Batter Up

It's hard to believe baseball season is already here. Now if we just had actual baseball weather. Shooting a low-scoring pitching duel in 30-degree weather is right up there with water boarding in my opinion. Luckily the first two games of the season for me didn't go that way, the weather was also pretty decent.







There are changes on the horizon here at In The Loupe. A new home is in the works and this could very well be my last photo posting at this location. Stay tuned....

Bigham's Flip

What started out as a weight room challenge several weeks ago has turned into a pregame ritual for Arkansas second baseman Bo Bigham. Before each Razorback baseball game the freshman performs a backflip while surrounded by his teammates. I first noticed Bigham's backflip on the first day of the SEC Baseball Tournament before the Razorbacks' game against Florida, but wasn't in a position to get a shot. Two days later, before Arkansas' second game against Florida, I snapped a shot from atop the dugout (it's pictured two posts down). Not satisfied with the results, I put myself in position before the Hogs' game the next day against Vanderbilt. I made sure I was down on the field early so I could get in on the huddle. Sure enough, the players gathered around and Bigham performed his flip directly at me. Click!

I've been sitting on this photo since Saturday until Robbie Neiswanger's feature on Bigham ran in The Morning News. You can read it here.

SEC Baseball Tournament (Day 4)

The Razorbacks' SEC Baseball Tournament run came to a halt Saturday with an 11-1 loss to Vanderbilt at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala. The Hogs were run ruled in the seventh inning. Four Arkansas pitchers gave up 15 hits to the Commodores. It could have been worse though. Despite the fact that it sprinkled steadily for a good portion of the game, Mother Nature held off the heavy stuff until the game was over. The next game, Georgia vs. LSU was rain delayed two outs into the first inning. That was at 1:54 p.m. It's now just past 6:00 p.m. and the game is expected to resume at 6:45 p.m. Thank God we got our game in and we can go home tomorrow.














Somebody in Arkansas' dugout crafted some rain gear for their Chick-Fil-A cow. I thought it was funny.

This might have been my last Hogs baseball game to shoot this season. Not sure yet and i feel like I've hit a stride as far as getting some good images. We'll see what happens with the NCAA Regional coverage.

SEC Baseball Tournament (Day 3)

Arkansas beat Florida for the fifth time this season with a 10-7 win on Friday at the SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Ala. It's late, so here are a bunch of photos with very little words. I will add that Zach Cox, pictured above following a two run home run in the fourth inning, was the star of the game.












Cox took the mound in the eighth inning and shut the Gators down with the final six outs of the game.




Cox also left his mark on Regions Park by defacing the "R" in Park on the scoreboard in right center field with his towering fourth inning home run shot.




The Hogs have to win two against Vanderbilt on Saturday to make it to the tournament final on Sunday. I didn't think they'd make it this far, they've proved me wrong to this point. I can't wait to see what happens.

SEC Baseball Tournament (Day 2)

All in all today was a good day of shooting at the SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Ala. What put the day over the top for me was the lead image shot with my remote camera, a D300 with a 300mm f2.8. Arkansas' game was a pitching duel until late in the game. The Hogs tied the game up 1-1 in the ninth inning. Georgia came back and won it in the bottom of the 10th on a play at the plate. My angle on the field wasn't very good and I didn't get a lock on the focus at the peak of the play. But my remote got all I needed. Lead art in the bag. After two days this is the only usable image I've made with my remote camera, but it's the one that counted the most.

The rest here is a mix of photos from Arkansas vs. Georgia and LSU vs. Alabama.



















The Hogs face Florida again tomorrow (Friday) in the loser's bracket. If they lose we go home on Saturday. If they win it could be another day or so. Either way I'm getting paid to shoot baseball for another day. Fine with me.

You can check out the whole enchilada at BTL.

SEC Baseball Tournament (Day 1)

Arkansas beat Florida 8-5 and Georgia beat Ole Miss 6-3 in a day full of upsets at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala. I shot both of these games today, one for work and the other (Ole Miss/Georgia) for the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss. Here are some of my fav's from today.














The Hogs play Georgia tomorrow at 5 p.m. Brett Eibner is pitching. The last time he pitched against the Bulldogs earlier this season he pitched a complete, one hitter.

Rain Out

After an evacuation due to a possible tornado threat and an unrelenting rain, the No. 12 Razorbacks' first game of their weekend series again No. 5 LSU was finally canceled. Guess they'll try to play two tomorrow, even though the forecast calls for more of the same.

First BOBB Shot

I covered the Naturals today and shot my first-ever Ball-On-Broken-Bat photo. I didn't even know the bat had broken until I went back to edit my frames from the player's trip to the plate. I was pretty excited to see it. Not a HUGE deal, but still my first broken bat shot. Yay!

Arkansas 10, Louisiana-Monroe 9 (10 innings)

Arkansas came from behind against Louisiana-Monroe in 10 innings on a walk-off home run by Scott Lyons. Understandably there was quite a love fest at home plate.




Thank God something happened at the end of this one cause I didn't have crap for a gamer until Lyons' homer.

Vanderbilt 13, Arkansas 6

Arkansas was clobbered by Vanderbilt for the second day in a row on Saturday afternoon. The Commodores scored 9 or their 13 runs on the Hogs in the fifth inning.


Being there was like being a witness to an execution. It was horrific! It's not like Arkansas couldn't get ANYTHING done. They had four home runs. But bad pitching and errors did them in. Sunday is do or die if the want to prevent the S-word from happening.