FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas third-year left hander Patrick Wicklander will make his first start of the season Tuesday for the Razorbacks’ home game against Oklahoma.
Wicklander, who was a weekend starter as a freshman and sophomore, has pitched out of the bullpen this season. He has pitched 7 1/3 innings over 3 appearances and allowed 3 runs on 11 hits and 1 walk. Wicklander has struck out seven.
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said he wants to see Wicklander “pitch like I know he can” against the Sooners.
“He’s been there, he’s done that,” Van Horn said. “He hasn’t had an opportunity to start yet. We want to see what he can do.”
Wicklander will be pitching for the second time in five days. He allowed 3 runs on 6 hits in a 1 1/3-inning relief outing against Louisiana Tech last Friday. Van Horn said coaches haven’t set a pitch limit for Wicklander.
“We want to get him going a little bit,” Van Horn said. “He actually threw pretty well against Louisiana Tech, but he just gave up a lot of singles.
“He was excited about having the opportunity to start. He hasn’t started this year and he’s used to being a starter. I wanted to tell him early and let him think about it, kind of like it used to be for him, so to speak.”
Wicklander has never pitched in a game against Oklahoma, but has faced some of the Sooners’ hitters. He allowed 1 run on 1 hit and 1 walk in 2 innings during an exhibition game in Fayetteville in September 2019.
Oklahoma (8-7) will throw third-year sophomore left hander Braden Carmichael (2-0, 3.27 ERA) at Arkansas. Carmichael has pitched three times this season, including twice against Texas-Arlington.
Carmichael threw four innings in both of his outings against Texas-Arlington, and allowed one run combined. He struggled in a start against Arizona at the Frisco Classic on March 4 when he allowed 3 earned runs on 5 hits and 2 walks in 3 innings.
Arkansas (12-1) will be playing a midweek game for the first time this season. Van Horn said he plans to start most of his every-day position players to get them ready for the first SEC series against Alabama this weekend at Baum-Walker Stadium.
The Sooners defeated Arkansas State 12-6 on Monday to win a three-game series in Norman, Okla. The teams split a doubleheader Sunday, with Arkansas State winning 15-14 in the first game before the Sooners won 9-1 in the nightcap.
Tuesday’s game will be Oklahoma’s first true road game of the season. The game is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. on SEC Network.