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Arkansas Internet Chatter: Baseball Update...It's Ugly, But Track and Field Did A Good Thing

Things went from bad to worse for the Diamond Hogs.

Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

Arkansas' final home series was its best chance to pick up some wins to qualify for the SEC Tournament. Instead, they were swept by Alabama. If you enjoy pain you can check out Roll Bama Roll's recap of the weekend, which included a blown lead in the ninth inning when the Hogs were one strike away from escaping with a win. The loss gave Arkansas its longest losing streak since 1965. So yeah. Things are bad right now.

An NCAA tournament berth is definitely out of the picture now with the Razorbacks sitting in a tie with Auburn for last place in the SEC. The only chance at postseason play will be in Hoover this year. There are plenty of scenarios where Arkansas can qualify for the tournament. Clearly, a series win over Mississippi State would be ideal but will be very difficult. Arkansas can qualify by just winning one game as well, but then it gets muddy. There are plenty of tiebreaker scenarios explained here for the logjam at the bottom of the SEC.

Not all baseball news is bad news though. Arkansas' former Golden Spikes winner Andrew Benintendi was just promoted to the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. With the Salem Red Sox, Benintendi was on fire, hitting .321 with 32 RBI and seven triples in just 34 games. Benintendi is listed as the 4th best prospect in the Red Sox system by MLB.com, and averaging almost an RBI per game is a good way to get promoted.

With spring practice wrapped up, some are taking the dead period to reassess where teams stand. CBS Sports released a new top-25 list with the Hogs cracking the top-20. Per usual, the rankings are stacked with SEC teams. Four of the Hogs' opponents for next year are ranked, which is more survivable than previous years.

The SEC Championships for outdoor track and field wrapped up this weekend, and both the men and women brought home the conference triple crown. Each team had some huge performances – the second-ranked women beat No. 1 Kentucky by over 40 points, and the fourth-ranked men beat No. 1 Texas A&M by 20 points.