GOLF

Arkansas regains Governors Cup

Team Arkansas won 13½ of the 20 possible points Saturday to capture the Governors Cup 22-18 over Mississippi at the Greenville Country Club in Greenville, Miss. The victory came after a loss a year ago at Texarkana Country Club and gives Arkansas a 5-4 series lead. Before Saturday, Arkansas’ last championship came in 2012 at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss. Trailing 11½ -8 ½ coming into Saturday’s singles, Arkansas won nine of the first 11 matches to take a 17½ -13 ½ lead. Arkansas went ahead 20-17 before four-time ASGA player of the year Wes McNulty of White Hall clinched the Cup with a decisive 4 and 3 victory over Steve Wilson, the 2008 U.S. Mid Amateur champion. Jim Balch (3 and 2), Bev Hargraves (2 and 1), Bob Brooks (1 up), Bobby Baker (1 up), Ronnie Johnson (5 and 3), Tracy Harris (6 and 5), Ronny Ocker (4 and 3), Louis Lee (6 and 5) and Kevin Walker (1 up) got Arkansas rolling early with victories. ASGA veterans Stan Lee (5 and 4) and Chris Jenkins (4 and 3) won their matches, while Neal Westbrook halved his for Arkansas’ 20-17 advantage. Needing 20 ½ points to win the Cup, McNulty got the clincher before Mark Bartlett’s 1-up victory set the final margin. Jenkins went 3-0 on the weekend, while Balch and Hargraves each went 2-0-1.

— Frankie Frisco

UA women falter

No. 4 Arkansas rallied late at the NCAA Central Regional on Saturday in Stillwater, Okla., but came up two shots short of being in position to qualify for the NCAA Championships. The Razorbacks shot a 12-over-par 300 to finish at 40 over in the 54-hole regional, which was won by No. 3 UCLA by 17 strokes at 11 over. No. 9 Alabama was second at 28 over. Arkansas was the only team ranked in the top 10 that failed to advance. The Razorbacks were two shots behind No. 21 Florida, the last of the eight teams to make the cut, which advanced over host Oklahoma State in a tiebreaker. The other qualifiers were Mississippi State (29 over), California (30 over), Ohio State (35 over), Kansas (35 over) and Arizona (37 over). Sophomore Gaby Lopez fired a 2-over 74 in the final round to finish at 6 over and tied for 19th place. Sophomore Reginia Plasencia followed her 69 on Friday with a 73 to finish at 7 over and tied for 22nd. Freshman Summer Roachell tied for 38th at 12 over, while senior Emily Tubert tied for 51st at 15 over and senior Emma Lavy was at 31 over. Kent State’s Wad Phaewchimplee earned medalist honors with a 7-under 209, five shots better than Dana Finkelstein of UNLV. The NCAA Championships will be played May 20-23 at the Tulsa Country Club.

— Tom Murphy

SOFTBALL

UCA finishes season with loss

No. 4-seed Stephen F. Austin shut out Central Arkansas 5-0 Saturday in the Southland Conference Tournament at North Oak Park in Hammond, La. Heather Hollingsworth scored on a throwing error by UCA catcher Jessie Taylor in the first inning to give the Ladyjacks a 1-0 lead. Shalie Day had an RBI triple in the third inning to make it 2-0. SFA pushed it to 3-0 in the fourth when Lindsay Campbell singled in Brittany Lee. Day had an RBI double in the seventh to score Alisa Hamilton and Brittnay Lewis to make it 5-0. Carlie Thomas gave up two hits and struck out five to get the victory. Kylee Studioso fell to 17-13 after giving up 5 runs on 10 hits. Stephen F. Austin played Sam Houston State in another elimination game Saturday. UCA finished its season at 25-34.

Lady Muleriders close year

Southern Arkansas lost 5-0 Saturday to Missouri Western in the NCAA Central Regional in Winona, Minn. SAU (37-26) was held to four hits in the loss. Missouri Western (39-17) scored once in the third inning, twice in the fifth and twice in the sixth inning. Hanna Gill (12-6) took the loss for SAU, allowing all 5 runs in 5 1/3 innings on 4 hits while striking out 2 and walking 2. Jackie Bishop (26-9) pitched a complete game for Missouri Western.

BASEBALL

Arkansas-Fort Smith ends season in Texas

Arkansas-Fort Smith lost 9-1 to Newman on Saturday in the Heartland Conference Tournament to end its season at 25-26 in Georgetown, Texas. Newman scored five runs in the sixth inning and three in the eighth. Newman had 14 hits in the game with Ricky Sanchez going 2 for 4 with an RBI. Andrew Standish went 2 for 2 with an RBI. Jordan Ollenberger went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI. Alex Lator went 2 for 5 with a double and an RBI. Kyle Johnson went 2 for 4.