Razorbacks look to get back on track
Jimmy Carter
Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: Sports
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The Razorbacks (35-24, 10-14 Southeastern Conference) clinched a berth in the SEC tournament but did so by default, as they were swept by a combined score of 27-0.
"I don't see anybody, at this point, outside of maybe (No. 2) UCLA, that can stop them," Arkansas head coach Jamie Pinkerton said. "The thing is that the kids continued to compete. As a coach you want to clinch a berth into any kind of a tournament with a win rather than someone else's loss.
"But, we did our work early in the SEC season to get us in this position. We deserve to go."
Arkansas will look to snap a seven-game losing streak when it hosts Missouri-Kansas City (19-30) for a doubleheader, beginning 5 p.m. Wednesday.
"Two important games for us from a standpoint of trying to stay NCAA eligible," Pinkerton said. "I think tomorrow night is very key to this team on the mindset of going into the weekend and the SEC tournament."
Pinkerton said finishing the season on a strong note before beginning the conference tournament is of great importance.
"With this stretch that we've been in, it's not that we're a bad softball team," Pinkerton said. "It's just that we've been playing very good teams. Obviously, there's parts of the games we need to clean up just like with anything when you go through a bad stretch.
"But this is the toughest stretch of the year. I think it's more important now to (win) and to take some momentum into Georgia. I think it's important to play well against Georgia to take some momentum into the SEC tournament."
The Razorbacks will try to find a groove in the batter's box against the Kangaroos. The squad has struggled of late, hitting .150 during the losing streak and getting no-hit against Florida on Sunday.
Pinkerton said the quartet of Whitney Cloer, Kayla Johnson, Sandra Smith and Miranda Dixon will be counted on to step up their performances after recent struggles at the plate.
"I think we got frustrated in this stretch," Pinkerton said. "I think what happened in that course of playing Alabama and even carried over to the Missouri State game, things weren't going the way the hitters want.
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