Arkansas Hogs crush ball, Grambling in record-setting win

FAYETTEVILLE, AK — Brett Eibner and Zack Cox returned to the lineup, and Arkansas' offense came alive Friday in a 19-7 victory against Grambling in the first game of the Fayetteville Regional. Eibner was 4-for-5 at the plate with three home runs, which tied a school record set by Tim Smalling in 2008. Eibner also recorded a double and 7 RBIs in his return from a hairline fracture in his right hand as Arkansas pounded a school-record nine home runs in the win.

Arkansas advances to play the winner of Kansas State-Washington State, which is set for a 7:05 p.m. start today. The Razorbacks will return Saturday in the winner's bracket at 7:05 p.m. Arkansas' offense had struggled since early May as Eibner and Cox rested injuries and their availability was spotty. The Razorbacks hadn't reached double figures in runs since an 11-4 win against Ole Miss on May 7. It was the same series Eibner hurt his hand after being hit by a pitch.

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Grambling State Baseball to Start Cooper Era

James Cooper is about to begin his first season as a Division I baseball coach, but he'll have plenty of experience within the Grambling Tigers to draw from. The Tigers return nine of the 12 players who started at least 20 games last season. Despite a 17-37 record last season, Grambling did come within one win of playing for the SWAC Tournament title. Cooper, a native of Cullen (La.) and Grambling graduate, replaced former coach Barret Rey. Although he'll have plenty of help in the lineup, including 2009 leading hitter Steve Kletke, Cooper will look for some new help on the mound as the season begins at Stephen F. Austin on Friday.

Coach Cooper started season at 0-2, dropping games on the road at Stephen F. Austin, 4-0 and 9-4. The Tigers play this afternoon to end the series.

Gone are starting pitchers Baron Hinton and Manny Kumar, who combined for eight of the Tigers' 17 victories last season and finished 1-2 in innings pitched. Hinton led the team (players who pitched more than 10 innings) with a 4.59 ERA. The Tigers lose 30 starts from five departing pitchers, but retain Adrian Turner. The Kenosha, Wis., product tied for the team lead with seven starts as a sophomore in 2009.

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Grambling’s Rey reminds: West isn’t quite won

GRAMBLING. LA — Holding a three-game divisional lead means little when the two-time defending league champions are in the other dugout. That’s been second-year Grambling baseball coach Barret Rey’s pulpit-pounding sermon all week.

“The confidence is coming,” Rey said, “but I don’t want them to get overconfident. We haven’t accomplished anything yet.” That may be overstating things a bit.

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Grambling baseball takes two from Prairie View

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas- Grambling State won the first two games of a three-game series against the Prairie View by the score of 4-2 and 3-0 in games one and two respectively.

The Panthers struggled offensively, tallying only one hit in game one against grambling ace Mario Jefferson. In seven innings of work, Jefferson struck out nine and didn't allow a run.

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GSU Tigers fall in rubber match to Northwestern State

By GSU Sports Information

NACHITOCHES, La. – Grambling State closed out its opening series on Sunday afternoon with a 5-1 loss to Northwestern State at Brown-Stroud Field.

The Tigers scored in the first inning for the third consecutive game as leadoff batter Justin Kelly reached second after an error by NSU. After advancing to third after a pop fly by Adrian Turner, Jeremy Shelby drove in Kelly for a 1-0 lead with an RBI single to center.

NSU was held scoreless for two innings but tied the contest at 1-all after Mike Jaworski recorded a two-out home run to center in the third. NSU picked up where it left off in the fourth and went ahead 3-1 after coming up big once again with two runs on two outs. Once ahead, Northwestern State never looked back as starter Clayton Cooper kept GSU off-balance the remainder of the way by only allowing one hit over the next six frames.

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