FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas right-hander Blaine Knight said he’s never felt better later in a season than he does now.
The junior, selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the third round of the MLB Draft on Tuesday, feels rested and ready to face South Carolina again this weekend at Baum Stadium as super regional play begins.
Part of the reason, potentially, he is of that opinion is his efficiency, particularly last weekend.
Aside from a pair of home runs, Knight was sharp in the NCAA Fayetteville Regional opener against Oral Roberts. His strikeouts (2) were down relative to previous starts, but Knight cruised through eight innings in 104 pitches. He threw more than 12 pitches in only four of eight innings.
In Friday’s start, his 16th of the season, Knight collected 19 of 24 outs on five or fewer pitches. He recorded four outs on just one pitch and eight outs on three pitches. His longest at-bat was eight pitches, which happened twice – against the second batter of the game and for the second out of the seventh inning.
Lefty Kacey Murphy may have been more efficient than Knight the following day in another eight-inning outing. Murphy, the first pick of Day 3 of the draft by the Detroit Tigers, recorded 20 of 24 outs on five or fewer pitches.
Murphy retired three Southern Miss hitters on one pitch, six on two pitches and four more on three pitches. Together, the two combined to record 39 outs on five or fewer pitches.
Dave Van Horn credited the duo for getting ahead in counts, in turn placing them in position to tempt opponents with chase pitches or mis-hit balls.
“They threw a lot of strikes. It wasn't all about striking people out,” Van Horn said. “It was about some contact and let our defense work. That's called pitching, and that's what they do. They pitch. They don't just get out there and throw and hope for the best.
“They're throwing every pitch with a plan and they executed it a lot.”
On Sunday, reliever Jake Reindl stepped in on short notice and performed well after Van Horn pulled starter Isaiah Campbell after three hitters. Postgame, Reindl said he didn’t have his best stuff working, but found his groove after 4-5 innings.
Reindl threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of 29 batters faced and retired 18 Dallas Baptist hitters on four pitches or less – 13 on three or less. Freshman right fielder Heston Kjerstad committed the lone Arkansas error of the regional in the fifth inning, spoiling what would have been another three-pitch out.
Reindl, though, sat down the next batter on three pitches: a first-pitch strike and two swings and misses.
“He just kind of pitched with some attitude and made some pitches when he could,” Van Horn said. “They fouled off a lot of pitches, but they didn't really get on him too bad. He kind of got it together about the fifth or sixth inning and gave us a couple more, which was huge.”
Senior second baseman Carson Shaddy, named to the Fayetteville All-Regional team, said he enjoys playing behind Knight, Murphy and Reindl, whose extended and efficient outings set up Arkansas' staff well entering this weekend.
“It was great. Blaine was a bulldog on the mound and he wasn’t going to back down to anybody, and Kacey did his thing,” Shaddy said. “Jake came in in such a big situation and really helped us to where we are today, so it was great. They worked fast and got ground balls and used us — the infielders — a lot, so it was great by them.
“It was huge.”