Arkansas' young pitchers thrive in bullpen game
A talented pitching staff became even deeper on Tuesday afternoon, as No. 2 Arkansas (6-2) blew out the Grambling State Tigers 21-1 at Baum-Walker Stadium thanks to intriguing performances from multiple young arms.
Just a day after being named the SEC Co-Freshmen of the Week for his win over James Madison on opening weekend and a six-strikeout performance against Oklahoma State at the Kubota College Baseball Series, Fisher tossed a complete inning during his start against Grambling with a strikeout and a walk.
"With Colin coming out and doing what he did, we were going to go one with him if he got three guys out on eight pitches maybe we’d let him go again," head coach Dave Van Horn said after the game. "But we just wanted to let him get in the rhythm of starting on Tuesday, like he was going to."
The Hogs quickly took advantage of Fisher's fast first by scoring seven runs in the latter half of the inning, which allowed Arkansas to turn to more inexperienced options for the rest of the game.
Up next on the mound was left-handed sophomore Parker Coil, who threw two innings with a strikeout and only one hit. It was a vast improvement for Coil, who allowed four hits and four runs in 0.2 innings pitched against James Madison during opening weekend.
"Then Parker came in, and Parker was sick this week and didn’t pitch," Van Horn said. "I thought he came in and did a good job. We want to make sure we have him available. And then after that we were just running guys out there."
Arkansas continued piling on runs, and pitching coach Matt Hobbs decided to turn to freshman RHP Cooper Dossett in the fourth. The Springdale native's Razorback debut was electric, to say the least. Mid-90's fastballs, wipeout breaking balls and three strikeouts in one inning gave a glimpse into what Dossett could provide for Arkansas this season.
"Yeah, I mean his stuff’s really good," Van Horn said. "It didn’t work out the first weekend. Should have probably pitched him this past weekend but every time we would’ve brought him in would have been a tough spot. First time out … even with Gaeckle coming in the other day it wasn’t his first time out. Yeah, everything just kind of shifts around in this game. You kind of go with the hot guy and guys who keep proving it to you. I’m sure he’ll get to pitch again this weekend."
In true bullpen-game fashion, Arkansas turned to another pitcher in the fifth in sophomore RHP Christian Foutch. An arm with nasty stuff, control has been the main issue for the Colorado native. He put everything together for a strong inning, though, and finished with a strikeout and walk.
"Then Foutch, I think he walked a hitter, but he also threw the ball hard, 96-97 mph, and kept the ball down," Van Horn said. "I think the first hitter, he threw a really good split-finger. We call it a changeup on our little device, but it’s a splitty and it’s nasty. That was a good one. It got him a strikeout with a really good hitter. Everybody, for the most part, got a little action that either pitched a little bit or didn’t pitch on the weekend. Kind of used it as a bullpen and kind of get them ready for the weekend if they’re needed."
Returning All-SEC Freshman RHP Gage Wood pitched for the Hogs during the sixth, and X. Prior to today's outing, Wood had completed 3.1 innings with five strikeouts, only one earned run and a 2.70 ERA.
To close the run-rule seven-inning game out, right-handed freshman Tate McGuire took the field and struggled to close the game away. He allowed three hits and a run, but struck out the side to hand the Hogs the victory.
"The game will tell you things," Van Horn said. "Just like in that inning, we gave up the hit that drove in the run. He made a mistake and the guy got him. And that’s the way the game works. I feel like McGuire learned something. And coach talked to him about it."
Arkansas will take a few days off before gearing up to take on the Murray State Racers this Friday in game one of a three-game series. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. CT and will stream on SEC Network+.