Diamond Hogs shake up pitching rotation ahead of first SEC series

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Diamond Hogs shake up pitching rotation ahead of first SEC series

Andrew Ellis

3–4 minutes

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For the first time this season, the No. 7 Arkansas Razorbacks are switching up their starting pitching rotation for the weekend. As the Hogs begin SEC play against the Auburn Tigers, Hunter Hollan will start Game 1, Will McEntire will start Game 2, and the starter for the series finale is still to be determined.

Sophomore left-hander Hagen Smith has served as the No. 1 starter for the Razorbacks during the first four weeks, posting a 1.40 ERA in 19.1 innings with 28 strikeouts and 14 walks. Smith also spent most of his freshman season as a weekend starter before providing valuable relief innings in the Hogs' run to the College World Series Semifinals.

In his press conference Thursday afternoon, Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn clarified that Smith's absence from the weekend rotation is not due to injury and that Smith is prepared to pitch in whatever context he's needed in the series with the Tigers.

"Wild card, closer, long reliever, finisher - however you want to say it," Van Horn said. "Good pitcher in the bullpen. His numbers are great. He knows how to do it. He just wants to help the team win in any role, and I appreciate that. When you have some things happen with arms, sometimes you’ve got to make some changes, and we just felt like that might be something we needed to do this weekend.

The Razorbacks have dealt with plenty of adversity with their pitching staff in 2023. After Jaxon Wiggins underwent Tommy John surgery to repair a torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) prior to the season opener, Koty Frank suffered a season-ending injury to his lat, and star closer Brady Tygart remains sidelined for the time being with a UCL injury.

While the bullpen has struggled at times to piece things together in their absence, Hollan has been a consistent bright spot as a starter for the Hogs. The junior left-hander has a 2.18 ERA in 20.2 innings this season, along with 21 strikeouts to just six walks. Van Horn believes the San Jacinto transfer will have no problem handling the Friday night assignment after pitching on Sunday the last four weeks.

"He actually likes pitching on shorter rest, he’s told us that many a time, so I feel fine about it," Van Horn said. "If you go back to Sunday, he had at least 25 more pitches in there, and we took him out at about 70."

Van Horn is keeping his options open regarding the Game 3 starter and believes the Hogs have plenty of capable candidates.

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"With this staff right now, it’s going to be matchup and best available," Van Horn said. "I mean, if we haven’t used Hagen or just used him a little, that’s a possibility. I mean, we could use Dylan Carter, we could use (Austin) Ledbetter, we could use Zack Morris. I mean, that’s just to name a few."

The No. 7 Razorbacks will begin their series with the Tigers inside Baum-Walker Stadium on Friday night. First pitch has been moved up to 4 p.m. (CT) due to forecasted cold weather, and the game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.

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