Arkansas baseball head coach Dave Van Horn raised some eyebrows Thursday when he announced right-handed pitcher Aiden Jimenez will get the start in Game 1 of the Fayetteville Regional against North Dakota State.
Jimenez, a second-year transfer from Oregon State, was lights out coming out of the bullpen most of the season, and got his first start of the season in the regular-season finale against Tennessee.
On the season, Jimenez owns a 3.38 ERA with 34 strikeouts to seven walks in 34.2 innings pitched. In that game, however, he only lasted 2.1 innings and was tagged for four runs on seven hits and didn't log a single strikeout. But Van Horn said this was always the plan for Game 1.
"He didn’t throw at Hoover, which is okay," Van Horn said Thursday. "He got a chance to get some more rest. Strike-thrower, tough, you gotta know him. I know they’re going to hit about seven lefties in their lineup. It’s not a lot of power, it’s guys who hit the ball through the middle (and) the other way.
"Bottom line. He’s a good pitcher. You think about it, he’s the guy we’ve given the ball to when the game’s on the line everywhere, sixth, seventh inning, Friday night in Baton Rouge, whatever. That’s the only game out of the bullpen it didn’t work out. He’s gotten one start, didn’t go great, but you’ve got to give the team we were playing a lot of credit for that one."
Van Horn continued on to say Jimenez has been a guy the Diamond Hogs have gone to in big moments throughout the season. Part of the reason he chose to give the ball to Jimenez is because North Dakota State's splits between right- and left-handed pitchers are pretty even.
"Now we’re here and we got (all the pitchers) rested," Van Horn said. "You look at the numbers, North Dakota State, they’re hitting within 10 points against right and left, so it’s about the same. Again, he’s just the guy we felt like we could go with Game 1."
Jimenez likely won't pitch all nine innings on Friday, though Van Horn said he's got the go-ahead to throw 80-90 pitches, and every pitcher in the Razorbacks' bullpen could go after him.
"I mean, anybody we need, depending on the situation," Van Horn said. "If it’s tight or a tough situation, we could bring in Gaeckle...We’re going to try and win the game. If we have a good lead or we’re way down, then we’ll do what we need to do. But you know, I don’t plan on that. I plan on it being a really good game, and a lot of decisions will have to be made. All hands on deck. That’s what we told them."
The Razorbacks and Bison will face off in the Fayetteville Regional at Baum-Walker Stadium on Friday. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. and the game will stream on ESPN+.
