Wicklander scheduled to make first home SEC start

Arkansas pitcher Patrick Wicklander (33) throws against Texas during an NCAA college baseball game, Tuesday, March 19, 2019, in Austin, Texas.(Nick Wagner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

— Arkansas freshman Patrick Wicklander is in line to make his first home weekend start Friday against No. 2 Mississippi State.

Wicklander (3-1, 4.25 ERA) will be matched up against Mississippi State senior right hander Peyton Plumlee (2-2, 3.35 ERA). Wicklander has a .186 opposing batting average, which is second among SEC freshmen.

Wicklander has been strong in starts but inconsistent in relief appearances this season. In seven starts against mostly midweek non-conference opponents, Wicklander has a 1.98 ERA, 39 strikeouts and 11 walks in 27 1/3 innings. All three of his wins have come in starts.

But in seven relief appearances, Wicklander has has an 11.42 ERA with 13 strikeouts and 12 walks in 8 2/3 innings. Coaches have made a concentrated effort to begin Wicklander's relief appearances at the turn of an inning instead of bringing him into a game with runners on base.

"We would have liked to have brought him in a couple of times with a left-handed hitter coming to the plate in the middle of an inning, but we didn't do it to give him an opportunity to just start an inning, make it like he was starting," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said following a March 31 loss to Ole Miss in which Wicklander recorded just one out in a relief appearance.

"He's usually pretty good at throwing the ball over the plate when he starts an inning."

Arkansas defeated Auburn 8-0 in a decisive third game on April 7 behind five shutout innings from Wicklander, who made his first SEC start. The start was crucial for the Razorbacks the day after a 15-inning game that drained the pitching staff.

"Having the good start by Wicklander was huge for us, giving us five innings," Van Horn said the following day. "We were hoping for a minimum of four and then just piece it together from there, and he gave us five pretty strong innings."

Wicklander allowed 3 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks in a 3-inning relief appearance last weekend at Vanderbilt. Van Horn indicated the night before that he was contemplating starting Wicklander in the final game of the series, but instead went with junior right hander Cody Scroggins.

Scroggins is not listed as a starter for this weekend's series. Arkansas is not naming a Game 3 starter prior to the series for the third consecutive weekend.

Arkansas junior right hander Isaiah Campbell (6-1, 2.45 ERA) is scheduled to start Thursday's series opener. The Razorbacks also will return key reliever Jacob Kostyshock, who has not thrown in a game since March 29 because of inflammation in his elbow.

"It’s big for the pitching staff," Campbell said. "Kosty is a guy that’s huge out of the bullpen. He’s a guy that can set it up to get to Matt (Cronin) or he can close a game. He’s got electric stuff and he just has a lot of confidence this year."

Connor Noland, a freshman right hander, has started in all nine of the Razorbacks' weekend series this season but will likely come out of the bullpen Saturday. Noland threw two scoreless innings and earned the win Tuesday against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.