Hogs have plan, 'fresh' arms for SEC Tournament

Arkansas pitcher Isaiah Campbell throws during a game against South Carolina on Saturday, April 14, 2018, in Fayetteville.

— In the final two weeks of the regular season, Arkansas did not have to over-extend its bullpen because of quality starts most games.

In three games against Texas A&M, Arkansas starters threw 19 1/3 of 27 innings. In three games at Georgia last week, starting pitching lasted 14 2/3 innings, but six relievers combined to throw 11 2/3 innings and different pitchers recorded at least eight outs.

In the six games since a bullpen meltdown against Alabama on April 29 - a game in which the Razorbacks won despite walking 15 batters and throwing 7 wild pitches - Arkansas has used two or fewer relievers five times.

That has the pitching staff well rested for the postseason, which begins Wednesday night when Arkansas plays either South Carolina or Missouri in the late game at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn called the pitching "lined up and it's fairly fresh."

The Razorbacks will throw either junior left-hander Kacey Murphy or redshirt sophomore right-hander Isaiah Campbell on Wednesday, Van Horn said, depending on matchups. Murphy took a perfect game into the seventh inning during the first game of a doubleheader against South Carolina on April 14 and Campbell pitched five scoreless innings in the second game. Arkansas did not play Missouri in the regular season.

By throwing Campbell or Murphy on Wednesday, Arkansas can hold No. 1 starter Blaine Knight for a game Thursday or Friday and keep him in a more normal routine prior to next week's NCAA regional. Knight threw 107 pitches in six innings last Thursday against Georgia.

"Giving Knight his rest, or giving him an extra day, we feel good about how our starting pitching lines up," Van Horn said.

"You know I'll be ready to go whenever they need me," Knight said. "Thursday, Friday, if they want to push me back to Saturday, that's great, too. Whatever. I'm going to go out and get ready to pitch and have fun with it. This is a fun time of the year."

Neither Murphy nor Campbell had long outings against Georgia last week. Murphy's start Friday ended after four innings and 70 pitches because of a two-hour rain delay, while Campbell threw around 40 pitches - a pitch count was not kept by the official scorer - in a scoreless three-inning relief appearance Saturday. Campbell missed the Game 3 start because of a foot injury.

"We would have started Campbell but he had the foot problem," Van Horn said. "As of the morning of the game on Saturday, he came in and said he was feeling a lot better. By then we already had our starter ready."

Arkansas coaches still are not sure what caused Campbell's foot to swell up to the point that he needed crutches to walk at one point last week.

"It was the craziest thing," Van Horn said. "About a week ago...we're out of school, we're doing group practices. He went home after practice and took a nap and when he woke up his foot was killing him. We didn't know what was wrong; thought he maybe got bit by a spider or something.

"It's still not 100 percent. When he got on the plane to Georgia the doctor told him not to walk on it. He was on crutches. The swelling slowly went down. I don't know. It's still bizarre."

Freshman right-hander Kole Ramage threw 4 2/3 innings in Campbell's absence, allowing two runs on six hits. He struck out five batters and gave coaches much longer than the two- or three-inning outing they had hoped from him.

"I talked to the team about that after the ball game that the plus of the day was the pitching was real good and Kole Ramage showed us he could start and go extended innings, and he could get out some really good hitters," Van Horn said. "That was a big deal for us to see that and for his confidence."

Van Horn said freshman right-handers Bryce Bonnin and Caleb Bolden threw well during a simulated scrimmage Monday at Samford University. Freshman reliever Jackson Rutledge did not make the travel roster, Van Horn said. Rutledge has not pitched in a game since he walked two batters, threw three wild pitches and failed to record an out during the April 29 game against Alabama.