FAYETTEVILLE -- Nine days out from the Arkansas Razorbacks' season opener against Eastern Illinois, Coach Dave Van Horn said he'll probably call on right-hander Connor Noland to start the opener Feb. 14 and employ freshman righty Blake Adams from Springdale as his third starter against the Panthers.
Van Horn made the comments after the first Swatter's Club luncheon of the season at the Hilton Garden Inn on Wednesday. The University of Arkansas has gone through six spring scrimmages.
The Razorbacks will open the season at No. 5 in the USA Today Coaches poll with five regular starters back in the field, plus weekend starters Noland and lefty Patrick Wicklander and a plethora of veteran arms.
Noland (3-5, 4.02 ERA) and Wicklander (6-2, 4.32) combined for 34 starts last season behind ace Isaiah Campbell (12-1, 2.13), a second-round draft pick by the Seattle Mariners. Now the duo will comprise the Razorbacks' top weekend arms.
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Noland, of Greenwood, will start a scrimmage Friday against a loaded lineup, Van Horn said.
"And that same team, Wicklander will have to navigate his way through that offense on Saturday," he added.
Noland's fastball has touched 93 mph at times this spring, and he showed good breaking pitches as a freshman.
"Connor's a strike thrower, and he's got really good off-speed pitches and his velocity is up," Van Horn said. "I mean, he's throwing the ball 91-92 right now, all the time. Last year at this time, he was 88 to 91. And then it faded a little bit towards the end of the season. I don't think he's gonna fade this year. I think he's gonna get stronger when it warms up."
Noland said he's added about 8 pounds since last season to reach 220, and he's feeling good heading into the season.
"I feel like I'm a ton better pitcher," he said. "But I have to prove it on the field. I feel like I've got stuff to prove. Last year didn't go as well as I would have wished."
Wicklander has worked on secondary pitches and on throwing more strikes.
"I feel like I added velo[city], but overall I added a curveball," Wicklander said. "Just overall, everything's been refined, tuned up."
Said Van Horn: "Wicklander, last year, the only issue he had was he walked too many people. I think his record was like 6-2, something like that. But I can't tell you how many games we took him out in the fourth inning with two outs with a 4-1 lead, but he had just walked two and their best hitter's up and we had to go to a right-hander.
"He left some wins on the table. If he throws strikes, he's going to be one of the top lefties in the country."
Van Horn said Wicklander's breaking pitch is sharper with more downward action this year.
Adams threw three solid innings after a rough first inning Sunday.
"He was kind of told before that scrimmage, 'Go out and have a good outing to solidify some things,' " Van Horn said. "We did that just to kind of put a little pressure on him and see how he could handle it."
Van Horn said Adams has been consistent in the spring, and his fastball has been in the mid-90s.
"I've hit a couple of 95s," Adams said on media day last week. "I'm ready to fill any role they need me to fill.
"I've been a starter my whole life, so I'm used to that. But in the fall, I got a lot of experience coming out of the bullpen. I feel really comfortable with both."
Veteran pitchers such as Kevin Kopps, Kole Ramage and Caleb Bolden will be available for relief duty the first weekend, then some combination of the starters will help wrap up a four-game set against Gonzaga on Feb. 20-23 before midweek games start in earnest March 3 against Illinois State.
Sports on 02/06/2020