From @masonchoate


FAYETTEVILLE — Saturday night featured yet another Big 12 team sporting purple jerseys teeing off on Arkansas left-handed star pitcher Hagen Smith in an NCAA Tournament regional game.

One year removed from giving up eight earned runs on six hits in just one inning of a start in a 20-5 Fayetteville Regional loss to TCU in 2023, Smith was tagged for six earned runs — all in one inning — on four hits across five total innings Saturday in a 7-6 loss to 3-seed Kansas State at Baum-Walker Stadium in a winner's bracket matchup of the Fayetteville Regional.

ALSO READ: Kansas State outlasts Arkansas 7-6, sends Hogs to elimination game

The Arkansas battled with six runs scored on 13 hits, although the Hogs did leave 12 men on base, and the effort proved to not be enough to overcome the Wildcats' six-run bottom of the sixth.

"Thirteen hits, six runs, no errors is usually going to be enough to get you a W, especially when Hagen is on the mound," head coach Dave Van Horn said postgame. "Hats off to K-State for putting together a really good inning against him."

WATCH: Dave Van Horn, players postgame - Kansas State 7, Arkansas 6

A First Team All-SEC selection, Smith threw 92 pitches, walked four and struck out seven in what was his 16th start of the year. His season earned run average (ERA) now sits at 2.04 after Saturday after it dropped to 1.41 after Smith's first four innings of work.

"They had a really good approach against him," Arkansas catcher Hudson White said. "Hats off to them. They competed well at the plate. They got a few infield hits. But they did an awesome job."

Saturday was the first time all season that Smith allowed more than three earned runs in an outing, and it was just his fourth time to have at least four walks.

Smith tied the single season strikeout record at Arkansas with a punchout against the first batter he faced Saturday. A native of Bullard, Texas, Smith added his name to the top of another list with strikeout No. 156 on the year — the new single season program record — to leadoff the bottom of the second inning.

The 2024 SEC Pitcher of the Year, Smith began the bottom of the fourth with two quick strikeouts before he gave up his first hit of the game — a two-out single to center. Arkansas' ace left-hander responded with his sixth strikeout of the game to strand the runner.

Things got rocky for Smith when he walked the first two batters he faced in the bottom half of the fourth inning. After a sacrifice bunt advanced the runners, the Wildcats put together back-to-back RBI knocks to tie the game at 2-2.

Kansas State took a one-run lead via an RBI sacrifice bunt and shortstop Kaelen Culpepper then crushed a three-run homer to right-center to give the Wildcats a 6-2 advantage. Culpepper also hit for the cycle in Kansas State's first game of the regional against Louisiana Tech.

Senior outfielder Peyton Holt said postgame that the Hogs had no reaction when returning to the dugout after that six-run frame from K-State.

"It's baseball," Holt said. "You can't throw a shutout every time you go out. You see it in the Big Leagues. You've got all those good arms and they can't have a good outing every time. It's part of it."

While Arkansas managed to string together some hits and make it interesting with a two-run ninth inning homer from Holt to make it a one-run game, a solo homer from K-State outfielder Nick English in the bottom of the eighth off Hogs' reliever Ben Bybee proved to be a critical swing.

Up next, the Razorbacks will play 4-seed Southeast Missouri State in an elimination game Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. The Razorbacks beat the Redhawks, 17-9, to open regional play Friday afternoon.

Kansas State will play the winner of Arkansas and SEMO at 6 p.m. CT, and if necessary, a fifth game of the regional will be played Monday at a time to be determined later.

Everyone loves a good success story, and former Arkansas kicker Jake Bates has been on the forefront of social media recently for what he accomplished during the Michigan Panthers' season-opening win against the St. Louis Battlehawks to kick off the UFL season Saturday.

After not making a kick during his three seasons in the collegiate ranks — two years at Texas State and one at Arkansas in 2022 — Bates nailed a 64-yard game-winning field goal to hand the Panthers an 18-16 victory over the Battlehawks. The make is the second-longest across professional football, just behind Justin Tucker's 66-yarder against the Detroit Lions in 2021.

Bates' most impressive feat wasn't necessarily making the field goal, but making back-to-back after getting iced by the opposing team.

"Honestly at this moment I don't really remember what I was thinking about, I just remember that I heard the whistle and hit the ball and I kind of walked 10 or 15 yards by myself just resetting," Bates said Monday on the Pat McAfee Show. "The whole thing about being a kicker is being able to hit the same ball every time. That's what I tried to do on the second one and luckily was able to get it in."

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A kickoff specialist during his one season in a Razorback uniform, Bates earned First-Team All-SEC honors for his efforts after finishing fourth nationally with an average of 64.47 yards per kickoff and an SEC-best 64 touchbacks. Bates touched on his college career during a segment of the Pat Mcafee show on Monday.

"Well at my two schools that I played football at, it was Texas State and then Arkansas, I think at both of those places I was ready to kick field goals, but I was behind two guys that were really, really good," Bates said. "At Texas State there was Seth Keller and he holds like every record there, and then at Arkansas I was behind Cam Little, who is probably going to be the first kicker off the board this draft.

According to a report from JPAFootball, multiple NFL teams have inquired about Bates following the awe-inspiring placekick. Bates signed a deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and then the Houston Texans out of college, but he never made an NFL roster.

"So, it was tough because I go to camps and kick with other guys, and I thought I deserved a chance, but it wasn't my moment," Bates said. "God had another plan for me, he was telling me to wait. I stayed patient, stayed true to myself and who I was and trusted the process, never gave up. It's hard to never give up when you don't see the light at the end of the tunnel, but luckily I didn't and now I'm here."

No one knows what the future holds for Bates, but he did earn the congratulations of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson after his kick — and that alone would push anyone forward.

"My brother sent that in our family group message and was just like, 'This is nuts, the Rock is tweeting at Jake!'

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Clary looks like a slightly chubby TE

can someone give an update on these freshman pitchers we have not yet seen this year?
i know some are battling injuries....

Hunter Dietz
Tucker Holland
Jack Smith
Adam Hachman
Jaewoo Choo
Tate McGuire
Diego Ramos

Did i miss anyone?

Come check us out.

Arkansas added to its 2025 class on Saturday as three-star athlete Markeylin Batton committed to the Hogs.

Batton, who hails from Atlanta, Texas, made the announcement on X (formerly Twitter).

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Arkansas extended an offer to Batton on July 29. He also has offers from Missouri, Michigan State, Oregon State and others.

Batton was recruited to Arkansas by running backs coach Jimmy Smith, but plays both running back and defensive back.

He also runs track. Batton reports on his X account that he runs a 4.54 40-yard dash and a 10.93 100 meter dash.

Batton’s commitment puts the Razorbacks at three in the class of 2025, as he joins four-star running back Jamarion Parker and three-star quarterback Grayson Wilson.

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After cutting Arkansas from his top 4 on August 22, the Hogs are back in the race for Mississippi DB MJ Daniels who is announcing on Friday.
Login to view embedded media Daniels put Ole Miss (who he was previously committed to), Miss St, Georgia and A&M in his top 4 but he's now down to Arkansas and the Fightin' Leachs. He visited Miss State over the weekend so I imagine he's going that way Friday.

i've followed razorback baseball closer than the 2 other main sports for the last 20 years. There has been ups and downs...there have been times where we seem like we are dead, and there is no way we'll make a deep tournament run and we wind up in Omaha, and there have been times where i just "know" we are going to win the whole thing and for what ever reason we come up short.

I do not think DVH (and his coaches) are beyond criticism. But at the same time there are no college baseball coaches i would trade for him right now (maybe in 2-3 more years)

DVH does shoulder some of the blame for this years expectations, he said very bluntly before the first of the year that the offense would not miss a beat, and that our plate discipline would be better than last year. I don't know if that's truly what he believed, or if he wanted to fire up the fanbase with the hopes that as the year went along our offense would be nearly as good as last year.... either way, looking back now, he should not have done that and he sort of wrote a check his team couldn't cash and now he and the team are having to deal with it.

Also (this is just my personal opinion) Nate Thompson's offensive philosophy doesn't fit with DVH's own personal offensive philosophy. in the past we would do anything and everything to score runs...bunt, steal, hit & run, double steals, etc... i know the game was different and there were times where the bats/balls were "dead" compared to today....In the past few years we have transformed into this HR or bust team and it could have/should have won us a national title, but it didn't. Now I'm not saying this to transfer the blame from DVH to NT, because DVH is the boss and it all falls at his feet. But i wouldn't be surprised if we go back to a more complete offensive philosophy (hopefully next season).

From the pitching standpoint, i think everyone will agree Matt Hobbs is a step down from Wes Johnson, however i do feel MH is a good pitching coach. I feel like last year Kevin Kopps almost held the staff back, because whenever we had a problem we'd just go to KK and he would get us out of it. i feel like it hampered the total staff development. Now weather that is poor coaching or not, is tough for me to say, yes looking back i wish we would have used more guys and got them ready for post-season and for this year. But when your job is to win games i can see why DVH and MH went to KK to win the game.

Moving to this year, i do not understand why Trest, Starks, etc...haven't been giving meaningful innings to prepare for the stretch run. you can tell our 5 or 6 guys are fatigued and have not been as sharp as they were earlier in the year....that to me is on the coaches....this is why we are walking more batters now, this is why we are leaving pitches up in the zone and getting hit...we have to be able to depend on more that 6-7 pitchers if we have any intention of playing for a while in June.....offensively when JUCO's are your best hitters usually this is not a recipe for success...this is not a dig at slavens or webb, but more of the fact that Wallace/Moore/Stoval, etc.. haven't lived up to the hype.

As for the schedule, yes its bad this year....but look back we played instate schools last year, we played Grambling last year...the difference is the SEC is down and we aren't getting the SOS bump from the league like we always have. plus in the past some of the mid-majors that we played had really good years, and that didn't happen this year...plus DVH doesn't have a say on playing the instate teams, he was told he has to play them, maybe going forward we'll only play them once, but he can't not play them

Now, as an overall "state of the program" we are fine. i believe there are some fans who are looking to complain and are talking about not letting the team have fun, etc...that is a joke. Yes, i know the comments DVH made before the season, and again looking back i bet he wishes he wouldn't have said that...because media and some fans take it the wrong way. but he was just saying he want his guys to be focused on winning and not on talking trash, etc... in todays world if kids aren't having fun playing a sport, they won't play...they will sit out or transfer, etc...
There a people calling for DVH to be fired, or comparing him to Mike Anderson, and i'm not sure if its just trolling or if that is what they really feel, but its just an asinine statement to make. We are coming off the best season in razorback baseball history...we are 3 years removed from a national runner up, we've been to 2 of the last 3 CWS. yes this year has been a disappointment and it appears it will end a disappointment, but collectively no one has had a better 4-5 year stretch.
If recruiting begins to slip, and we have this type of year on regular basis then yeah, its time to panic and make a change...but we have no reason to believe that will be the case.

we've all seen talented teams underperform all year, and then for whatever reason it comes together in postseason play....i wouldn't count on us turning it around this year...but its a possibility and i'm hoping thats what happens.

From @KylerSwaim


The 2023 Minor League Baseball season is a month old and one former Razorback — Dominic Fletcher — has already made his debut in The Show. There are 29 former Razorbacks currently minors looking to make their mark in the big leagues.

With nine former players on Major League rosters, who will be the next to make the jump? Well, there are five players that have compelling arguments:

​

Heston Kjerstad, OF, Bowie Baysox (AA - Baltimore Orioles)​

After missing the 2021 season with myocarditis, Heston Kjerstad has skyrocketed through the Orioles system with quick stops at Single-A Delmarva and High-A Aberdeen. He is currently with Double-A Bowie and has offensive numbers rivaling his shortened 2020 season in Arkansas.

The former No. 2 overall pick is starting to show why he was selected so high and why he can play anywhere on the field, with starts at first base, left field and right field in 2023.

Kjerstad was named the Orioles Minor League Player of the Month for slashing .284/.392/.612 with six home runs in the month of April. He is ranked as the No. 5 prospect in the Orioles system.

2023 Stats: 26 games, 102 AB, .294 BA, 30 H, .385 OBP, 9 HR

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Grant Koch, C, Indianapolis Indians (AAA - Pittsburgh Pirates)​

Koch spent the first month of the season with the Indianapolis Indians and quickly climbed through the Pirates' A and AA teams in Bradenton, Florida, and Altoona, Pennsylvania, respectively, in 2022. Koch’s appearances at catcher for the Indians have been few and far between, as he has played in just 13 of the 32 games this season, splitting time behind the plate with Endy Rodriguez. Most of Koch’s early 2023 numbers offensively are career highs through his first four seasons.

2023 stats: 13 games, 35 AB, .257 BA, 9 H, .325 OBP, 1 HR, .990 fielding pct.

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Matt Cronin, LHP, Rochester Red Wings (AAA - Washington Nationals)​

Cronin is one of two former Razorback pitchers playing Triple-A baseball, and he was on the Washington Nationals 40-man roster at the beginning of the season. The Navarre, Florida, native has always been a bullpen arm with zero starts in his time at Arkansas and minor leagues in 163 total appearances. Cronin is ranked as the No. 21 prospect in the Nationals system.

2023 Stats: 10 games, 5.56 ERA, 11 ⅓ IP, 11 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 11 BB, 11 K, 1.94 WHIP

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Barrett Loseke, RHP, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Rail Riders (AAA - New York Yankees)​

A regular pitcher out of the bullpen for the Razorbacks in 2018, Loseke has done more of the same with the Yankees' minor league teams and spent of all of last season with Double-A Somerset. He opened the 2023 season with a promotion to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Batters are hitting just .163 — a career-best — against Loseke so far in this young season.

2023 Stats: 9 games, 1.84 ERA, 14 ⅔ IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 10 BB, 15 K, 1.23 WHIP

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Jake Reindl, RHP, Tennessee Smokies (AA - Chicago Cubs)​

Reindl is a pitcher who has made a slower rise up the ladder than other former Razorbacks and has had a slow start to 2023. It’s not Reindl’s fault, as he has just been bit by the injury bug numerous times in last two years — he has been on the 7-day injured list twice this season already and five times dating back to last year. Reindl only pitched in 12 games last season and six so far in 2022, but he has delivered for the Smokies in his limited time.

2023 Stats: 6 games, 0.93 ERA, 9 ⅔ IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 10 K, 0.83 WHIP

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Of all the coaching candidates, why don’t we just offer Brent Venables 5 Million and hire him?? He is young, a great recruiter, knows what it takes to win Big games. I think he’d come , stay around 4 years until the Clemson or Oklahoma job came open. He’d build us back up. I’d take him over Leach and Kiffin

Here is a common post from their fans..

Resign tomorrow and let the process start to find a new head coach. He knows it’s over. Step away with dignity and not get fired. Let’s go after Luke Fickel or Dave Aranda.

we had the question as "who do we like the best" so, let's hear whom you may not like so well?

Good grief.... Athlete

My story from Austin... https://arkansas.rivals.com/news/franklin-hits-grand-slam-hogs-jump-all-over-horns-in-game-1