Scheduling quirk forces Hogs to tweak rotation for SC series
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FAYETTEVILLE — Bad weather on consecutive weekends has thrown a wrench into Arkansas’ starting rotation for its upcoming series at No. 10 South Carolina.
Head coach Dave Van Horn revealed Wednesday afternoon that right-handers Caleb Bolden and Peyton Pallette will start the first two games against the Gamecocks, but he’s leaving the finale as a “TBA.”
The decision to go with Bolden (2-0, 4.63 ERA) - who hasn’t started a weekend game since the third week of the season - for Game 1 had to do with how the schedule fell on the calendar, as the series begins Thursday night.
“Well, he’s our freshest guy, really, if you look at our starters,” Van Horn said. “He’s had some games where he’s thrown really well. If he can get us off to a good start, that would be big, but we have a lot of guys that are ready to go. We just need to eat up some innings and get into that game a little bit.”
After playing two games on the Saturday of last weekend’s Texas A&M series because of rain on Friday, the Razorbacks could be forced to play another doubleheader in Columbia, S.C., because there is a strong likelihood of rain in Saturday’s forecast.
That would mean playing six full-length SEC games - 55 innings, barring more extras - in a span of seven days, putting even more stress on Arkansas’ pitching staff.
Pallette (1-2, 4.06 ERA) threw six scoreless innings on an efficient 72 pitches in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader and will move up a day to pitch Game 2 against the Gamecocks.
There are several options for the third game, which Van Horn is leaving open for the time being.
The most obvious one is left-hander Patrick Wicklander (1-1, 2.38 ERA), as he’s coming off of an outing in which he gave up just one hit in 4 2/3 scoreless innings in Game 1 against the Aggies. Van Horn said he is healthy and that the decision not to use keep him as the No. 1 starter - like he’s been the last four weekends - was solely because of him being on short rest.
“We could use him out of the pen on Thursday for an inning, we could save him to start on Friday if we played two or we could just save him until Saturday,” Van Horn said. “If Saturday is iffy or we’re not sure…we don’t know how we are going to use him yet.”
To counter South Carolina’s potent lineup that is heavy with right-handed hitters, Van Horn said the Razorbacks could also go with right-hander Zebulon Vermillion in Game 3.
He missed last weekend and hasn’t pitched at all since April 10 at Ole Miss, though, so he’s among Arkansas’ fresh arms and could be the first guy out of the bullpen if Bolden or Pallette get pulled early.
“He had some soreness, so we didn’t mess with it,” Van Horn said. “He seems to be 100 percent now, so he’ll either start or be out of the bullpen. I would guess he’d be out of the bullpen tomorrow or Friday early.”
One guy who definitely won’t start the third game is left-hander Lael Lockhart (1-1, 4.38 ERA), who held that spot in the rotation the first nine weeks of the season. For the first time at Arkansas, he’ll be coming out of the bullpen - a role Van Horn said he was fine with.
The Razorbacks have had a quick hook with Lockhart the last two weekends, as he’s given up six earned runs in a combined 5 1/3 innings against Ole Miss and Texas A&M. He threw only 51 pitches against the Aggies, but that was on Sunday, which would make starting in a potential Friday doubleheader tough anyways.
“With him throwing Sunday, short week, probably the best thing,” Van Horn said. “So hopefully he can come in and give us some quality innings or come in and get a good left-handed hitter out - whatever it takes to help the team win.”
Although it likely won’t be in a starting role, Arkansas’ pitching staff will also benefit from the return of Connor Noland (1-0, 5.40 ERA). The right-hander and former No. 1 starter in 2020 has been out since March 5 because of a forearm strain.
Noland would possibly be available to pitch Friday, Van Horn said, but would definitely be ready to go Saturday if the third game remains as scheduled.
“With Connor, obviously he hasn’t pitched in a couple months, so we’re just going to try to pick the right situation for him,” Van Horn said. “We’re not planning on starting him, but we would definitely bring him out of the pen.”
Starting pitching has been a struggle for Arkansas all season, especially in conference play. It has gotten at least five innings out of its starter just five times in 15 SEC games so far this year.
Couple that with the possibility of several guys being forced to throw on short rest because of bad weather and it could get interesting in Columbia. Van Horn is taking precautions by bringing one extra pitcher than normal on the road trip, meaning half of the Razorbacks’ 30-man travel roster will be made up of pitchers.
“I think what it’s going to take is somebody like Bolden to step up and give us some good innings on Thursday,” Van Horn said. “We’ve got to have some guys that maybe haven’t been a big part of it yet, whether it’s because of an injury or just they haven’t been pitching well or whatever, it’s time for them to help us out.”
First pitch of Game 1 is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT Thursday and it will be televised on the SEC Network.