Arkansas starting pitcher Will McEntire turned in the first complete game performance of at least nine innings by a Razorback pitcher since 2016 during Saturday' 6-1 win over Louisiana Tech.
Leading up to the game on a chilly afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium, head coach Dave Van Horn told his players to get ready for McEntire to have a good day.
"I told them before the game when we got in our huddle, Will didn’t hear it, I said, ‘Will is going to be around the plate, you guys be ready to field the ball," Van Horn said. "They’re going to swing. Play great defense. See how long we can keep him out there.’ And they did it."
McEntire located his pitches at an elite level all afternoon, with the cutter working best for him. He trusted his defense and it led to six 1-2-3 frames to keep his pitch count low and allow him to go the distance.
"His pitch count was really low," Van Horn said. "He had a couple of really quick innings. I think he had a nine pitch inning and one less than that somewhere in there. We knew he was going to be good probably going into the third because we had a lead, we had a three-run lead, maybe two or three run lead, and he just kept filling it up.
"I mean, we could see from the side that that cutter was really moving and if he didn’t get tired or just run into a bad inning he was going to be able to go for a while."
The Bryant native gave up just one unearned run on three hits, walked one and struck out six in the contest. The one run crossed after a throwing error by third baseman Peyton Holt in the fifth inning that eventually saw the batter score following a two-out RBI single.
Though Van Horn said they knew McEntire was going to be good going into the third inning, the righty told reporters he didn't think he could do it until a little later in the outing.
"I think when I went back out for the seventh and I had a fairly quick seventh, I thought that I could finish it," McEntire said.
It took just 97 pitches for McEntire to get the job done against a frisky Louisiana Tech lineup that had some hard hit balls. Trust in his defense benefited him, most notably when Holt, who previously had the error, made an incredible play at third for the final out in the top of the seventh inning.
"Defense made really good plays, he made good pitches, they were aggressive in the box, and so we were all just expecting the ball to come to us every pitch," Holt said.
The last time an Arkansas pitcher pitched a complete game of at least nine innings was when Dominic Taccolini threw a complete 10-inning shutout against Kentucky on April 22, 2016. Taccolini's performance included only five hits allowed, no walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts. It was the longest outing by any pitcher in the NCAA in 2016 and the longest for a Razorback since Clint Brannon threw 11 complete innings at the 2004 SEC Tournament.
McEntire's performance was huge for a pitching staff that has seen its ace (Jaxon Wiggins) go down with a preseason torn UCL, it's best bullpen arm (Koty Frank) go down for the year with a lat injury and its closer (Brady Tygart) go out for 5-6 weeks with a UCL strain.
To not only turn in complete game that erased his early season struggles — which featured him allowing five earned runs on nine hits in his first 2.0 innings pitched across two outings — but to preserve the less-experienced and struggling bullpen arms was big-time from the redshirt junior.
"For him to go out and give us nine innings in under 100 pitches, that was big for our bullpen," Van Horn said. "I’m sure it was big for his confidence."
Now with four starts under his belt, McEntire has an ERA of 3.48 in 20 2/3 innings pitched. He's allowed just four earned runs on 13 hits over his past three starts, which have all resulted in wins for him.
The Diamond Hogs will be back in action Sunday at 1 p.m. CT for the series finale against Louisiana Tech at Baum-Walker Stadium. The game will be streamed on the SEC Network Plus.
