Burnside flexes
to win SEC award
Shortstop Braxton Burnside supplied plenty of power for No. 17 Arkansas in its sweep of South Carolina over the weekend.
Burnside hit four home runs and drove in seven of the Razorbacks' 14 runs, which earned her recognition Tuesday as the SEC co-player of the week.
Coach Courtney Deifel said she does more than hit.
The Razorbacks were trying to get a read on a variety of Gamecocks pitchers coming into the weekend at South Carolina. Burnside was as good as some of the scout video, Deifel said.
"When you're trying to get video on them and you're at the mercy of the host schools' angles ... it's tough sometimes to see exactly what we're up against," Deifel said. "We were talking as a staff and said the best thing for us is the way Braxton sees the game and the pitcher, she is equivalent to the video a lot of the time ... it's just her perspective and how she communicates with the team and just in a very confidence-inducing way."
She hit the game-winning two-run home run in the 10th inning Saturday, and added another two-run shot on the fifth pitch of the game Sunday.
Burnside has 15 home runs this season, which are tied for second most in a single season in program history. She was instrumental in Arkansas registering its first road three-game SEC series sweep since 2009.
She shared the award with Alabama's Bailey Hemphill.
-- Paul Boyd