FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will start three right-handed pitchers this weekend in its season-opening series against Eastern Illinois, and two will be making their first collegiate start.
Junior Jacob Kostyshock was added to the weekend rotation Wednesday after Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn named redshirt junior Isaiah Campbell and freshman Connor Noland starters earlier in the week. Kostyshock is scheduled to start Sunday's game that is set to begin at 1 p.m.
Kostyshock, who is from O'Fallon, Mo., near St. Louis, has never made a start in his career and has been primarily used as a weekend reliever. In nine appearances last season he had a team-worst 6.43 ERA in 14 innings, but he didn't pitch after a late-April game against Alabama.
Kostyshock's stock began to rise with a strong summer performance last year in the Northwoods League. Pitching in Fond Du Lac, Wis., Kostyshock lowered his ERA to 4.40 and had 21 strikeouts in 30 2/3 innings. Perfect Game ranked him the No. 2 prospect in the Northwoods League.
His fastball velocity jumped to 91-94 mph and he began having more success with his off-speed pitches, primarily his slider. He has gained around 10 pounds since last season and now weighs 180.
"He’s a guy that everybody’s waiting on and you might read about him a little bit because he’s got a great arm," Van Horn said of Kostyshock on Monday at the Swatter's Club luncheon. "He’s starting to put it all together."
Kostyshock was up and down in the fall. He threw nine of 14 pitches for strikes during an exhibition game against Wichita State, then struggled a little by allowing a walk and a home run in an exhibition at UALR. In the final team scrimmage of the fall, he allowed seven runs and walked four in 2 2/3 innings.
"He’s got to go out and win a (starting) job," former Arkansas pitching coach Wes Johnson said last September, "but that’s what we want him to do."
Arkansas coaches had seen improvement from Kostyshock - especially the fastball - over the back half of last season when he was used in simulated scrimmages on the team's off days. Those scrimmages are used to get work for pitchers who didn't throw any or much on the weekend, but also to give hitters a look at pitches they might be struggling with in games.
“Honestly, my focus when it came to those was getting guys out in a dominant way,” Kostyshock said last September. “I knew they were trying to get better, but obviously I wanted to progress myself. I thought if I came out with my best stuff it would prepare them to see another guy’s best stuff. It was kind of like, ‘I’m trying to get better, but I’ll help you out along the way.’”
Kostyshock was one of four pitchers Van Horn said Monday he was considering for the third weekend starter. Others were sophomore right-hander Kole Ramage, redshirt junior right-hander Cody Scroggins and freshman left-hander Patrick Wicklander.
"They've all been throwing pretty well, so what you see this weekend might be different against USC (on Feb. 21-23)," Van Horn said. "I just want to make sure we have a deep, strong bullpen. That's a big concern. We have the guys, but it's just a matter of if we want to take one of those guys out and start them."