Breaking down Arkansas' bullpen: Tygart, Taylor, others

As the postseason nears, most teams are trying to shore up their bullpen to have enough arms to lean on in important games.

Last season, Arkansas had an incredible bullpen in the form of Kevin Kopps, who put together one of the greatest seasons ever for a college pitcher. This season, the pen’s strength is in numbers, with a few different guys the Razorbacks can turn to in relief.

Head coach Dave Van Horn seems to know who his go-to guys are each weekend and he said after Sunday’s win at Auburn that he’s confident in his relievers.

“Our bullpen, we've used them a lot,” Van Horn said. “They've been good all year, and they did it again. For the most part, they did a great job and kept us in the game.”

Here is a look at the arms Van Horn trusts out of the bullpen — which has an impressive 2.61 ERA in SEC play — and how their individual stats look with two weeks left in the regular season…

Brady Tygart — Freshman RHP

Tygart is not just the best closer on the Razorback pitching staff, he is one of the best in the SEC. He is tied for third in the conference with seven saves and his 1.48 ERA is second to just Zack Morris among the Arkansas relief pitchers who’ve thrown at least 20 innings.

In his 30 1/3 innings, Tygart has surrendered just six runs (five earned) and he’s racked up 44 strikeouts compared to only 15 walks. Prior to Saturday’s loss at Auburn, Tygart had pitched 11 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to April 9 at Florida.

When Ole Miss was in town, Tygart showed that he can pitch in long relief as well, throwing for three innings and allowing just one hit while striking out five. He had the number of one of the SEC’s top hitters in Tim Elko, striking him out twice and retiring him a third time — all with runners in scoring position late in close games.

That is indicative of how he’s done all season, as he faced 33 batters with runners in scoring position this season and surrendered just three hits.

Van Horn and his staff trust Tygart in the big situations and he has delivered. With elite spin rate, he consistently fools batters with his “unhittable breaking balls” as described by the Pitching Ninja, Rob Friedman.