FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas is shutting down one of its top arms for a brief time.
Redshirt junior right hander Cody Scroggins will not throw in this weekend's series against No. 2 Mississippi State or next weekend's series against No. 22 Tennessee, Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said Friday.
Scroggins, who had Tommy John surgery in 2017, began experiencing soreness in his elbow last week at Vanderbilt. Van Horn said it is not a significant injury.
"We’ve had it looked at and he’s fine," Van Horn said. "He just needs 10, maybe 14 days rest."
Scroggins has been one of Arkansas' most utilized pitchers this season with 10 appearances and seven weekend starts. He has a 2-0 record and a 4.54 ERA in 33 2/3 innings.
Scroggins' injury comes the same week Arkansas returned Jacob Kostyshock to the active roster. Kostyshock, a junior right hander who has a team-low 1.96 ERA, has not pitched since March 29 because of inflammation in his throwing elbow.
Kostyshock is available this weekend but has not thrown in the first two games of the series against the Bulldogs. Arkansas and Mississippi State are scheduled to play their series finale Saturday.
The No. 10 Razorbacks are scheduled to play five games next week, including two midweek games against Northwestern State. Like the past few weeks without Kostyshock, next week's schedule - coupled with Scroggins' injury - will test the team's pitching depth.
"We're trying to get through this period where we got Kostyshock back and losing Scroggins for a couple of weeks," Van Horn said. "We've got to get to where we can rest him a little bit. We've got to keep pushing through. Somebody’s got to pick us up."
Freshman right hander Connor Noland will likely start Saturday's game against Mississippi State, Van Horn said. Noland (1-2, 5.60 ERA) has started every weekend this season but his starter status this week was up in the air after a rough start at Vanderbilt in which he did not record any outs.
Noland threw two scoreless innings earlier this week against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and was credited with the win at the discretion of the official scorekeeper.