Bolden moves into starting rotation for SEMO series
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FAYETTEVILLE — With four hitless innings of relief last weekend, Caleb Bolden has earned a spot in Arkansas’ starting rotation for the four-game series against Southeast Missouri State.
The right-hander will start Thursday’s home opener, head coach Dave Van Horn announced Wednesday morning. The rest of the rotation will remain the same, with Zebulon Vermillion, Peyton Pallette and Lael Lockhart each pitching a day earlier than they did in Arlington, Texas.
That group of pitchers combined for a 1.62 ERA and held opponents to a minuscule .107 batting average during the Razorbacks’ undefeated appearance in the State Farm College Baseball Showdown.
Perhaps none of them were quite as impressive as Bolden, who was named SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week after needing only 56 pitches to finish off a 4-0 win over Texas and earn the save Sunday night. Afterward, he revealed his biggest weapon was a slider he developed in the week leading up to the season.
“What he did was he developed a better slider,” Van Horn said. “He had a slider, but it wasn’t moving like that. … It’s obviously good for us and good for him that he has confidence in that pitch and has found something that can make him stand out.”
Van Horn didn’t set a specific pitch count for the starters this weekend, but said they could go “just a little bit” more than the 70-75 he set for them to begin the season.
Two names still noticeably absent from the rotation are right-hander Connor Noland and left-hander Patrick Wicklander.
Both pitchers, who were starters as freshmen on the 2019 College World Series team, will be available out of the bullpen, potentially in a long relief role. After not appearing in any of the first three games, Van Horn said they’re “definitely going to get the ball” against the Redhawks and mentioned they were being considered to start a game in the series.
Another pitcher who received a lot of consideration for a starting job this weekend was freshman Jaxon Wiggins. The 6-foot-6 right-hander was dominant in his debut, striking out all three batters he faced and touching 98 miles per hour.
Although he isn’t getting a start, Wiggins could see his role expand against Southeast Missouri State. Van Horn said he even could have pitched another inning or two against TCU on Monday, but they wanted to get him out after the perfect inning to build some confidence in him.
“If we needed to bring him in in the ninth (Thursday) to finish off the game and then again on Saturday, we could probably do that, or Sunday for sure,” Van Horn said. “If we threw him two innings tomorrow, we could probably throw him two or three or four.
“I see him as a little bit of everything right now for us as far as his role, but he’ll start here one day, whether it’s this year or next.”
Wiggins was one of two high-profile signees from Oklahoma who made it to campus. Nate Wohlgemuth was actually higher in Perfect Game’s national rankings for the Class of 2020 (No. 44 vs. No. 129), but he didn’t pitch on opening weekend.
The hard-throwing right-hander has been dealing with a back issue and had to be held out. He threw a bullpen over the weekend and it went well, though, plus he’ll throw some again in Wednesday’s practice. Van Horn said he’s hopeful Wohlgemuth will be available to pitch Saturday or Sunday.
“He's got a really good arm, good fastball and a plus, plus, plus changeup,” Van Horn said. “He can help us right away, so we'll get him out there as soon as we can."
A trio of last year’s freshmen have also yet to see the mound this season.
Right-hander Blake Adams was actually the third starter for the opening series against Eastern Illinois last year, after Noland and Wicklander. He struggled a bit during the shortened season (9.95 ERA in 6.1 IP) and didn’t remain in the rotation, but Van Horn thought enough of him to give him a starting nod as a true freshman.
He has an improved slider to go along with his already solid curveball, plus his velocity is up, which made Van Horn think about starting him this weekend, as well.
“Adams has thrown the ball pretty good,” Van Horn said. “I think in a normal year, you would see him more, but we just have guys that are back. He’s going to move into a role.”
In addition to Adams, left-hander Zack Morris was an option to come out of the pen a couple of times in Arlington, but never did. He posted a 3.18 ERA in 5 2/3 innings last season and could be a starter, but Van Horn envisions a different role.
“We see him more as an inning eater in the middle,” Van Horn said. “Maybe come and get a big left-handed hitter out and go back out after that and just let him go.”
The freshman who actually threw the most inning last season and started a midweek game was right-hander Will McEntire. He emerged just before the season was shut down and had an impressive 1.12 ERA with seven strikeouts and no walks in eight innings.
Despite that good first impression a year ago, he was not on the travel roster for opening weekend.
“He hadn’t had a great fall and hasn’t had a great spring,” Van Horn said. “It’s a tough deal. We’ve got guys that are ahead of him. We think he’s got good stuff. Hopefully it will come out of him here in the future.”
The Razorbacks’ series against Southeast Missouri State is begins Thursday and runs through Sunday. The first three games have a 3 p.m. CT first pitch, with the finale slated to start at 1 p.m. CT. All four games will be streamed online on SEC Network-Plus.