Van Horn discusses options for Game 3 'TBA'
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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas is keeping its options open for Sunday’s series finale against Georgia.
As expected, left-hander Patrick Wicklander and right-hander Peyton Pallette will start the first two games of the series. However, head coach Dave Van Horn said he won’t name a Game 3 starter until after Saturday’s game.
In addition to usual suspects Zebulon Vermillion and Caleb Bolden, a third option to replace Lael Lockhart in the rotation has emerged this week: Jaxon Wiggins.
Van Horn mentioned to the Swatter’s Club on Monday that the hard-throwing freshman might get a chance to start and then confirmed to the media Thursday that he is a candidate if he’s not needed out of the bullpen in the first two games, much like Vermillion and Bolden.
Wiggins, a right-hander out of Roland, Okla., has yet to start a game for the Razorbacks, posting a 5.11 ERA in 12 1/3 innings across 12 relief appearances. That number is skewed by one rough outing at Ole Miss in which he gave up five earned runs in 2/3 of an inning though. Take that out and his ERA drops to 1.54.
Despite it being the eighth week of SEC play in his freshman season, Van Horn didn’t sound particularly apprehensive about the possibility of giving Wiggins his first career start.
“I guess it’s all difficult, but it’s really either you can or you can’t, in my opinion,” Van Horn said. “It’s late in the year, you’ve been facing our hitters in scrimmages, you’ve been facing hard hitters in live sessions the last few weeks because he hasn’t thrown on the weekend… It’s still baseball.”
The coaching staff has been focused on teaching Wiggins how to pace himself, which is needed more from a starter compared to a reliever or closer who’s asked to throw only one or two innings.
At practice the other day, Wiggins threw 60 pitches in a simulated game. He threw three rounds out 20 pitches with a 10-minute break between each.
If he does start, Van Horn said the Razorbacks aren’t expected him to go deep into the game, but rather just give them three or four solid innings.
“I think it’s just really up to the individual to be able to handle it mentally,” Van Horn said. “It’s more about seeing what he can do. If he can’t do it, we can get him out of there pretty quick.”
Vermillion and Bolden are a pair of veteran right-handers who each pitched out of the bullpen at LSU. The latter allowed just one earned run in the final 2 1/3 innings to finish the series-clinching victory, while the former was charged with two earned runs in two innings in the Game 3 loss.
Lockhart lasted less than an inning in the series finale against the Tigers, giving up three earned runs while recording just one out. The left-handed graduate transfer from Houston has now allowed nine earned runs in only 5 2/3 innings over his last three starts.
Although he has a significant amount of starting experience, right-hander Connor Noland is not ready to jump up and grab that Game 3 role. In his first appearance in nearly two months because of an injury last weekend, LSU hit him hard and he was charged with six earned runs in 2/3 of an inning.
Van Horn said Noland threw a regular bullpen session this week and a “short box” where everything was shortened up and his primary focus was locating his pitches.
“It’s been fine, so hopefully when he gets out there this next time, he does a good job and has some confidence that he can get the job done,” Van Horn said. “Because we know he’s got good stuff. It’s all about location.”
It is the third straight series Arkansas has left its Game 3 starter as “TBA” going into the weekend, which Van Horn said he thinks is the right thing to do in their situation.
His philosophy, as cliche as it sounds, is to attack one game at a time and just try to win the game in front of him, which is why he’s willing to use Vermillion, Bolden and Wiggins out of the pen the first two games rather than reserving them for the finale.
“If I had another guy that was throwing like those first two (Wicklander and Pallette), I would love to plug him in there and just say, ‘Here you go, 1-2-3, go get ‘em. The rest of you guys are coming out of the pen,’” Van Horn said. “But I don’t feel like we have that luxury yet to be able to announce all three.”
The Georgia series begins at 6:30 p.m. CT Friday, followed by games at 6 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Game 2 will be televised on the SEC Network, while the others will be streamed on SEC Network-Plus.
