Race to Two Strikes: Razorback Pitching Staff Eliminates Walk
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas pitchers carried the load through 11 games, but beyond that, they've been simply dominant. A double-digit strikeout day for the entire pitching staff is considered light work. Hagen Smith, Brady Tygart and Mason Molina all had 10+ strikeouts in 17 innings of work.
The most impressive stat is the lack of walks across the entire staff, every pitcher has more strikeouts than walks. Fourteen have combined for just 29 walks across 99 1/3 innings, a staff-wide average of 2.6 walks per nine. Molina and Tygart are tied for the team lead with a paltry five walks allowed. The pitching staff has taken it upon itself to finish hitters as quickly as possible.
"Our pitching staff has this thing going on where it’s a race to two strikes," Will McEntire said. "You’re just trying to get to two strikes because good things happen when you are ahead."
Of the 50 strikeouts that Hogs' pitching racked up in the three games against Murray State, 29 finished in four pitches or less. A high amount of strikeouts is usually associated with a high pitch count just because it takes a while to finish off a hitter, but the Razorbacks have managed to get the best of both worlds.
Smith has worked six innings in his last two starts, throwing 78 and 81 pitches. Molina finished his five innings of work against Murray State on 77 pitches. McEntire finished 32/3 innings of work in just 43 pitches with 37 strikes. All are either well below or right around the 15-pitch per inning mark, generally regarded as an efficient inning.
It wasn't always like this. Smith had a massive walk issue last year that hampered his ability to get deep into games. Other than the one-inning outing against James Madison which took 42 pitches, Smith has walked two batters in his other 12 innings of work, nowhere near the 5.3 walks per nine innings that plagued him last year.
Molina had a similar issue with 3.8 walks per nine across 831/3 innings. Molina also had a walk issue over the fall and the spring, allowing nearly a walk per inning in 142/3 innings pitched.
But with the Razorbacks specifically emphasizing count leverage and avoiding the free pass, they've gotten their act together just in time for the season. They all have good pitches and if hitters don't swing at something good early in the count, won't be up there for long.
"We’ve had really good pitching staffs over the past two years that I’ve been here and this is a whole other animal," Tygart said. "We just have guy after guy either at 95 who locates everything or has four-pitch mixes. It’s just incredibly deep."
The Razorbacks welcome Central Arkansas to Baum-Walker Stadium Tuesday 3 p.m. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+.
HOG FEED:
• Don't expect any answers from Sam Pittman anytime soon
• Another double-digit strikeout performance from Razorback starter sweeps Murray State
• Effort is back for Razorbacks against Kentucky
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