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FAYETTEVILLE -- With the No. 3 University of Arkansas' season-long series-opening winning streak in serious jeopardy Friday night after an atypical Hagen Smith outing, the Razorbacks rallied late to topple No. 15 Mississippi State.

The Razorbacks (41-9, 18-7 SEC) needed a three-run eighth inning and pitching heroics from sophomore Gage Wood, who got out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the ninth, to subdue the Bulldogs 7-5.

Arkansas improved to 13-0 in series openers and 32-2 at Baum-Walker Stadium before a packed house of 10,891.

The Razorbacks stayed a game behind Kentucky, which rallied late to win 12-11 at Florida on Friday night, in the overall SEC chase, and bumped their lead in the SEC West to two games over No. 2 Texas A&M, which fell 4-3 at Ole Miss.

"Just a gritty win by our team," said Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn, who picked up career win No. 1,200. "Our pitching has been so good all year. We've talked about this, that this was going to happen and we would have to step up offensively, and I thought we did a really good job tonight offensively."

Arkansas pitchers walked a season-high nine in contrast to only one walk drawn by the Hogs, and two of the walks, a hit batter and a player who reached on an error scored for the Bulldogs.

Mississippi State (32-17, 14-11), which had gained two games in the SEC West standings on the Razorbacks over the past three weeks, rallied from deficits of 3-0 and 4-3 to take a 5-4 advantage in the top of the eighth.

"Just a great ballgame," Mississippi State Coach Chris Lemonis said. "I mean, two really good teams competing their tails off. They made one more pitch or got one more hit than we did, is what that game came down to.

"And you know, I don't fault our kids at all, man. They're competing their tails off and played a really tough game against a good team and so did they."

Catcher Hudson White was the hitting star with a two-run home run in the fourth and a tie-breaking two-run single during the Hogs' eighth-inning rally for a season-best four RBI.

"It was just a few adjustments in my swing, something that I'm kind of battling with all year," White said. "I finally felt like I turned that curve and it feels a lot better."

White's go-ahead hit on a flare to left field came after Wehiwa Aloy's game-tying single with one out against right-hander Tyson Hardin (3-1), who had not given up an earned run in 19 1/3 innings since February.

Aloy had three singles, all up the middle, to join Jared Sprague-Lott, who singled twice, homered and scored three runs, atop the Hogs' 10-hit attack.

Will McEntire (4-0) got out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning, but he ran into trouble in the ninth with a two-run lead. He walked Hunter Hines, then gave up a flare single to Amani Larry and an infield single to Aaron Downs on which he could not handle a feed from first baseman Ben McLaughlin to load the bases with no outs.

Wood came on to record a pair of pop-ups and a strikeout to nail down the game for his second save.

"I just told myself that this is the moment that I dreamed about since I committed here and I've been in those positions before," Wood said. "Tonight I pulled through and we got it done."

Trailing 4-3 to start the eighth, Mississippi State took the lead without a hit against Gabe Gaeckle, who had gotten out of a jam by striking out two with two runners on in the seventh.

With one out, Downs reached on a chopper to third base on which McLaughlin was given an error when he stretched but missed a throw from Sprague-Lott. Gaeckle hit pinch hitter Nolan Stevens with an 0-2 pitch then walked Logan Kohler to load the bases. Catcher Johnny Long did not swing and drew an RBI walk on a 3-1 pitch to tie the game.

Leadoff man Bryce Chance's sacrifice fly to center field brought home pinch runner Nolan Stevens with the go-ahead run.

The Bulldogs made Smith work to open the game as he tried to harness his command with Chance working a nine-pitch walk and David Mershon a seven-pitch walk. Smith fell behind Dakota Jordan 3-0 before rallying for a strikeout. He would strike out the side on 30 pitches.

Arkansas broke on top with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning against right-hander Khal Stephen, a rally that was started by Sprague-Lott's one-out single to left-center field. Aloy smoked a ball off Mershon's glove at shortstop to put runners at first and second. McLaughlin's fly ball to center field got Sprague-Lott to third and he hustled home on a wild pitch.

White got behind 0-2, fouled off a couple of pitches then launched a 408-foot home run over the wall in left field to make it 3-0. It was his third home run of the season and second in the past three games.

The Razorbacks' lead didn't last long as Smith's wildness caught up to him in the top of the fifth.

Kohler singled up the middle, then Chance and Jordan drew walks after strikeouts to load the bases for Hines. He had left two runners on in each of his first two at-bats, but he cleared them when he pulled a slider by Smith into the right-field corner. When the ball got hung up under the fence near the foul pole, Jordan was able to score easily from first.

Smith allowed three earned runs for the first time since the season-opener and was not involved in the decision. He worked 5 innings and allowed 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 11 on 94 pitches. Smith now has 335 career strikeouts, 10 behind UA career leader Nick Schmidt.

Sprague-Lott broke the 3-3 tie with a 421-foot home run over the left field wall in the sixth.

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Battling back: Razorbacks rally late, take hard-fought win | Arkansas Democrat Gazette - Arkansas Online

NEW YORK -- With Donald Trump's fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen expected to take the witness stand Monday, the judge in the former president's hush money case issued prosecutors a stern warning: Get Cohen to stop his taunting posts and jabs at Trump.

Judge Juan M. Merchan's comments came as a dramatic and consequential week in the first criminal trial of a former American president drew to a close Friday. The prosecution could rest its case by the end of next week, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said.

Prosecutors have been building up their case ahead of important testimony from Cohen, who arranged the $130,000 payout to porn actor Stormy Daniels to keep her from going public ahead of the 2016 election about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier. Trump denies ever having sex with Daniels.

The judge's warning underscores how Cohen is not only the prosecutors' most crucial witness, but their most complicated. Once a Trump loyalist, he has become one of his fiercest critics since pleading guilty to federal charges, routinely bashing and mocking the former president on social media.

Defense attorneys will argue that the now-disbarred lawyer who served prison time is out to get Trump and cannot be believed.

Two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that Cohen is expected to take the stand Monday. The people could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

Trump's lawyers complained after Cohen in a social media video this week wore a shirt featuring a figure resembling the former president behind bars. The defense has argued it's unfair that Trump is under a gag order that prevents him from speaking publicly about witnesses while Cohen is free to speak badly about Trump.

"It's becoming a problem every single day that President Trump is not allowed to respond to this witness, but this witness is allowed to continue to talk," defense attorney Todd Blanche said.

Merchan told prosecutors they should inform Cohen "that the judge is asking him to refrain from making any more statements" about the case or about Trump. Prosecutors told the judge they already requested that Cohen and other witnesses not talk about the case, but they have no direct means of controlling witnesses' behavior.

Cohen did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday from The Associated Press.

As the third week of testimony wrapped up, the case that ultimately hinges on record-keeping returned to deeply technical testimony -- a sharp contrast from Daniels' dramatic account of the alleged sexual encounter with Trump that riveted jurors earlier this week.

Witnesses in the case have seesawed between bookkeepers and bankers with testimony about records and finances to Daniels and others with unflattering stories about Trump and the tabloid world machinations meant to keep them secret. Despite all the drama, in the end, the trial is about money changing hands -- business transactions -- and whether those payments were made to illegally influence the 2016 election.

Friday's testimony appeared to test jurors' patience at times. One juror stifled a yawn while another stretched out his arms. Others shifted their gaze around the room or stared up at the ceiling.

Trump, who was visibly angry during much of Daniels' testimony, chatted frequently with his lawyers and read through a stack of papers on the table in front of him as jurors heard from witnesses such as AT&T and Verizon workers, who authenticated phone records.

Leaving the courthouse, Trump addressed the allegation at the heart of the case: that he falsified his company's records to conceal the nature of hush money reimbursements to Cohen. Trump's lawyers have portrayed the ledger entries at issue in the case as pro forma actions performed by a Trump Organization employee.

"A very good bookkeeper marked a legal expense as a legal expense," Trump said. "He was a lawyer, not a fixer," he added, referring to Cohen.

Back on the witness stand Friday morning was Madeleine Westerhout, a former Trump White House aide. Prosecutors used Westerhout's testimony to detail the process by which Trump got personal mail -- including checks to sign -- while in the White House. It's relevant because that's how he received and signed the checks that reimbursed Cohen for the payment to Daniels, prosecutors say.

While questioning Westerhout, Trump's attorney elicited testimony aimed at supporting the defense's argument that Daniels was paid to stay silent in order to protect Trump's family, not his campaign.

Westerhout told jurors that Trump was "very upset" when The Wall Street Journal published a 2018 story about the hush money deal with Daniels.

"My understanding was that he knew it would be hurtful to his family," Westerhout said, though she acknowledged she didn't recall him saying so specifically.

Jurors also saw social media posts showing that Trump initially praised Cohen after the then-lawyer came under federal investigation. Trump started bashing him after Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign-finance violations, along with other crimes, and claimed Trump directed him to arrange the payment for Daniels. Trump was never charged with any crime related to that federal investigation.

Daniels' story of an alleged sexual encounter with Trump was a crucial building block for prosecutors, who are seeking to show that the Republican and his allies buried unflattering stories in the waning weeks of the 2016 presidential election in an effort to illegally influence the race.

Over more than 7 hours of testimony, Daniels relayed in graphic detail what she says happened after the two met at a 2006 celebrity golf outing at Lake Tahoe where sponsors included the adult film studio where she worked. Daniels explained how she felt surprise, fear and discomfort, even as she consented to sex with Trump.

During combative cross-examination, Trump's lawyers sought to paint Daniels as a liar and extortionist who's trying to take down the former president after drawing money and fame from her claims.

After Daniels left the witness stand Thursday, Trump's attorneys pushed for a mistrial over the level of tawdry details she provided, but the judge denied the request.

This criminal case could be the only one of four against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to go to trial before voters decide in November whether to send him back to the White House. Trump has pleaded innocent and casts himself as the victim of a politically tainted justice system working to deny him another term.

Information for this article was contributed by Eric Tucker, Ruth Brown and Adriana Gomez Licon of The Associated Press.

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Cohen due as N.Y. wrapping up its case | Arkansas Democrat Gazette - Arkansas Online

No matter the game, no matter the opponent, no matter the score, the Conway boys soccer team is going to stick to what's worked.

The two-time defending champion Wampus Cats spent more than half of Friday's quarterfinals matchup waiting for their unique game plan to pay off.

By the time the final whistle blew, as it had 16 times earlier this season, Conway used that plan to win 3-2 in overtime over Bentonville in the Class 6A boys soccer state tournament at Little Rock Southwest High School.

"That's been us since I got here 11 years ago," Conway Coach Matthew Page said. "It's not conventional, it's not pretty, and everybody probably hates me because of it. But at the end of the day, we win games."

After a scoreless first half, Bentonville (9-8-1) took a lead two minutes into the second half when junior Niko Martinovic rounded the goalkeeper and scored.

Six minutes later, senior Andrei Paley, scored to make it 2-0.

Throughout the game, Conway (17-1-2) utilized its game plan to create dead-ball opportunities. Whether was with free kicks, corner kicks or looping throw-ins.

"We pride ourselves on those," Page said. "Of course, we would love to out-possession every time we play, but sometimes that's not real. So, we got to find other ways to put the ball in the back of the net."

In the 50th minute, Conway's Tripp Strange cut the lead in half with a goal, and in the 69th minute, Sawyer Fredrich tied it with a 25-yard strike over the goalkeeper's head.

With the game headed toward overtime, the Wampus Cats tried to find the finishing touch on one of those long throw-ins that had caused the Tigers headaches. In the 87th minute, one finally hit home as Lincoln Parker found the ball in a scramble to score and make it 3-2.

"This team is a very veteran team," Page said. "We have 15 seniors and all of them play minutes. That's kind of what a veteran team does in high school: They step up, they rose to the challenge."

Friday's win advances Conway to Saturday's state semifinals to face Bryant and one game closer to that all-important three-peat.

The Wampus Cats' senior class has lost five games over the past three seasons. They were freshmen the last time Conway didn't win the state title in 2021, when it fell in the final.

So Page preaches daily about what those teams did to win and with each consecutive title, the challenge becomes that much greater.

"It takes a little bit of luck but a lot of skill, and you don't get luck without practicing and doing the little things right, and that's what we preach every day," Page said. "You got to create your own luck, and these guys do that."

Rogers Heritage 3, Springdale 1

Springdale dominated play to open the game, pinning Rogers Heritage inside its half for most of the first 20 minutes.

In the 27th minute, the War Eagles (11-8-1) took a 1-0 lead when Elian Hinojosa scored from the top of the box.

Heritage scored from a corner kick in the 44th minute, but Springdale (13-1-5) got one back in the 47th minute to cut the lead to 2-1.

Heritage striker Carter Ligi took advantage of a misplayed touch from a Springdale defender and carried the ball 40 yards to score and go ahead 3-1.

Little Rock Catholic 4, Fayetteville 1

Little Rock Catholic went ahead in the first half to a long-range strike from Danny Nava to take a 1-0 lead.

Fayetteville (9-6) tied it in the 55th minute after a deflected cross was passed to Diego Gonzales, who made it 1-1.

Catholic (13-4-3) answered with a second-half hat trick by Tripp Ortega with goals in the 57th, 68th and 74th minutes.

Bryant 2, Rogers 1 (2OT)

In the 23rd minute, Bryant's Geovanny Luna scored from long range to give the Hornets (13-1-7) a 1-0 lead.

In the 51st minute, Chriss Salinas shot from 20 yards to tie it for the Mounties (11-8).

Both teams traded half-chances throughout the rest of the second half and first overtime period, but neither could find the back of the net.

In the 93rd minute, Bryant's Edwin Ibarra shot the game-winner from outside the box and past the keeper.

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Conway sticks to plan in victory | Arkansas Democrat Gazette - Arkansas Online

Representative Jasmine Crockett was sitting in a House Oversight Committee hearing last fall, growing increasingly frustrated as she listened to Republicans accuse President Biden of impeachable offenses without producing any evidence, when she had an idea.

Ms. Crockett, a freshman Democrat from Texas and former defense attorney, summoned an aide and asked them to quickly print out a stack of photos showing the boxes of sensitive government documents stashed by a toilet at Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald J. Trumps club in Palm Beach, Fla.

Moments later, Ms. Crockett was brandishing the photos above her head, accusing Republicans of ignoring clear evidence that Mr. Trump had violated the law while pushing allegations against Mr. Biden for which they had shown no proof.

When we start talking about things that look like evidence, they want to act like they blind, Ms. Crockett said of Republicans, spitting her words with a mix of outrage and bemusement. These are our national secrets, apparently in a toilet, she added, using an expletive to describe the plumbing.

The moment circulated widely on social media. The White House took notice. So did senior House Democrats. Suddenly, it was Ms. Crockett, not the Republicans pursuing Mr. Biden, who was capturing the publics attention.

The performance has become something of a hallmark of the sputtering Republican effort to impeach Mr. Biden, which has faltered in recent weeks as the G.O.P. has come up empty in its efforts to back up its claims of wrongdoing by the president.

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Freshmen Democrats Work to Turn Biden Impeachment Effort on Its Head - The New York Times

The prospect of hosting a fancy dinner party at my house filled my heart with panic, and my redecorating engine with jet fuel. I had been wanting to update my dining room. Suddenly, I had an incentive and a deadline.

"You start seeing everything they don't even notice," said my neighbor, trying to calm my nerves.

"I'm more worried they'll see everything I don't notice," I said.

Aren't we all a little house blind?

The dinner party wasn't my idea. A few months ago, my friend, who is also a friend of the arts, hatched the plan to auction off a dinner for eight, including DC and me, at my house, for an Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra fundraiser.

"You know how your column is 'At Home With Marni?'" was how she framed it. "Well, this would let people actually be at home with Marni. Get it?"

Oh, I got it. If I'd known when I started writing a home design column what all I'd be getting myself into, I would have become a pet therapist. People assume I live up to my words! Before I agreed -- and because no one should pay to eat my cooking -- I called a chef I knew to see if he'd help. Chef Angelo Bersani generously agreed to donate his time to prepare and serve dinner if I paid for the groceries. Done! Chef and I became a package deal on the auction block.

With the food taken care of (Phew!), my focus turned to the dining room, which sits immediately to the right of my home's front entry. You can't miss it. The room has only two walls. The non-wall sides open onto the entry and living room.

Now, because I live in the real world, redecorating for me does not mean tossing all my furniture and starting over. It means working with what I have and making small refinements to get, ideally, big results. The trick, however, is knowing what those small moves are, which is when paralysis sets in.

My next call was to Los Angeles interior designer and long-time friend and colleague Christopher Grubb. "HALP!" I cried! "I have all these illustrious dinner guests coming who think my home is something out of Architectural Digest and they are about to be bitterly disappointed."

Grubb knows I'm prone to hyperbole. He also knows I can follow directions. He agreed to work with me on an hourly basis. He'd call the shots if I did the legwork, which involved shopping for materials, gathering samples, and coordinating workers. This would save him time and me money. Again, Done!

With a chef and a designer on board, I could feel my lungs fully expanding and my blood pressure dropping.

Since Grubb is on the West Coast, and I'm in Florida, we worked virtually. I sent him photos of the dining room and told him my goal was to move away from traditional furnishings to make the room more transitional, a direction he supported. We discussed some ideas, then he gave me my to-do list.

Over the next eight weeks, we exchanged dozens of texts, photos, a few sobbing emojis and made the following small refinements, which yielded big results and just might do the same for a room or two in your home:

Added lampshades. Although I had replaced the dining room's dated light fixture a few years ago, I had not "finished" the fixture off with chandelier shades, which Grubb advised. I test drove three shade styles, ordering one of each and returning the rejects, before settling on a black tapered shade. Because black shades direct light down, not out, they can make lighting more dramatic.

Filled in the art niche. Art niches in walls are common yet often difficult to work with as they limit the size of art you can hang in them. The niche in my dining room's accent wall was 5 feet square and 3 inches deep. Until recently, a large tapestry hung over the niche and covered it. But, as part of my attempt to make the space more contemporary, I sold the tapestry and now had this, uhh, hole in the wall. "Art niches just make you ask why?" said Grubb, who recommended having a drywaller fill it in.

Put up wallpaper. To make the open room feel cozier and more intimate, and to distinguish it from the entryway, Grubb suggested covering the now smooth back wall and ceiling with sea-blue grasscloth, which added character and texture to the room.

Replaced mirrors. Although Grubb liked the idea of two mirrors flanking the art on the main wall, he suggested replacing the existing round ones with larger, vertical mirrors to make the room appear taller. Since we were moving toward a more transitional less traditional look, we kept the frames simple.

Added ambiance. With the new furnishings in place, all I needed to do was add the finishing touches -- a fresh centerpiece of pale roses, patterned table linens, crystal and silver, candles and, of course, illustrious guests -- to make the room come together like a symphony.

Marni Jameson is the author of seven books, including "Rightsize Today to Create Your Best Life Tomorrow." You may reach her at marni@marnijameson.com

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OPINION | AT HOME: Dinner party prompts dining room refresh | Arkansas Democrat Gazette - Arkansas Online