Lundquist sets school HR record as Hogs pound Eastern Illinois, 17-2

February 27, 1999

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Ryan Lundquist set the Arkansas career home run record and Razorback starter Charlie Isaacson pitched six hitless, scoreless innings to help Arkansas to a 17-2 win over Eastern Illinois Saturday.
A Baum Stadium crowd of 1,743 saw Lundquist surpass Jeff King on the Razorback home run list and end a streak of 147 plate appearances, 119 at-bats and 31 games without a round-tripper.
Arkansas (8-3) won its seventh-consecutive game and improved to 8-0 at home while Eastern Illinois (0-2) remained winless.
Isaacson (2-0) earned the win and struck out 10 in his second career start, matching the highest strikeout total by a UA pitcher this season. Mitch Tisher and Matt Riethmaier combined for three innings of two-hit relief to preserve the win.
Mike Ziroli (0-1) took the loss after giving up four runs on six hits in 41/3 innings.
The Hogs clung to a 2-0 lead after 4 1/2 innings, but scored four in the fifth, five in the sixth, four in the seventh and two in the eighth for the final 17-2 margin.
Twelve different Arkansas batters, including eight of nine starters, recorded a hit in the game. Travis McDaniel went 3-for-5 with a career-high four RBIs and his first two home runs of the season, including a two-run, inside-the-park homer in the bottom of the sixth.
Mark Burnett was the only Razorback starter who did not manage a hit, but his four walks in the game fell one short of the UA single-game record.
UA's Ike Pohle hit his second home run of the season and Rodney Nye extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single to centerfield in his final at-bat.
Lundquist's home run was his first since April 7, 1998, in a 5-2 Arkansas win over Long Beach State in Fayetteville.

Lundquist has warm memories of days at Arkansas

BY RICK FIRES -ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

June 30, 2002

FAYETTEVILLE -- Ryan Lundquist plays for the Stockton (Calif.) Ports, who had a 49-21 record, the best in professional baseball, in the first half of their minor league season.

Problem is, Stockton draws only an average crowd of 1,113 per game, which would rank 10th in the SEC this season in average attendance. That puny attendance figure makes Lundquist appreciate even more his senior season at Arkansas in 1999, when the Razorbacks averaged 3,780 at Baum Stadium.

"I absolutely miss the whole SEC thing, playing at Baum Stadium and on the road at places like LSU, Alabama, Mississippi State and South Carolina," Lundquist said. "When you came to the ballpark in the SEC, you just fed off the crowd and enjoyed the whole atmosphere of college baseball. Here, we run away with the [first-half] league championship and hardly anyone shows up."

Lundquist helped energize Arkansas fans by leading the Razorbacks to their only SEC championship in 1999. The Norman, Okla., native was a 10th-round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins in 1998, but returned for his senior season, in which Arkansas finished 42-28 overall, and 22-8 in the SEC.

Lundquist holds several UA records, including for single-season home runs (24) and career home runs (56). He averaged .330 in four years with the Razorbacks.

"I will always appreciate Ryan for coming back his senior year," said former Arkansas Coach Norm DeBriyn. "We knew we were going to be pretty good when that happened. Ryan and Rodney Nye were the key that year because of their ability and senior leadership."

Lundquist signed with Cincinnati after being selected by the Reds in the eighth round of the 1999 major league draft. He's been at the Class A level the past three years, including the last two at Stockton, and has a career batting average of .263.

"I was part of the same recruiting class at Arkansas as Eric Hinske, who's having a great rookie season with the Toronto Blue Jays," Lundquist said. "He's been tearing it up, and I'm happy that he's doing so well. At the same time, I'm getting older and it's frustrating that I haven't advanced past Class A yet. But I still enjoy doing what I love, and that's play baseball. I'm going to stay after it until I'm told to take the uniform off."

Lundquist's career has been hampered by injuries, and he's made two appearances on the seven-day disabled list this season with a pulled hamstring and a sprained shoulder. When he's healthy, Lundquist plays right field and bats third for Stockton. He began the weekend with a .244 average with 1 home run and 28 RBI.

"I was injured early in the year, then maybe came back too early and was hurt again," Lundquist said. "I get going good, then something bad happens. It's hard to get in a rhythm like that."

Lundquist said he was happy DeBriyn retired on an upswing after leading Arkansas to the super regionals of the NCAA Tournament. Like most of DeBriyn's former players, he has a story to tell about his college coach.

"We had just finished a series with Kentucky and we were at the airport in Louisville waiting to fly home," Lundquist said. "We were goofing around at Gate 1, thinking we were going to fly out at 6:30 [p.m.]. But an announcement was made over the PA [public address] system for the Arkansas baseball team to report to Gate 17 for a flight at 6:05, and it was already after 6.

"We starting running and when we got to Gate 14, we could see Coach DeBriyn screaming at us at the top of his lungs. We whizzed by as he stood there with a clipboard trying to check off our names. It was one of the few times in public where he was really mad at us."

Despite that episode, Lundquist said he's never regretted being one of three Lundquists to play for DeBriyn at Arkansas. (Tim Lundquist played at Arkansas in 1976-77 and Denny Lundquist played at Arkansas in 1974-75.)

"My dad, David, played football at Oklahoma and I'm still pretty much a die-hard Sooners fan," Lundquist said. "But the best move I ever made was coming to Arkansas and playing for Coach DeBriyn. He took a chance on me when some others didn't.

"Coach DeBriyn is the best coach I've ever played for and, like a lot of people, I owe my career to him. He's always handled himself with class and dignity. That's what I remember most about him and I know my family feels the same way."