The last weekend in February was a good one for fans of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Across several men’s and women’s sports, broken records, historic performances and championships were the norm.
The Arkansas baseball team went 2-1 over the weekend in the Kubota College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers, in Arlington. The Hogs notched a grueling 5-4 win over Oregon State on Friday night behind Hagen Smith’s program record-tying 17 strikeouts. Smith K’ed 15 consecutive batters to start the game.
On Saturday, the Hogs led for eight and a half innings behind more strong pitching performances before dropping a 2-1, 14-inning heartbreaker to Oklahoma State. Hog pitchers, led by starter Brady Tygart, fanned 25 Cowboy batters to set a team record. Starter Mason Molina then sat down 10 batters on Sunday as the Hogs defeated Michigan.
The Hog basketball team earned a season sweep over Missouri on Saturday behind Khalif Battle’s 42 points. It represented the second most in an SEC game ever by a Razorback and tied for the most points scored in an SEC game this season thus far.
The men’s and women’s indoor track-and-field squads, as has become custom, swept the SEC indoor meet in Fayetteville in dominating fashion. Arkansas track represents one of the most dominant college athletic programs in the nation, and 2024 marks the 11th time the men’s and women’s programs have swept the SEC indoor meet.
The women scored in 14 of 15 events and totaled 131 points to run away with the meet. The men tallied 161 points to outdistance second-place Florida by 56 points and scored in 16 of 17 events.
Individual champions for the women were Amber Anning in the 400m and Sydney Thorvaldson in the 5000m. Rachel Glenn set a school record in the high jump, Thorvaldson set a meet record in the 5000m and Anning’s 400m performance is the best so far this year in college track.
On the men’s side, individual champions for the Hogs were Peter Maru in the 3000m and 5000m, Romaine Beckford in the high jump, Wayne Pinnock in the long jump, Yariel Soto Torrado in the heptathlon and the 4×400 relay team of TJ Tomlyanovich, Lance Lang, William Spencer and Steven McElroy.
Maru set a meet record in the 3000m and meet and school records in the 5000m and the 4×400 team is the current U.S. leader.
The top-ranked women are the favorites to win another national championship and the third-ranked men are expected to be one of top programs competing for the NCAA title. The title marked the 14th overall SEC indoor title for the women, and first for first-year head coach Chris Johnson, and the fifth consecutive indoor title for the men’s program.
Not to be outdone, Arkansas softball pitcher Robyn Herron pitched a perfect game in a 7-0 rout of Illinois State. She struck out 11 batters on just 86 pitches in seven innings. It was the second time this season that Herron has notched double-digit K’s.
Meanwhile, the No. 16 GymBacks earned their highest ranked win in eight years by outlasting No. 6 Kentucky at Barnhill Arena. Frankie Pierce set a program record with a 9.975 on floor while the team also set a program record on floor with a 19.675.
Top photo: Hagen Smith after striking out a record 17 batters against Oregon State. (Photo courtesy of Arkansas Athletics)
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