FAYETTEVILLE — Injuries had the potential to wreck Arkansas’ 2023 baseball season.
Instead it seems they have strengthened the resolve of the sixth-ranked Razorbacks (29-7, 11-4 SEC), who have a 1 1/2-game lead over top-ranked LSU in the SEC West at the midway point of the conference season.
Only Vanderbilt (13-2) of the SEC East has a better conference record.
Arkansas’ pitching staff has demonstrated the depth head coach Dave Van Horn touted during the preseason, but in a way no one would have predicted — without veteran front-line pitchers Jaxon Wiggins, Koty Frank and Brady Tygart, and relying on multiple freshmen in high-stress situations during SEC weekends.
With their 7-2 victory Sunday to sweep 12th-ranked Tennessee, the Razorbacks lowered their ERA in conference-only games to 4.85. That is the fourth-lowest mark in the SEC behind Vanderbilt (4.04), South Carolina (4.43) and Kentucky (4.56).
“I think this team strives on adversity,” Arkansas pitcher Will McEntire said Saturday following a 6-3 victory over Tennessee. “We’ve been through it all year and I think we’re doing a great job handling it.”
The Tennessee series victory might have been the Razorbacks’ best yet. They limited the Volunteers to seven runs — Tennessee’s lowest in a 27-inning SEC series since 2019 — and performed well offensively despite one of their best hitters, Jared Wegner, sidelined by injury earlier in the week.
It was the latest example of Arkansas bringing its A-game in the wake of an injury to a star player.
“I feel like we’re a lot tougher than every other team,” pitcher Gage Wood said Saturday.
Every pitcher will hold his head high after the series. Starters Hunter Hollan, McEntire and Ben Bybee combined to throw 15 1/3 innings, and relievers Hagen Smith, Wood, Dylan Carter and Christian Foutch combined to allow 1 run and 3 walks, and struck out 17 in 11 2/3 innings.
Van Horn said he felt “great” about the way the Razorbacks pitched, especially because of a strong northwest wind the final two games that was at the back of hitters.
“The stadium got a little jumpy,” Van Horn said, “so realistically all weekend the ball was flying. Hat’s off to the pitching staff. They’ve done a good job. They did a great job last weekend, too.
“What went on yesterday with freshmen closing…that’s some stuff you can build off of and gives us more confidence and some options on the weekend.”
The belief in the Razorbacks’ bullpen has grown during a 7-1 stretch in SEC play that includes multiple victories over Alabama, Ole Miss and Tennessee. During that time Arkansas relievers have combined to allow 12 runs in 36 innings, with the only bad outing coming in the second game of an April 7 doubleheader at Ole Miss.
Right-hander Cody Adcock, a former Ole Miss pitcher, allowed three runs in his first inning out of the bullpen that night. A cornerstone on the weekend earlier this year, Adcock did not pitch against Tennessee and is expected to have an increased mid-week workload for the time being.
The emergence of Wood, Bybee and Foutch — all freshman right-handers — has been key to the growing trust in the bullpen. They combined to throw 7 1/3 of the final 12 innings against Tennessee.
Wood entered in a 3-2 game Saturday and pitched the final three innings to earn his third save in as many weekends. He did not allow a run until there were two outs in the final inning.
Bybee threw 3 1/3 innings Sunday — his longest outing in an SEC game — and Foutch did not allow a score after he inherited base runners at second and third with no outs in the ninth. Foutch retired the top two hitters in the Vols’ lineup to end the game.
“Hunter Hollan met with all of us freshmen after Frank went down,” Foutch said. “He told us that if we’re going to accomplish anything this season, the freshmen have to step up. Gage kind of set the path, then we all just kind of are following him.”
Coaches challenged the pitching staff to increase their output by 5% or more in the wake of the same-week injuries to Tygart (sprained UCL) and Frank (torn lat) in early March. Carter said more than a few pitchers have answered the call.
“I think the whole pitching staff stepped up,” Carter said Sunday after he threw 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. “I don’t think they’ve given 5%; I think they’ve given every single ounce of effort they can. It’s huge being able to do what we have done to this point, and soon Brady coming back [expected in late April] just adds to it. We’ve really stepped up and accepted the challenge.”
Foutch, who has not allowed a run in four SEC innings, said the play of the Razorbacks’ defense has been key to the recent run of success on the mound. Against Tennessee, Arkansas’ infielders played errorless, impactful defense for the second consecutive weekend. They were involved in four double plays and made several other sharp plays to rob the Vols of runs and potential rally starters.
The Razorbacks’ foursome of Brady Slavens at first base, Peyton Stovall at second, Caleb Cali at third and John Bolton at shortstop has exhibited good chemistry in recent games. The 15 double plays Arkansas has turned in SEC play rank second to Vanderbilt (16), and 10 have come during the past two series as Cali has taken command of playing time at the hot corner.
Arkansas’ .985 fielding percentage in conference play is third in the SEC, two points below leader Texas A&M.
“If you make the routine plays and get off the field, it sure helps your pitching staff,” Van Horn said. “It helps with the flow of the game and we’ve done a really good job with our defense.”