Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
This week in Arkansas athletics
For a period of time, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette will present a catalog of weekly events that affected University of Arkansas athletics across all sports in years past.
Former Arkansas Razorback Scotty Thurman, here during a Dec. 3, 1994, game, declared for the NBA Draft on April 18, 1995. That was just of one of the memorable events in University of Arkansas sports celebrating an anniversary this week.
APRIL 13 2019
Sophomore Mary Haff struck out 16 Furman batters to tie the single-game school record originally accomplished by Heather Schlictman in 2004. Haff notched the strikeouts in 72/3 innings and 114 pitches in relief of starter Autumn Storms. Haff and Storms combined for a school-record 19 strikeouts in the game.
The Razorbacks won the game 6-5 in 12 innings. Casey Bigham’s home run in the top of the 12th gave the Paladins a 5-4 lead. A sacrifice fly from Sydney Parr scored pinch runner Ryan Jackson to tie it for the Razorbacks, then pinch hitter Sydney Benz’s sacrifice fly plated Kayla Green for the walk-off win.
Hannah McEwen, Danielle Gibson and Ashley Diaz all had two hits for Arkansas.
2010
Arkansas’ Shelise Williams and Tina Sutej shared SEC women’s track and field of the week honors.
Williams won the 400 meters at the John McDonnell Invitational in an SEC-leading time of 52.29 seconds. She also ran the third leg for the 400-meter relay team that finished second in 45.20. Sutej cleared 14 feet, 1 1 /4 inches in the pole vault to match the Slovenian national record.
1996
Arkansas was victorious in its first game at Baum Stadium, routing Auburn 9-2 in the first game of a doubleheader.
Arkansas scored five runs in the first inning, on Kit Pellow’s sacrifice fly, Eric Hinske’s fielder’s choice grounder and Brad Mulvaney’s threerun double. Pellow, who drove in three runs, also homered. Matt Carnes (7-2) pitched a complete-game eight-hitter, walking three and striking out four.
The stadium, which replaced George Cole Field as the home of the Razorbacks, was scheduled to host its first game on the day before, but the game was rained out.
Arkansas swept the doubleheader for Coach Norm DeBriyn by winning the second game 9-6. The Razorbacks rallied from a 6-4 deficit with a five-run seventh capped by Hinske’s two-run double. Matt Erickson, who went 4 for 4 and scored three runs, hit an RBI double and scored in the inning.
Kendrick Moore had two hits and drove in a team-high four runs.
1985
The Razorbacks hit a school-record 11 doubles in a 22-5 rout of Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas.
Arkansas had a huge offensive day while sweeping a doubleheader against the Red Raiders. The Razorbacks won the first game 14-11.
Arkansas swept the threegame set by a combined score of 50-20.
APRIL 14 2019
The No. 12 Razorbacks won a 14-12 slugfest at No. 7 Vanderbilt with six runs in the final two innings, including five runs in the top of the ninth.
Arkansas outhit the Commodores 22-12 and rallied from a 7-3 deficit after three innings and an 11-8 hole after seven innings to avoid being swept in Nashville, Tenn.
The first eight batters in the Arkansas lineup had two or more hits, led by Heston Kjerstad and Casey Opitz with four hits each. Trevor Ezell and Casey Martin at the top of the order had three hits each, while Matt Goodheart, Dominic Fletcher, Jack Kenley and Jacob Nesbit had two.
Opitz homered for Arkansas, while Julian Infante hit two of Vanderbilt’s four home runs.
The Razorbacks trailed 11-9 entering the ninth before Martin’s one-out single. Goodheart tripled him home, then Fletcher tied it with an RBI single. Nesbit’s two-out double to left field put the Razorbacks on top, then two more runs came in on Opitz’s single and a Vandy error.
Zebulon Vermillion (4-0) picked up the win and Marshall Denton logged the first save of his Arkansas career by striking out the final two batters.
2018
Kacey Murphy lost his perfect game bid against South Carolina in the top of the seventh and last inning in a 2-0 Arkansas victory in the the first game of a doubleheader on a near-freezing day at Baum-Walker Stadium.
The No. 2 Razorbacks, beaten 3-2 in the opening game of the series on Thursday, swept the Gamecocks on Saturday behind Murphy’s gem and a combined three-hitter by Isaiah Campbell and Matt Cronin in the second game.
The Gamecocks, who would return to Fayetteville for an NCAA Super Regional the following month, managed four singles on the frigid day. Combined playing time for the doubleheader: 4 hours, 17 minutes.
Carson Shaddy homered in both games for the only extra-base hits of the day and scored both runs in the opener.
Murphy (5-2) had struck out six and faced the minimum before Justin Row singled to left field on a 2-2 count to open the seventh. Cronin retired the Gamecocks on 13 pitches to close out Game 1 and earned saves in both games to reach nine for the season.
Arkansas had eight hits in the doubleheader, including Heston Kjerstad’s single in the first inning of Game 2 which plated Luke Bonfield. Campbell (3-3) allowed two singles in five innings.
2004
Marcus Monk, a 6-7 forward from Lepanto, was named the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Mr. Basketball after leading East Poinsett County to a 35-1 record and its first Class 3A state championship. He averaged 20.8 points, 16.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 3.8 blocks and 2.5 steals per game.
Monk was also a standout in football, which he played at Arkansas as a wide receiver.
APRIL 15 2005
Redshirt freshman Stacy Lewis posted a school and course record
67 to win the individual title at the SEC Championships in Tunica. The Lady Razorbacks finished third in the team standings with a 905, one behind Auburn and Georgia who tied for title at 904.
Lewis birdied the 10th hole, giving The Woodlands, Texas, native the lead for good as she finished with a 72-75-67—214. Her finish was the best in program history, bettering the previous mark, a tie for fifth overall, by Lina Axelsson in 2003.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Lewis said. “It’s amazing. I really didn’t start to feel it until about the fourth or fifth hole. It was just so easy today. I kept my composure and made a lot of putts today.”
2002
Sophomore Wallace Spearmon Jr. set an Arkansas record in the 200 meters at 19.97 seconds to win at the Mount San Antonio College
Relays in Walnut, Calif..
Spearmon’s performance broke the UA school record of 20.07, previously held by Tyson Gay, and also set stadium and meet records, breaking the mark of 20.02 by Jamaica’s Chris Williams.
APRIL 16 2013
Nebraska left-hander Kyle Kubat and two relievers combined to no-hit the No. 10 Razorbacks 3-0 in the first game of a doubleheader at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Neb.
Kubat, coming off arm soreness that kept him out the first 33 games of the season, threw five innings, then Tyler Niederklein and Dylan Vogt finished out the gem.
The Cornhuskers logged their first nine-inning no-hitter against a Division I team since April 20, 1954.
News reports on the day of the game indicated it was the first time Arkansas had been no-hit, though those were not confirmed.
Nebraska completed a sweep with a 4-2 victory in Game 2.
2013
Pat Summerall, a two-way player and kicker for Arkansas in the late 1940s and early 1950s, passed away at age 82 in Dallas.
Summerall, a native of Lake City, Fla., had a 10-year career in the NFL, including an NFL championship his rookie year with the Detroit Lions. But he is best known as a long-time broadcaster with CBS, Fox and ESPN, receiving numerous awards over his career, including induction into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame in 1994.
The Pat Summerall Award has been presented since 2006 during the Super Bowl weekend at the NFL’s headquarters hotel to a deserving recipient in the field of sports journalism. Summerall announced a record 16 Super Bowls, as well as 26 Masters golf tournaments and 21 U.S. Open golf events.
He also contributed narration to an iconic short video used as the opening at Arkansas football games in the 2010s.
2008
Junior tennis player Blake Strode was named the SEC Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year. Strode ranked No. 90 nationally in singles and had a 3.96 grade-point average with a double major of international economic business and Spanish.
2004
Arkansas distance runner Alistair Cragg and sprinter Veronica Campbell were named the SEC’s Male and Female Indoor Runners of the Year.
Cragg won the 3,000 meters and 5,000 at the SEC Championships and earned the Commissioner’s Trophy as the meet’s highest scorer, then swept both races at the NCAA Championships.
Campbell won the 200 meters at the NCAA Championship in 22.43 seconds to set a meet record. She also won the SEC 200 title in 22.67.
APRIL 17 2016
The Razorbacks softball team fell 10-0 in five innings against No. 6 Auburn at Bogle
Park to complete the Tigers’ sweep by a combined score of 54-0, with all three games shortened to five innings by the mercy rule.
The three-game losing streak triggered the start of a season-ending 14-game losing streak that capped a 17-39 season in Coach Courtney Deifel’s first season.
2004
Shameka Christon, a 6-1 forward from Hot Springs, was taken by the New York Liberty with the fifth pick of the WNBA Draft in Secaucus, N.J.
“I’m very excited because it’s the farthest thing from Arkansas and I’m not a city girl,” Christon said. “We all make adjustments, and I can’t wait to play in Madison Square Garden where so many great players have played.”
Christon was the first player in Arkansas women’s history to be named SEC Player of the Year, earn firstteam all-conference honors and lead the league in scoring (21.8 points per game).
APRIL 18 2010
Point guard Courtney Fortson declared for the NBA Draft after playing two seasons for the Razorbacks.
Fortson averaged a teamhigh 17.9 points and 5.7 assists along with 5.2 rebounds in 33.3 minutes in 18 games after missing the first 14 games while serving a suspension for undisclosed disciplinary reasons.
Fortson wasn’t selected in the NBA Draft, but he was on the Los Angeles Clippers’ roster briefly in 2012 after playing for Eric Musselman — now Arkansas’ coach — in the NBA Developmental League with the Reno Bighorns and Los Angeles D-Fenders. Fortson has enjoyed a lucrative career in Russia and China.
1995
Junior Scotty Thurman, nicknamed the “Ruston Rifle,” declared for the NBA Draft. Thurman is best known for hitting a critical three-point shot in the final minute of Arkansas’ 76-72 win over Duke in the 1994 national championship game.
Thurman, who was not taken in the NBA Draft, went on to play one season in the CBA, then overseas in Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Cyrpus, Yugoslavia and Jordan. He also played for the Arkansas Rimrockers of the ABA in 2004-05.
Thurman was later on staff at Arkansas from 2010 through 2018 as director of student-athlete development and assistant coach for John Pelphrey and Mike Anderson. He was named head coach at Little Rock Parkview on July 26, 2019.
APRIL 19 2008
Brett Eibner’s two-out single in the 10th inning scored Ben Tschipikow, who had reached on a two-base error, to give the Razorbacks a 5-4 walkoff victory over Tennessee at Baum Stadium.
Arkansas, trailing 3-1 after six innings, struck for three runs in the seventh inning. The error-prone Vols committed two defensive blunders in the inning, then catcher Ryan Cisterna tied it with a two-run home run.
Tennessee forced extra innings with a run in the ninth against starter Justin Wells, who gave up eight hits and four earned runs. James Mahler (21) earned the victory with one clean inning of relief.
2008
Junior J-Mee Samuels won the 100 and 200 dashes at the John McDonnell Invitational. Samuels won the 100 in 10.12 records and the 200 in 20.05.
2004
Stan Heath’s contract as men’s basketball coach was rolled over again and remained at five years after his teams were a combined 21-35 in his first two seasons. His annual financial package was about $800,000, according to his attorney, John Caponigro, who negotiated the five-year contract with officials from Arkansas and the Razorback Foundation that Heath signed in June 2002 after he led Kent State to a 30-6 record and the 2002 NCAA Tournament South Regional final.