Wicklander sets tone in super regional opener
Not a subscriber? Get a FREE trial through the summer w/code VISITS2021
DETAILS: click here
HawgBeat's coverage of the Diamond Hogs' Road to Omaha is brought to you by CJ's Butcher Boy Burgers, which has locations in Fayetteville and Russellville.
FAYETTEVILLE — Patrick Wicklander further cemented himself as a bonafide ace for the best team in college baseball Friday night.
The left-hander overcame a shaky start and set the tone with six strong innings as his teammates built a hefty lead en route to a dominant 21-2 win over North Carolina State in the opening game of the Fayetteville Super Regional.
“Around the third or fourth inning, I just got back to myself,” Wicklander said. “(I) got some stuff figured out and was able to find a groove.”
Although he was not an overpowering force, Wicklander proved to be an escape artist the Wolfpack couldn’t figure out besides a leadoff home run in the second inning. He scattered six hits and two walks while allowing just the one run and striking out six in six innings.
It didn’t start out great for him, though. After the homer by Jose Torres, Wicklander issued back-to-back walks and consistently found himself in full counts. His pitch count got to the point where head coach Dave Van Horn was concerned he might last only three or four innings.
However, after a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third, Wicklander induced a shallow fly out by J.T. Jarrett and got a ground out by leadoff man Austin Murr to end the inning.
“I think when he got out of that jam, maybe his confidence jumped,” Van Horn said. “He got it together and gave us three or four more innings. (He) started working ahead of hitters, started flipping some curveballs up there, couple changeups. Got some pop-ups and fly balls (and) some quicker innings.”
Even though the Razorbacks were up 7-1, Wicklander got into another jam in the fourth when a defensive miscue allowed Murr to reach on an infield single and load the bases.
With home run leader Tyler McDonough at the plate, North Carolina State had an excellent chance to get right back into the game, but the slugger flied out to deep center.
“My mindset on that at-bat was to get a punch out,” Wicklander said. “I think I got him to fly out on a fastball up, but it was a big-time pitch in a huge situation.”
The Wolfpack stranded seven runners on base - including five in scoring position - the first four innings and that was the end of their scoring opportunities until a two-out triple in the ninth when the game was already out of hand.
Wicklander finished his outing with two quick 1-2-3 frames in the fifth and sixth, ending the night with a career-high 99 pitches. His previous high was 96, which he hit against Auburn as a freshman in 2019 and twice this year - against LSU and Florida.
It was an impressive showing of stamina considering it was 90 degrees when the game started. Wicklander said he tried to acclimate himself to the head during pregame warmups and he made every effort to stay cool when he wasn’t on the mound.
“It was hot, but between innings I was able to have a fan and kept drinking water,” Wicklander said. “The last part of the game it started to cool down a little bit.”
As his numbers showed, the heat didn’t seem to bother him.
North Carolina State head coach Elliott Avent said he was impressed with how Wicklander changed speeds on his fastball while also mixing in a couple of breaking balls.
“I thought he commanded the zone good enough to scatter like six hits early,” Avent said. “We left a lot of guys on, he made the pitches when he had to early and then he settled in after they hit that grand slam.”
The outing built on his solid performance in last week’s regional, when he went five innings against Nebraska in the winner’s bracket game Saturday.
In 11 postseason innings, Wicklander has allowed just two runs on eight hits and four walks with 13 strikeouts. That works out to a 1.64 ERA and 1.09 WHIP - despite him not necessarily pitching as well as he had during the regular season.
“He’s our best starter on the best team in the country, so whenever he doesn’t have his A stuff he’s still really good,” teammate Robert Moore said. “He’s legit, he knows he’s legit and he knows everything doesn’t have to go his way to be successful.”
His tournament showing so far has lowered his season ERA to 2.11 to go along a 7-1 record. He owns the second-lowest ERA in the SEC behind the National Player of the Year Kevin Kopps (0.68) and the third-lowest ERA among all Power Five teams behind only Kopps and Texas’ Pete Hansen (1.84).
Wicklander is also tied for fifth in the SEC in looking strikeouts with 33 despite not being in the top 15 for total strikeouts or innings pitched.
Sometimes overlooked because of Kopps’ dominance at the end of games, Wicklander has turned himself into a consistent and reliable starter for the Razorbacks who might be as good a Game 1 starter as there is in college baseball right now.