Rested No. 9 Arkansas set for another SEC showdown at No. 2 Texas A&M this weekend

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

FAYETTEVILLE – Refreshed from a few days off, No. 9 Arkansas (34-9, 10-8) will trave to face No. 2 Texas A&M (40-6, 13-4) for a three-game series beginning Friday.

The Razorbacks swept a doubleheader from Colorado State last Friday, practiced early Saturday and then enjoyed a few days off.

“I think it was a unique opportunity to just kind of take a breath, take a couple off days off,” Arkansas head coach Courtney Deifel said. “A lot of players got to go home, which is unheard of in season, and just take a couple of days to reset mentally and physically.

“…I just felt like everybody had this lightness to them that you don’t necessarily get in season.”

Arkansas opened the season winning its first 14 games, but then started out its SEC slate 1-5.

The Razorbacks have since won 9 of their 12 league contests.

Arkansas is ranked No. 6 in Softball America’s poll, No. 7 in D1 Softball and No. 9 in the USA Today/NFCA, ESPN/USA Softball and NFCA/Gorout rankings.

“They have been an absolute joy to coach,” Deifel said. “I think through the highs and lows, they have just wanted to find ways to be better and be great and they do.

“They have a ton of personality and they are just really committed to each other and what our standard is. I have just really enjoyed it.

“They have been incredibly refreshing for myself and the staff. And they are not all made that way so it’s just been a lot of fun throughout the highs and the lows and I still think our best softball is ahead of us and I think they believe that, too. And are working toward that every day.”

The challenge will get no easier this weekend when Arkansas and Texas A&M meet Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at noon at the Aggies’ home stadium Davis Diamond.

The first two games will be streamed on SEC Network + while Sunday’s contest will be televised on the SEC Network.

The Aggies had won 14 games in a row and were ranked No. 1 before losing at Missouri 9-1 on Sunday.

“Well, they are just really good at everything,” Deifel said. “Thety spent some time last week (as No. 1) and I would think that some still think they are probably number one.

‘It’s kind of finicky because I just think a lot of those top few teams, it’s just whatever they did last.

“They do a lot well. They have five pitchers that they rely on so they use their pitching a ton. They do a lot defensively and they rank pretty high in the offensive categories and they just play. They are just tough and they are really good at everything.”

It is constant battle in the SEC, which features the top four teams, five of the top six and seven of the top 10 in this week’s ESPN/USA Softball poll.

There’s a total of 12 total SEC teams in the Top 25.

“I think the SEC has been tough for a long time,” Deifel said. “It’s just incredibly tough, just this year it is like on steroids. It has been brutal and we have one of the toughest non-conference schedules.

“…I think you hope it prepares you. That’s why you do that. They demand the best out of you every day and you have to find a way to be resilient. You have to find a way to recover when things don’t go your way, you have to play three times and it really prepares you for a (NCAA) Regional.

“You have to find a way to win two out of three no matter what. So you have to hope that it prepares you because it is going to demand your best.”

The game will feature two of the nation’s best college players and future professionals in Arkansas first baseman Bri Ellis and Texas A&M pitcher Emily Kennedy.

Ellis is batting .490 with nation’s bests of 22 home runs and a 1.216 slugging percentage while also having 62 RBIs.

Kennedy is 16-3 on the mound this season with a 2.75 ERA an 108 strikeouts in 114 2/3 innings pitched this season for the Aggies, who had one league game rained out.

Both were honored last weekend with a Golden Ticket, a sign that they will be taken in the upcoming inaugural Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) draft on May 3.


Ellis got her ticket at the end of Friday’s second game, which saw Razorback and SEC Pitcher of the Week Reis Beuerlein throw the program’s third perfect game.

“It was such a special moment (for Ellis) and it was pretty cool because it was a huge moment for Bri,” Deifel said, “ but one of the first things she said when we got to our circle was ‘oh, my God, this happened when you threw a perfect game.’ She just wanted to put it (the attention) back on Reis.”


The two teams also had the SEC Co-Players of the Week in Arkansas’ Kaylie Wyckoff and Texas A&M’s KoKo Wooley.

Photo by John D. James