Wicklander makes it tough, but gets first win

Arkansas pitcher Patrick Wicklander throws during a game against Charlotte on Wednesday, March 6, 2019, in Fayetteville.

— Walking the leadoff hitter is one of the surest ways to give up a run in baseball.

Arkansas left-hander Patrick Wicklander did it three times Wednesday at Baum-Walker Stadium, but remarkably, the freshman did not allow a run in the No. 10 Razorbacks' 9-2 victory over Charlotte.

"It wasn't something I planned on doing, but you've just got to overcome what happens," Wicklander said. "I put myself in it, so I have to get myself out."

Wicklander's early struggles were because of an off-speed pitch that he was having difficulty locating on a sunny, but cool day. He worked through it and earned his first win with an overall impressive five-inning outing in which he worked around a first-inning single and the walks to lead off the first three innings.

He struck out a career-high eight batters and threw 76 pitches, including 46 for strikes.

"He's got a chance to be a weekend guy," Charlotte coach Loren Hibbs said. "I know they've got a lot of good arms, but he's an athletic kid and he's got good stuff. I would guess that was almost an audition maybe for a weekend starting position. When you've got a quality left hander like that in any league, whether it's the SEC or Conference USA or whatever, you're going to have a chance to win."

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn isn't penciling Wicklander in as a weekend starter just yet. Isaiah Campbell, Connor Noland and Cody Scroggins will start on the mound this weekend against Louisiana Tech, but there has been talk of putting Wicklander in the rotation later in the year.

"I like what I see from him," Van Horn said. "He’s a guy who could pitch for us every Tuesday or Wednesday and if he keeps pitching well, maybe we flip him to the weekend to keep some of our older guys in the bullpen."

Wednesday was Wicklander's team-leading sixth appearance this season. He has been used out of the bullpen in all three of the Razorbacks' weekend series, but has also been the starter in both of the team's midweek games.

For the most part his outings have been quality. His ERA is 3.38 in 13 1/3 innings. He has struck out 21 batters, walked eight and allowed eight hits.

"He’s been through a lot already but we keep putting him out there because he’s a good pitcher and we need him and he can handle it," Van Horn said. "I guess what I think about him is I feel like he’s going to be a big part of the pitching staff and we’re trying to get him some experience. He’s getting it and he’s shown, 'Hey, I walked the leadoff man. I can get out of it.' He did it three innings in a row. That’s a good sign."

Wicklander's strong start came in a tight game. The Razorbacks were ahead just 1-0 when he threw his final pitch, a 1-2 swinging strikeout from pinch-hitter Patrick Wheeler to end the top of the fifth inning.

Christian Franklin hit an RBI double in the bottom of the inning to put Arkansas ahead 2-0 and Van Horn turned the game over to his bullpen.

"We almost let (Wicklander) go back out for the sixth," Van Horn said. "The more we talked about it, the most we just felt like let’s get him out of there."

Kole Ramage and Kevin Kopps each had perfect innings in relief. The Razorbacks put the game away with a five-run sixth in which Trevor Ezell hit a solo home run, Jacob Nesbit hit an RBI single and Franklin scored two with a triple. Franklin also scored on a balk by Charlotte reliever Colby Bruce.

Franklin, who finished 3-for-4 and a home run shy of the cycle, had 3 RBI to increase his team-leading total to 15.

"He’s gotten a lot of big hits for us," Van Horn said. "That’s why his RBI production is up."

The 49ers (6-6) did not record a second hit until Jacob Burton allowed one in the eighth inning. Charlotte broke up the shutout by scoring twice off freshman right-hander Carter Sells in the ninth. Sells was pitching for the first time as a Razorback.

Arkansas avenged a 6-3 loss to the 49ers a year ago in Charlotte, N.C. The teams were scheduled to play Tuesday but the game was canceled because of cold weather.

"Arkansas was better than we were," Hibbs said. "They've got a really good team, really good club. We played decent the first four, five innings but they've got an athletic group, they're well coached and they just played a lot better than we did today."