Series against Birmingham-Southern, but the Millsaps (32-11) won the first game 2-1, forcing a second contest, then closed out the day with an 8-4 win.

Great American Conference Baseball Tournament pairings Enid, Okla., Allen David Ballpark SATURDAY’S GAMES

No. 1 Southern Arkansas (36-14, 23-7) vs. No. 6 Harding (27-20, 15-15), 12:00 p.m.

No. 2 SW Oklahoma State (31-14, 21-9) vs. No. 5 Arkansas-Monticello (29-18, 17-13), 3:30 p.m.

No. 3 Arkansas Tech (31-19, 18-12) vs. No. 4 Henderson State (23-25, 17-13), 7:00 p.m.

SOFTBALL Henderson falls in GAC title game

Henderson State advanced to the championship game of the Great American Conference softball tournament Sunday in Bentonville, but the Lady Reddies’ run ended there, dropping a 6-2 decision to Southeastern Oklahoma. Henderson State (23-32), defeated East Central Oklahoma 2-0 earlier in the day to advance to its first conference tournament championship appearance against the Savage Storm (44-7), the third-ranked team in Division II. Henderson scored two in the third inning to take a 2-1 lead, scoring on Hali Kizer’s two-run double off the left-center field fence. Southeastern responded with single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings and two in the sixth to take control. The Lady Reddies were held in check the final four innings by Southeastern pitchers Jacee Bennett and Mindy McElroy.

Amy Halter and Katie Hulan had two hits each for the Lady Reddies. Three Lady Reddies were selected to the GAC All-Tournament team: Morgan South, Sarah Gipson and Amber Wilburn. South ended the tournament going 6 for 15 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI. Gipson went 6 for 17 with a double, a home run and 4 RBI to go along with 4 runs scored. Wilburn went 4 for 15 which included a game-winning home run in the first game over East Central and a 3-for-3 performance in the second game against the Lady Tigers.

GOLF Hendrix men 8th in SAAC meet

The Hendrix College men’s golf team finished the Southern Athletic Association Championships in eighth place at Limestone Springs Golf Club in Oneonta, Ala., on Sunday. The Warriors compiled a two-day total of 720, 144 strokes behind Oglethorpe, the top-ranked team in Division III. Junior Travis Weeks tied his season-low round with a 78 in round two and finished at 166, tying for 37th. Sophomore Cory Ziegler tied for 41st at 169 and sophomore John Weirich came in at 171, good for 44th.

Sports, Pages 17 on 04/29/2013

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