Questions surround Arkansas' Game 3 starter
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With three weeks left in the regular season, Arkansas is going back to the drawing board in its search for a Game 3 starter.
In recent weeks, the Razorbacks’ weekend rotation has come into focus with left-hander Patrick Wicklander emerging as a bonafide ace and right-hander Peyton Pallette providing stability, but questions remain in that third slot.
Following a 5-4 loss in which starter Lael Lockhart failed to get out of the first inning in a game that cost Arkansas a sweep of LSU, head coach Dave Van Horn said all options are on the table ahead of next week’s series against Georgia.
“You can't be satisfied with where we're at now,” Van Horn said. “We've got to get that figured out. We talked about if after the game tonight. We've got a few days this week to get ready for our next series and we've got some things to iron out. That's one of them."
Van Horn has actually left Game 3 as “TBA” each of the last two weeks. It was out of necessity because of a scheduling quirk at South Carolina, but this past weekend was more of a true TBA.
Lockhart, the graduate transfer from Houston, eventually got the nod and it went about as poorly as possible.
After a leadoff infield single by Tre’ Morgan, who took second on a throwing error, Dylan Crews crushed a line drive right at left fielder Braydon Webb for Lockhart’s lone out. The left-hander then hit a batter and allowed a three-run home run to Gavin Dugas.
The no-doubter gave the Tigers their first lead of the series. Following a walk to Jordan Thompson, who took three straight balls after falling behind 1-2, Lockhart was pulled.
Although it was his first action in two weeks because the scheduling quirk led to him not appearing at South Carolina, Van Horn said he considered it more of a “bad day” for Lockhart than rust.
“He bounced a ball that hit a guy, he threw one over the catcher’s head, bounced another ball that came up and hit the bat - I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that like that - and just struggling out there,” Van Horn said. “He couldn’t get out of the first. … That was tough to swallow for the team.”
It was the third straight short start by Lockhart. Van Horn had a quick hook with him against Ole Miss and Texas A&M - starts in which he allowed six earned runs on nine hits in just 5 1/3 combined innings. Prior to those two outings, Lockhart had a respectable 3.41 ERA and was consistently getting into the fifth inning.
The first guy out of the bullpen in Saturday's nightcap, right-hander Zebulon Vermillion, is likely a candidate to replace Lockhart as the third starter.
He gave up a couple of runs in two innings, but it was much better than his first outing back after missing the Texas A&M series with arm soreness. South Carolina hitters went 5 for 10 against Vermillion, who was charged with three runs in two innings. Not showing up in his stat line against the Gamecocks, though, was the fact he allowed all three inherited runners to score.
LSU went 3 for 8 with Vermillion on the mound and scored a run in the second and third innings off him, but he stopped the bleeding in the first inning.
“After (Lockhart) it got a little bit better,” Van Horn said. “Vermillion came in and did a nice job. Gave up a couple of runs but gave us a chance to kind of slow things down a little bit.”
Another pitcher Van Horn mentioned before the series as a potential Game 3 starter was right-hander Caleb Bolden.
He gave the Razorbacks a solid 3 1/3 innings in a spot start at South Carolina and allowed just one hit in the final 2 1/3 innings of the first game in Saturday’s doubleheader, but he did issue a pair of walks and the lone hit was an RBI double.
It’s unclear who else would be under consideration to be the Sunday starter against Georgia, but right-hander Connor Noland is almost certainly not on that list.
Despite being part of the weekend rotation as a freshman in 2019 and the No. 1 starter during the shortened 2020 season, Noland has missed most of this season with an injury.
He returned to the mound for the first time in nearly two months Saturday. With the Razorbacks leading 16-3, Noland gave up six earned runs in an outing that was bookended by home runs and lasted just 2/3 of an inning.
Arkansas will host Georgia at Baum-Walker Stadium next weekend, beginning with a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch Friday.