State sports briefs

Sunday, April 27, 2014

GOLF Arkansas’ Echavarria moves into second

Arkansas’ Nicholas Echavarria moved into second place after shooting a second-round 68 on Saturday at the SEC Championship at the Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course in St. Simons Island, Ga.

After shooting a 66 in the first round, Echavarria shot a 68 for 6-under 134. Kolton Crawford is tied for 31st at 143 (71-72), while Sebastian Cappelen is tied for 36th at 144 (71-73), Taylor Moore is tied for 47th at 146 (72-74) and Zach Coats is 66th at 154 (76-78).

Arkansas shot 287 as a team and is in sixth place at 567, 29 shots behind leader Alabama. The Crimson Tide shot a 266 in the second round and has a 36-hole total of 538. South Carolina is tied with Auburn for second at 555. LSU (559) is fourth and Georgia (561) is fifth.

TRACK AND FIELD UA women earn 2 runner-up finishes at Drake

Arkansas’ 1,600-meter relay team of Brianna Swinton, Daina Harper, Regine Williams and Chrishuna Williams finished second in 3 minutes, 32.18 seconds at the Drake Relays on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa.

The sprint medley relay team of Regine Williams, Harper, Chrishuna Williamas and Stephanie Brown finished second in 3:48.25. Ivanque Kemp was eighth in the 100 hurdles in 14.13 seconds.

BASEBALL Arkansas Tech wins 22nd consecutive game

Arkansas Tech swept Harding 6-5 and 2-0 Saturday in Searcy to extend its winning streak to 22 consecutive games and win its first outright conference title since the 1992 season.

The Wonder Boys overcame a 4-1 deficit in the first game. Keenan Jumper had an RBI single in the fourth to cut it to 4-2. After Harding’s John Chapman scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth, Jay Johnson had an RBI single with the bases loaded in the fifth to cut the deficit to 5-3.

Jumper was hit by a pitch to score a run to make it 5-4. James Sharp was also hit by a pitch to tie the game at 5-5. Sage Boehner drew a bases-loaded walk to put the Wonder Boys ahead 6-5.

In the second game, Boehner had a home run in the third inning and Jumper scored on a wild pitch in the seventh for the game’s only runs.

SAU splits with UAM

Arkansas-Monticello defeated Southern Arkansas 3-2 and lost 3-0 Saturday in Monticello.

The Boll Weevils (33-13, 22-8 GAC) scored three times in the bottom of the ninth with Tyler Caruthers hitting a two-run double and Alex Lang delivering an RBI single.

In the second game, Southern Arkansas (34-16, 18-12) got consecutive RBI singles from Justin Buchanan and Josh Rodriguez in the fourth inning. Rodriguez added an RBI single in the sixth inning.

Ouachita Baptist sweeps Henderson State

Ouachita Baptist defeated Henderson State 9-3 and 9-1 Saturday at Clyde Berry Field in Arkadelphia.

In the first game, Ouachita Baptist scored four runs in the fifth inning, taking advantage of three walks and two hit batters. In the second game, Ouachita Baptist had 13 hits with Landon Moore leading the way with three and two RBI. A.J. Kruzel had two of Henderson State’s five hits in the second game.

UAFS falls to McMurry

McMurry edged Arkansas-Fort Smith (23-21, 13-14 Heartland Conference) 2-1 Saturday at Walt Driggers Field in Abilene, Texas.

McMurry scored runs in the fourth and sixth innings before Arkansas-Fort Smith’s Josh Vanderpool led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brennan Rogers in the eighth inning. Kroby Chaddick and Justin Shealy had bases hits but McMurry pitcher Joel Deporte got Ozzie Hurt to pop up to end the inning.

SOFTBALL Arkansas falls at Mississippi State

Arkansas lost 18-7 to Mississippi State on Saturday in Starkville, Miss., despite Devon Wallace hitting a home run and Stephanie Canfield having two hits.

Arkansas (27-23, 5-15 SEC) fell behind 4-0 in the first inning before scoring six runs in the second off five hits, three walks and an illegal pitch, but the Bulldogs (36-16, 8-12) responded with 10 runs in the bottom of the second. Arkansas added one in the fourth, but Mississippi State added four in the fifth to end the game.

Sydney Wright (4-7) took the loss, giving up 6 runs on 5 hits in the second inning without getting a batter out.

UCA drops finale at Incarnate Word

Central Arkansas (22-31, 11-12 Southland Conference) lost its series finale Saturday to Incarnate Word 9-3 in San Antonio.

Tied 1-1, Incarnate Word (20-28, 6-12) scored four times in the bottom of the fourth to lead 5-1. After Sarah Bigej singled to score Amy Gunnells in the fifth, the Cardinals scored four times in the bottom of the fifth to go ahead 9-2. The Sugar Bears added one more run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Sam Forrest that scored Taylor Dodson.

SAU sweeps Southwestern Oklahoma

Southern Arkansas defeated Southwestern Oklahoma State 6-2 and 9-0 Saturday in Magnolia and will enter the Great American Conference as the No. 2 seed after Southeastern Oklahoma State swept Henderson State.

The Lady Muleriders (32-23, 25-15) will play No. 7 seed Arkansas-Monticello at Bentonville High School at noon Thursday.

The Lady Muleriders scored three runs in the third to lead 4-0 thanks to a bases-loaded walk to Leigha Doyle and a two-run single from Darian Harris. Maddie Dow added a two-run home run in the fourth to close out the scoring for Southern Arkansas.

Southern Arkansas scored three runs in the first inning of the second game on a two-run double by Audrey Farfan and an RBI double by Chelsea Ivy that scored Farfan.

One inning later, Shelby Miller hit a two-run home run to make it 5-0. The Lady Muleriders added four in the third to make it 9-0.

Arkansas Tech sweeps Southern Nazarene

Arkansas Tech swept Southern Nazarene 2-1 and 7-6 Saturday in Bethany, Okla.

Jalissa Gum hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning of the first game, and Sydnee Clark allowed 1 run on 6 hits in 7 innings.

In the second game, the Golden Suns (31-25, 19-21 GAC) scored seven runs on 11 hits. Chelsea Reeves hit a two-run home run to put the Golden Suns up 2-0. They pushed it to 5-0 in the third before Southern Nazrene scored three in the bottom of the third and one in the fourth to close to 5-4.

Arkansas Tech added runs in the fifth and sixth inning to take a 7-4 lead before Southern Nazarene closed with runs in the sixth and seventh innings to set the final margin.

UAM swept by Northwestern Oklahoma

Northwestern Oklahoma State swept Arkansas-Monticello 4-2 and 3-2 Saturday in Monticello.

Northwestern Oklahoma broke a 2-2 tie with a home run by Shyanne Nichols in the second inning to lead 3-2. Megan Sanders had a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning to set the final margin.

In the second game, Northwestern Oklahoma scored three runs in the seventh inning to take a 3-1 lead. The Cotton Blossoms (26-28, 16-23) added one run in the seventh on an RBI double by Birttany Titel.

Southeastern Oklahoma sweeps Henderson

Southeastern Oklahoma State swept Henderson State 6-2 and 7-6 in Durant, Okla. Saturday.

Henderson State (28-23, 24-16 GAC) will enter the GAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed and play Arkansas Tech at 10 a.m. Thursday in Bentonville.

In the first game, Southeastern Oklahoma built a 6-0 lead before Henderson’s Amber Klug and Ashlyn White hit home runs for the Lady Reddies.

In the second game, Henderson State built a 4-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a three-run home run by Morgan South. Southeastern Oklahoma scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 4-4 and added three in the sixth to lead 7-4.

Sports, Pages 35 on 04/27/2014