Arkansas pitching staff crucial against challenging schedule

FAYETTEVILLE -- The college baseball season is approaching fast and furious and it will not let up for the Arkansas Razorbacks until they are well into the season.

Dave Van Horn discussed how his team would manage 12 games in the first 17 days of the season during the program's annual media day at Baum Stadium on Jan. 27. The 12-game stretch begins with a three-game home series against Bucknell, of the Patriot League, Feb. 16-18 and finishes with another home series March 2-4 in Fayetteville against USC, of the Pac-12 conference.

Arkansas has been ranked no lower than No. 6 in the five major preseason polls so far released. Van Horn said managing the high expectations began when explaining to recruits how the Razorbacks will meet a tough non-conference schedule, as well as the usual difficulty of the Southeastern Conference.

"We talked to them about playing in the SEC, how tough the league is, how tough the western division is, playing in front of crowds and expectations in the locker room, amongst the coaches, players and the fans," Van Horn said. "Talking to them about that and trying to see how they can handle it, we might have scared a kid off here or there. Better then than now.

"I think the way we have done it is we knew we were going to be ranked pretty good. We knew people feel like we are going to have a good season, but really it is all about how we feel about ourselves. And I think the players feel really good about themselves. Just try to stay ground in practice. Take one day at a time. We tell them, 'Just get up and go to class every day. Don't change anything.'"

Van Horn's squad is boosted by the return of two All-American juniors. Starting right-handed ace Blaine Knight was drafted a year ago, but returned to school and was named a Louisville Slugger Preseason Third Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Magazine. Junior catcher Grant Koch was later named a Preseason Third Team All-American by D1Baseball.com.

Knight, Koch and their supporting cast have led to the Razorbacks receiving the rankings of No. 6 in the most recent USA Today/Coaches poll, No. 6 by Perfect Game, No. 4 by Baseball America, No. 4 by D1Baseball.com, and No. 3 by Collegiate Baseball, their highest preseason ranking since 2013.

Arkansas will face 11 opponents ranked in at least one poll and six who have been ranked in the top 10, including consensus No. 1 Florida, the defending national champion. The Razorbacks eliminated the Gators in the SEC Tournament last season before falling to Missouri State in the Fayetteville Regional.

Van Horn explained the disadvantage of the cold weather in Fayetteville, whereas ranked teams such as Florida, Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and several West Coast opponents are able to practice more outside in the preseason.

"They are probably practicing today in 70-degree weather," Van Horn said. "They get to be outside a lot. That is going to be the challenge."

"We will catch up," Van Horn added. "We just hope we can get enough wins to help ourselves out."

Arkansas will face Arizona in San Diego, Calif., in a neutral site game on Feb. 21 before three consecutive weekend games against Cal Poly, San Diego State and San Diego in the Tony Gwynn Classic.

The schedule includes a bevy of high-ranking matchups, including a midweek series against the Texas Longhorns, who have been ranked in four of the five preseason polls, on March 13-14; a midweek game against Missouri State, who earned one preseason ranking, on April 17; and a two midweek games against Texas Tech, who has been ranked in the top five of all preseason polls, on April 24-25.

"I say it all of the time, all of the other leagues really want to beat the SEC," Van Horn said. "It doesn't matter who it is. They want to make a point and we are going to get everybody's best shot.

"That is where we want to be as a program. Hopefully, we have the depth to handle it."

Van Horn said a major component of his team's success, especially early in the season, will be the effectiveness of the pitching staff. Redshirt junior Keaton McKinney, redshirt sophomore Cody Scroggins and redshirt sophomore Isaiah Campbell are all returning from long-term, early season-ending injuries a year ago.

Arkansas also returns influential right-handers Jake Reindl, junior, 2.31 ERA in 50.2 innings; Kevin Kopps, redshirt sophomore, 3.31 ERA in 49 innings; and Barrett Loseke, junior; 4.21 in 25.2 innings, junior, as well as lefties Kacey Murphy, junior, 3.65 in 49.1 innings; Matt Cronin, sophomore, 2.00 ERA in 18 innings; and Evan Lee, sophomore, 3.60 ERA in 15 innings. The staff combined for an ERA of 3.61 and a school-record 619 strikeouts.

"We will get to use a lot of guys and they get some good people," Van Horn said. "It is not like we are going to go out and play somebody that is the No. 300-ranked RPI in Division I baseball that you don't lose a lot of sleep over.

"These guys are going to have to get out good hitters and teams with some pretty good baseball reputations. We'll find out."

The loaded schedule led to a slate of 11 national broadcasts this season, including March 13 against Texas at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network (Resort Channel 79);March 16 against Kentucky at 6:30 p.m. on SECN+; March 24 at Florida 11 a.m. at on ESPN2 (Resort Channel 29); March 25 at Florida at 11 a.m. on SEC; April 8 against Auburn at 4 p.m. on SEC; April 12 against South Carolina at 6 p.m. on SEC; April 25 against Texas Tech at 6 p.m. on SEC; May 5 at LSU at 7 p.m. on SEC; May 11 against Texas A&M at 6 p.m. on SEC; May 12 against Texas A&M at 1 p.m. on ESPN2; and May 13 against Texas A&M at noon on ESPN2.

Van Horn said he expects freshmen Caleb Bolden, Bryce Bonnin, Hunter Milligan, Kole Ramage, Jackson Rutledge and Zebulon Vermillion to factor into the staff. He said multiple freshmen have been clocked at 90-95-plus on their fastballs, noting one has a slider in the upper 80s.

"That all sounds good on paper, but you've got to be able to pitch," Van Horn said. "No matter how hard you throw it, you've got to have some movement and location."

Sports on 02/05/2018

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