The No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks (13-2) earned another non-conference sweep following their 18-5 run-rule victory over the McNeese State Cowboys at Baum-Walker Stadium on Sunday, but the biggest storyline may be the return of right-handed pitcher Dylan Carter.
Last season, the Bentonville native emerged as one of the Razorbacks' top bullpen arms after accumulating a 3.65 ERA in 37.0 innings pitched. Carter struck out 26 opponents, walked 11 and held batters to a .264 average en route to a perfect 6-0 record.
Disaster struck for Carter, though, as he suffered a season-ending UCL tear on May 3 of last year. Through dedication and hard work, Carter returned to the Hogs in less than 12 months and recorded the final two outs of Arkansas' sunday win over McNeese State.
"It was really neat that we had an opportunity to bring Dylan Carter in," head coach Dave Van Horn said after the game. "He'll end up being a big part of our bullpen. Well, Dylan the last few weeks has thrown to live hitters on Thursdays inside. Maybe one outside, maybe three times. So we’re kind of like, ‘Wow, that’s good enough to go, is he good?’ And once he got released to go, he said, ‘I’m ready to go.’ What I saw him throw was kind of what you saw today — 92-94 (mph) with the fastball, 83-84 (mph) slider.
"I don’t think he threw a slider this hard before. I could probably count on one hand how many 94 mph fastball he threw last year. He was mostly 92-93, maybe 90. Who knows when he was slowly getting hurt and when it was taking away from that, but he had an incredible rehab all summer here and fall. Wanted to get back this year and he did it."
Most pitchers usually take a step back after suffering an arm injury, but Carter thinks his stuff is better than ever and that's led to an increase in confidence.
"When I first got here, it was kind of like, I mean it’s Division I, it’s the SEC, there were a bunch of nerves," Carter said after the game. "Confidence wasn’t really there. Then last year my confidence was high, got hurt and it was like — I told the coaches, the doctors that I’m going to come back better than I was last year.
"Throughout the bullpen process and the live AB sessions, I could tell that I was better. My pitchability was better, my pitch sequencing was better, all my pitches in general were just better. That leads to more confidence and so it’s pretty high right now."
Despite the added confidence, taking the mound for the Razorbacks after time away from the field in a live game setting was still a bit nerve wracking for the redshirt-junior.
"Just haven’t really been out in a game for so long," Carter said. "Just being able to settle my nerves was a big key. Afterwards it was like, ‘it’s time to ride for the rest of the year.’ The rehab process, it’s long. It was very long. Just being able to throw a baseball again after five months was probably the happiest day of my life. Now here we are. I am getting to pitch again. Rehab was long. But I worked hard and was able to be out there with my guys."
The rehab process for Carter was long and tenuous, but worth it according to him. He went on to describe the process of how being able to pitch today came about.
“I texted coach (Matt) Hobbs first thing this morning," Carter said. "I was like, ‘I feel great today. I’m ready to throw.’ And he said, ‘excellent. If the opportunity persists, we’re going to get you in there.’ First outing, you want to be clean. You don’t want a stressful outing.
"He didn’t want to have to go out there and everything be perfect. He just told me to let it rip and get my feet wet again. He uses the term to rip the bandaid off. Now the bandaid is ripped off. It was time to get after it.”
Up next, Carter and the Razorbacks will face Oral Roberts (7-8) in a midweek matchup at Baum-Walker Stadium on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT and will stream on SEC Network+.
