Campbell, bullpen arms tie up Shockers

Arkansas pitcher Isaiah Campbell throws during an exhibition game against Wichita State on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn knew his pitching staff probably had a high strikeout total in its first exhibition of the fall, but he didn’t know exactly what that figure was.

As he exited the team’s postgame huddle in shallow left field, he was handed a box score from the Razorbacks’ 10-1 scrimmage win over former Arkansas assistant coach Todd Butler’s Wichita State club. Van Horn glanced at the pitching totals.

“Wow,” he said under his breath prior to speaking with reporters.

Arkansas’ pitching dominated the Shockers throughout the 14-inning exhibition, and it all started with a strong first four innings from right-hander Isaiah Campbell, who struck out eight and allowed one earned run on four hits. Campbell threw 45 of 64 pitches for strikes.

“I think the first five outs he got were all strikeouts before they got a hit,” Van Horn said. “He didn’t really have his breaking stuff until the last inning. The fourth inning he started throwing his changeup and his curveball a little bit and did a nice job with it.

“Then it was just one after another that came in and really threw the ball well and held them down. They got four or five hits throughout the night, but the pitching was really good.”

Campbell threw well against the Shockers. Arkansas’ relievers allowed next to nothing over the final 10 innings. Van Horn used nine pitchers after Campbell’s outing, and over those final 10 frames, Razorbacks pitchers allowed one hit and struck out 16 against four walks.

Jacob Kostyshock, the first reliever called upon out of the bullpen, fanned three Wichita State batters in two innings. Closer Matt Cronin struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning with Arkansas ahead 3-1. Cronin needed just 12 pitches to retire the side. In between Kostyshock and Cronin, Cody Scroggins and Kole Ramage combined for three strikeouts in two innings.

“That’s outstanding. No. 1, we’re throwing strikes, and we put away the hitters,” Van Horn said of his bullpen arms. “We did a good job of locating. We threw a lot of fastballs and located them and our off-speed was good. Our pitching has gotten after our hitters a little bit this fall. We’ve had our days here and there, but right now the strength of the team is our bullpen.”

Angus Denton, a right-hander from Beebe, Ark., allowed the only Shockers hit after the fourth inning. At one point, Arkansas pitchers retired 19 consecutive Wichita State batters. Second baseman Luke Ritter was the lone player to notch two hits against Razorbacks arms. Ritter finished the scrimmage 2-for-5 with an RBI single in the third off of Campbell.

Van Horn said he likes the potential of his bullpen. For those who stuck around for the final five innings, they got to see a few talented freshman arms and Caleb Bolden’s best performance of the fall. Bolden struck out a pair in one inning and needed 13 pitches to do so.

“Our pitching was outstanding,” Van Horn added. “The pitching is strong. There’s a lot of competition, and a lot of depth.”