HawgBeat - Starting rotation becomes question mark for Arkansas
Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn has some decisions to make with his starting rotation.
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Following No. 3 Arkansas' big win over No. 16 Mississippi State on Sunday afternoon in Fayetteville, head coach Dave Van Horn said there's still a major concern with the Razorbacks' starting pitching.
The pitching staff has almost become an achilles heel for the Razorbacks, who once had the nation's pitching staff this season, but have now allowed 7.2 runs per game over the last six contests. That number would be tied for 237th nationally if it was a season average.
While ace Hagen Smith (9-0, 1.65 ERA) has been getting the job done on Friday nights — Arkansas is 13-0 when Smith pitches this year — the Razorbacks have received back-to-back bad outings from starters Brady Tygart (4-3, 3.86 ERA) and Mason Molina (3-2, 4.44 ERA).
A junior right-hander from Hernando, Mississippi, Tygart didn't make it out of the second inning during Saturday's 8-5 loss to No. 14 Mississippi State. Tygart was unable to throw his fastball for a strike consistently, and he gave up four earned runs on three hits and had five walks compared to just two strikeouts.
"I didn’t see the fastball go over the plate much at all," Van Horn said of Tygart's outing Saturday.
Molina's showing might have been worse than Tygart's, as the left-handed transfer from Texas Tech allowed four earned runs on four hits with one walk and one strikeout in just one inning of work. Molina threw just 31 pitches and recorded only three outs before he was relieved by right-hander Gage Wood.
"In the second inning, I think he walks the guy on four pitches and you’re thinking, ‘What’s up?’ I don’t know," Van Horn said Sunday. "It’s his battle. We can’t fix it. We can’t fix this (points at head). He’s got to fix it. He’s got to relax, know he’s good. We talked to him, we work with him, mechanics… It’s all been addressed. It’s a veteran starter at the Division I level. He’s got to turn the corner. We’ve got to have him."
The pair also each had bad outings last weekend in the series loss at Kentucky. Tygart gave up five earned runs on six hits in three innings, while Molina allowed three earned runs on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts in three innings.
With a pivotal series at No. 5 Texas A&M next weekend that will determine which team wins the SEC Western Division, the Hogs could really use an answer in a starting rotation that was once viewed at the nation's best earlier in the year.
"That’s obviously the major concern," Van Horn said Sunday. "The win’s awesome, and now we have to really figure this thing out. We’ve got some things we’re thinking about that we’ll probably make a decision if we’re going to start some different people or how we’re going to handle it.
"Probably depends on where we are in the standings and some other things. We’ve got one guy that’s been rock solid all year, and we have two guys that have struggled down the stretch here. We might have to make a move. We’ll see what happens."
Other names to consider for the starting rotation include sophomore right-handers Gage Wood (3-1, 3.03 ERA) and Ben Bybee (2-1, 5.40 ERA), plus veteran righty Will McEntire (5-0, 3.67 ERA).
Kentucky is one game up on Arkansas and Tennessee, who are both tied for second in the SEC standings. Texas A&M is one game back from the Hogs and Volunteers ahead of a big final weekend of the regular season.
The Razorbacks and Aggies will open the series Thursday at Blue Bell Park in College Station, Texas. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be televised live on ESPN2.
