New Nasty goes large for Hogs

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas Razorbacks pitching coach Wes Johnson likes to hand out nicknames, and he’s pulled out a blast from the past for Jackson Rutledge, a freshman righthander, who stands 6-8 and weighs 260 pounds.

“Somebody said, ‘What are you going to nickname Rutledge?’ ” Johnson said. “He’s so big, and he’s got nasty stuff, so he’s Big Nasty Junior. That’s in honor of Corliss, of course.”

Corliss Williamson, a 6-7 power forward, helped lead the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville men’s basketball team to the 1994 national championship and had a lengthy NBA career. Rutledge is from St. Louis and he was born in 1999 — four years after Williamson’s last season with the Razorbacks.

“We had to educate Jackson about Corliss,” Johnson said. “But now he knows.”

Rutledge said he did some research on Williamson and came away impressed by his accomplishments.

“Now I know about Corliss Williamson,” Rutledge said. “So that’s a pretty good guy to be nicknamed after.”

Rutledge’s fastball has hit 95 mph, and Johnson said he’s consistently in the 92-93 range.

“You get a kid that big out of high school, a lot of times they’re uncoordinated, they haven’t grown into their body yet, they don’t know how to handle it,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “He’s pretty good, and he can throw that curveball for a strike just about any time he wants.

“The fastball, let’s just put it this way. He’ll throw three perfect strikes and then he loses one. Guys don’t like hitting off him because it’s coming in hard and heavy.

“Right-handers, that ball chases them a little bit. They’re bailing a little bit. So there’s just a little bit of fear in there with him. He’s a guy who could be a starter and he could close games for us.”

Catcher Grant Koch said he’s impressed with Rutledge.

“He’s tough, has a lot of movement on his pitches, good sink,” Koch said. “He locates well. He’s a good dude for us.”

“Mentally, I’m just as confident as I can be, Rutledge said. “I try, with my size, to intimidate people a little bit. I’m not afraid to go up and in.”