FAYETTEVILLE — Patrick Wicklander beat the heat and North Carolina State on Friday.
The thermometer read 90 degrees when the University of Arkansas started its super regional game against the Wolfpack, and Wicklander threw a career-high 99 pitches in six innings as the No. 1 Razorbacks won 21-2 at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Wicklander’s previous high for pitches was 96 three times — against Tennessee in 2019 and at LSU and against Florida this season.
“We knew it was going to be hot today,” said Wicklander, a junior left-hander. “But we still have to go out and pitch.”
Wicklander (7-1) pitched 6 innings and held North Carolina State to 6 hits, 1 run and 2 walks with 6 strikeouts.
“Well, he’s our best starter on the best team in the country,” said Arkansas second baseman Robert Moore, who was 4 for 5 and hit two home runs. “So whenever he doesn’t have his ‘A’ stuff, he’s still really good and he still gets us through six.
“He’s legit, he knows he’s legit and he knows everything doesn’t have to go his way to be successful.
“We trust him a lot and a majority of the time he gets us to Kevin [Kopps], which puts us in a great position to win a game.”
The Razorbacks didn’t need to use Kopps — their star reliever and the SEC pitcher of the year — on Friday.
“It feels great,” Wicklander said. “The bullpen is completely loaded for tomorrow, so we’re ready.”
Wicklander threw 65 strikes.
“He had a fastball that he commanded pretty good,” Wolfpack Coach Elliott Avent said. “He threw different velocities. He’d go from 92 to 88 [mph].
“He had two breaking balls. A true breaking ball and then kind of a cutter or slider.”
North Carolina State had six hits in the first four innings — including a home run by Jose Torres leading off the second — along with two walks, but the Wolfpack left seven runners on base.
“He made the pitches when he had to,” Avent said. “That was the difference early. Then he settled in.”
The Razorbacks led 7-1 in the fourth inning when the Wolfpack loaded the bases with two outs on singles by Luca Tresh, T.J. Garrett and Austin Murr.
Wicklander should have been out of the inning when he fielded a nubber by Murr on the right side, but first baseman Brady Slavens also went after the grounder and there was no one to cover first base.
North Carolina State couldn’t take advantage of that break to get back in the game when Wicklander got Tyler McDonough on a flyout to center fielder Brandon Webb.
“My instinct on that at-bat was to get a punch out,” Wicklander said. “I think I got him on the flyout on a fastball.
“It was just being able to make a pitch. It was huge momentum change in the game.”
McDonough came into the game batting .351 with 15 home runs and 43 runs batted in.
“I thought McDonough had a good at-bat,” Avent said. “He hit the ball really, really good. Just hit it to the wrong part of the ballpark here.”
Wicklander, who retired the Wolfpack in order in the fifth and sixth innings, left runners on second and third base with one out in second inning by getting Garrett on a shallow flyout to Webb and a groundout by Murr.
“I think when he got out of that jam, maybe his confidence jumped and he got it together and gave us three or four more innings,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “He started working ahead of some hitters and started flipping some curveballs up there and a couple of changeups.
“He got some popups, flyballs and had some quicker innings.”
Wicklander said as the game went on he got a better sense for which of his pitches were working.
“Just kind of got back to being myself,” Wicklander said. “I got some stuff figured out.”