Duo gives UA relief it requires

Arkansas pitcher Jake Reindl celebrates after recording the final out of a game against Alabama on Sunday, April 29, 2018, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Junior pitchers Barrett Loseke and Jake Reindl saved the Arkansas Razorbacks last week.

Closer Matt Cronin was ill and unavailable, but Loseke and Reindl took turns combining for four saves as the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville beat Texas Tech 5-1 and swept a three-game series from Alabama.

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WHAT A RELIEF

Arkansas pitchers Barrett Loseke and Jake Reindl combined for 13 scoreless innings and four saves last week when the Razorbacks went 4-0 with a victory over Texas Tech and three-game sweep of Alabama:

player;innings;hits;runs;earned runs;walks;strikeouts

Loseke;8 1/3;2;0;0;4;17

Reindl;4 2/3;2;0;0;1;7

totals;13;4;0;0;5;24

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NO. 4 ARKANSAS AT LSU

WHEN 7 p.m. Friday

WHERE Alex Box Stadium, Baton Rouge

RECORDS Arkansas 32-13, 13-8 SEC; LSU 26-19, 10-11

TV None

In the four victories, Loseke and Reindl combined to pitch 13 scoreless innings and allow 4 hits with 5 walks and 24 strikeouts.

"I can't say enough about what those two guys did with the absence of Matt," Arkansas pitching coach Wes Johnson said. "They're really getting their stuff together, and their timing couldn't have been better.

"It's fun to watch, man, because we need these guys down the stretch."

The Razorbacks found out Friday that Cronin wouldn't be on the roster for the Alabama series.

"Having Matt out, obviously it sucks," Reindl said. "But what can you really do? You still have to play the games.

"You can't just say, 'Hey, our closer's out. We're going to just take this weekend off.' So for me and Barrett, it was just like, 'All right, we've got to step up and go in at the end of the game and finish it out.' "

Loseke pitched the final 4 2/3 innings against Texas Tech, retired all 14 batters he faced and had 10 strikeouts to pick up his first save of the season.

Reindl went the final three innings in a 7-3 victory over Alabama on Friday to pick up first save since Feb. 18 against Bucknell.

Loseke got his second save by going the last 1 1/3 innings of a 7-4 victory over Alabama on Saturday, then got the victory Sunday by going 2 1/3 innings when the Razorbacks beat the Crimson Tide 9-7. Reindl went the final 1 1/3 for the save.

"We have a ton of confidence in them," Arkansas center fielder Dominic Fletcher said. "We know these guys can pound strikes and let our defense work and close the ballgame out."

Closing games had been Cronin's role, but the sophomore with nine saves remains questionable for this weekend's series at LSU.

Johnson said the coaches are still waiting on results of tests Cronin has undergone to determine whether he has mononucleosis.

"When I was 8 years old, I asked Santa Claus for a bicycle," Johnson said. "When I got it, I was really excited.

"So I've told our trainer [Corey Wood], 'Look, I'm 8 again and you're Santa Claus, and I'm asking for a healthy report on Matt.' But even if Matt's available this weekend, he won't be able to go for long."

That likely means more work for Loseke and Reindl in key situations.

"Whenever Matt comes back he'll assume his [closer's] role, but he can't throw all three games on a weekend," Loseke said. "So it's good for me and Jake to get some work in."

Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn had hoped that if Loseke and Reindl were needed in Sunday's finale against Alabama, they wouldn't have to go a combined four innings.

But when starter Isaiah Campbell lasted just 1 1/3 innings and some less experienced pitchers struggled as Alabama took a 7-4 lead, Van Horn went to Loseke and Reindl to get the final 12 outs.

"I'm just proud of those guys for taking the bull by the horns," Van Horn said. "They didn't look in the dugout. They didn't want anybody else to do it. They did it themselves. They showed a lot of toughness."

Loseke and Reindl both struggled earlier in the season.

Reindl, a right-hander from Fayetteville who played at Shiloh Christian, had a 6.92 ERA in his first eight games over 13 innings. Loseke had a 5.49 ERA in his first 11 games over 19 1/3 innings.

The turnaround for Reindl came after he sat out the Ole Miss series -- because he had been doing so much bullpen work in practice with Johnson -- and pitched three scoreless innings against Louisiana-Monroe. Then he held Auburn to 1 hit and 1 run in 7 innings while retiring the final 18 batters he faced.

Reindl has lowered his ERA to 3.15 by allowing 2 runs in his past 21 1/3 innings.

"It was a small, mechanical tweak with my arm throwing the breaking ball," Reindl said of improving his slider. "After that I built confidence in that pitch, and I already had confidence in my other pitches."

Reindl had a 2.34 ERA in 50 1/3 innings last season.

"You look at Jake's numbers last year, we knew he had it in him," Johnson said. "We just had to get it back, and now we have."

Loseke, a right-hander from Tulsa, had a 4.23 ERA last season in 25 2/3 innings, but the coaching staff was encouraged by his strong showing in fall practice.

"We were thinking, 'This is going to be his year,' " Van Horn said. "Then it kind of went away a little bit. He's been climbing out of it."

Johnson said the key for Loseke last week was having more success with his curveball and changeup.

After Missouri State scored two runs against Loseke in 1 1/3 innings April 17, Johnson had him throw exclusively off-speed pitches to Arkansas' hitters in practice the next day.

"I was just trying to get Barrett's confidence up, and it worked," Johnson said. "When he's having success, he's landing off-speed pitches for strikes, because then they can't just sit on his fastball."

Pitching 8 1/3 scoreless innings last week lowered Loseke's ERA to 3.86.

"We've always known Barrett's a competitor and has a good fastball, but sometimes you need more than just one weapon when you go into battle," Johnson said. "So now what you're seeing from Barrett is confidence in his other pitches."

Reindl said Loseke is pitching the way his teammates know he can.

"He's figuring it out, and now he's showing us what he's capable of doing," Reindl said. "He didn't do anything crazy or magical. It's just who he is, and I'm really excited to have him."

Reindl and Loseke said they'll also be excited when Cronin returns.

"Obviously, Matt is one of the best at what he does," Reindl said. "But I have a lot of confidence in Barrett, and I like to feel that the team has a lot of confidence in me as well to close a game."

Sports on 05/02/2018