FAYETTEVILLE -- Just as University of Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn had hoped, the No. 5 Razorbacks' four-game set with Gonzaga last weekend gave he and pitching coach Matt Hobbs great insight into the depth of the team's pitching staff.
Not only did the Razorbacks (7-0) sweep the four-game series, they never trailed. The Razorbacks used 11 pitchers, held the Bulldogs to a .220 batting average (29 of 132) with a 2.75 ER and outscored them 30-13.
UP NEXT
ARKANSAS BASEBALL
vs. Oklahoma
WHEN 3 p.m., Friday
WHERE Minute Maid Park, Houston
RECORDS Arkansas 7-0; Oklahoma 7-2
STARTING PITCHERS Arkansas RHP Connor Noland (2-0, 1.42 ERA); Oklahoma RHP Cade Cavalli (1-1, 2.31)
INTERNET SEC Network-Plus
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
TODAY Off
WEDNESDAY Off
THURSDAY Off
FRIDAY vs. Oklahoma*, 3 p.m.
SATURDAY vs. Texas*, 7 p.m.
SUNDAY vs. Baylor*, 7 p.m.
MONDAY Off
*Shriners College Classic, Houston
"We answered a lot of questions this weekend about our bullpen and some guys coming out and doing a good job," Van Horn said after Sunday's 9-5 victory.
Kevin Kopps, Elijah Trest, Zebulon Vermillion, Marshall Denton, Caden Monde and Zack Morris all made two relief appearances in the series, and only Kopps and Morris allowed any runs.
"Our bullpen is pretty solid I'd say," said Denton, who struck out the side after inheriting two runners in the fourth inning on Sunday. "If we can just come in and pound the zone, I think we give ourselves the best chance out of anybody. We've got a lot of live arms down there, it's just a question of can we come in and fill up the zone. When we do we're very successful."
Van Horn said the pitching staff performed well in what could have been a trap game Sunday after the Razorbacks won the first three.
"You think about Trest coming in, the two days with Vermillion," Van Horn said. "Boy, his stuff was nasty today. He throws the ball mid-90s with an 87-mile an hour slider-type pitch that just kind of was falling off the table. You could even say Zack Morris' stuff was really good today."
The Razorbacks' starters were a mixed bag. Co-aces Connor Noland and Patrick Wicklander both picked up wins and lasted at least six innings, while Kole Ramage on Thursday and Caleb Bolden on Sunday did not get out of the third and fourth innings, respectively.
Ramage was charged with 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks in 2 2/3 innings of Thursday's 7-5 win. He received a no-decision, while Caden Monke was credited with the win in two innings of one-hit relief.
Bolden did not allow a run but gave up five hits in his three innings. Denton's three-strikeout fourth kept the Zags off the board after the first two batters singled off of Bolden.
Freshman Blake Adams, the Sunday starter in Arkansas' sweep of Eastern Illinois on opening weekend, allowed three earned runs while recording one out in a relief appearance Sunday against Gonzaga.
The Razorbacks will take a staff ERA of 2.14, which ranks fourth in the SEC and 28th in the country, into this weekend's appearance at the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
The right-hander Noland gave up three runs on Friday, his first earned runs allowed this season, in advance of a projected start this Friday against Oklahoma ace Cade Cavalli on the first day of the classic.
Lefty Patrick Wicklander (2-0) had the weekend's top showing for the Razorbacks, allowing 1 hit and 1 walk and striking out 7 in 6 innings of Saturday's 5-0 blanking of the Bulldogs. Wicklander is lined up to pitch the 7 p.m. game against Texas in Houston on Saturday.
Van Horn and Hobbs will have a decision to make regarding Sunday's 7 p.m. starter against Baylor.
Arkansas also turned around a trend against Gonzaga (2-6), which had won four games in a row in the series, including the last three at Baum-Walker Stadium. The four-game sweep gave the Hogs a 7-5 lead in the series.
"I think it's a real good team," Van Horn said of the Zags, who are picked to win the West Coast Conference. "They're going to go back home, regroup for a few days and they're going to fly out and play at South Alabama next weekend. And then the next weekend we play South Alabama here. We'll definitely be following them. I think they're going to win a lot of games."
Noland and Wicklander outdueled lefty Mac Lardner and preseason All-American right-hander Alek Jacob, respectively, and Van Horn is high on those two.
"Those first two starting pitchers they have are just crafty," Van Horn said. "They're good. They're not overpowering, but they're going to get them into the sixth and seventh innings and they're going to score runs with those big hitters."
Arkansas will take a .314 batting average, 17th in the nation, into Houston. The Razorbacks are tied for 22nd in the country with 8.1 runs per game, and they're tied for ninth with 1.57 home runs per game.
Sports on 02/25/2020