Van Horn tweaks pitching rotation for Vandy series

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn will start his second ace first in the baseball Razorbacks’ final Southeastern Conference three-game series at Baum Stadium.

Trevor Stephan, 5-3 with a 3.14 earnedrun average, will start Friday’s 6 p.m SEC Network-televised game for the Razorbacks (35-13, 14-9) against Vanderbilt (29-18, 12-11).

Blaine Knight (6-3, 3.36) is pushed back to Saturday’s 6 p.m. game, with the Razorbacks’ starter for Sunday’s 1 p.m. game yet to be announced, Van Horn said before practice Wednesday at Baum Stadium.

Knight pitched into the second inning of the May 4 series opener at Tennessee before a rain-caused suspension to Saturday morning, Knight working into the fifth inning of an eventual 5-4 Razorback loss charged to reliever Jake Reindl.

In Saturday’s second game, limited to seven innings, Stephan salvaged a series split with a one-hit complete game and 2-0 win.

“Blaine threw Thursday and Saturday,” Van Horn said. “Just threw two different times and it’s a little stressful. No reason to bring him back on short rest. Stephan threw Saturday as well, but he got hot and got it done in a couple of hours so we feel like that might be the best move, at least this weekend.”

Obviously Van Horn trusts both as they are his only pitchers starting every SEC series. And Stephan certainly is hot, honored as pitcher of the week by the SEC and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

“I have a lot of confidence in him and

I think he’s got his confidence back,” Van

Horn said.

Van Horn, second baseman Carson Shaddy, and pitching coach Wes Johnson said Stephan seemed energized by a struggling SEC start against Ole Miss, when tagged for four first-inning runs but hanging in to throw six complete innings of a 4-1 loss and save the bullpen to win the final game of that three-game series at Baum Stadium.

“That was his turning point,” Shaddy said. “I think he was fed up with getting hit around and he took it to them. It was big for us.”

Big for Stephan and big for Arkansas, Van Horn said.

“After the Ole Miss game, he actually thanked coach Johnson for leaving him in and having confidence in him,” Van Horn said. “He went out and pitched really well; we just didn’t score enough runs. He threw really well at Tennessee and we feel like he’s got it going again.”

So one series after taking one for the team against Ole Miss. Stephan earns SEC and national honors for 1-hitting Ole Miss.

“It’s pretty sweet,” Stephan said. “There are a bunch of good pitchers in this league, so that’s why it’s special to me.”

Throwing a 1-hit shutout over a SEC team is especially special to Stephan. The junior college transfer right-hander said it’s no coincidence his hot start cooled for awhile as the Razorbacks’ weekends morphed from nonconference to SEC.

“The competition got harder and my mistakes were getting hit.” Stephan said. “I just had to learn how to pitch a little bit better and make better pitches. Just kind of commanding my fast ball better. And having the off speed working really is my biggest difference.”

What are the specific differences in SEC hitters to the other league’s hitters he’s faced?

“They’ll make you pay for your mistakes,” Stephan said. “They take better takes. They don’t really chase anything. They are just more patient.”

Another first-year SEC Razorback, freshman center fielder Dominic Fletcher, says the SEC pitchers generally come better armed than those from other leagues.

“The SEC pitchers are a lot better, plus they have the advanced scouting reports from their team,” Fletcher said Wednesday. “It really gets tough once you get into SEC play. It’s a big change from out of conference.”

Specifically how?

“Sharper breaking balls, throwing harder,” Fletcher said. “Just everything that you can think of, they’re better than other conferences.”

Fletcher showed his SEC best against Tennessee, too, homering in both games.

With only Reindl, one-third of an inning, and Kevin Kopps, 2 2-3 innings, used in relief at Tennessee, Arkansas should have its freshest bullpen this weekend since the SEC campaign began, Van Horn said.

It’s also a bullpen about to add an arm. Senior right-hander Dominic Taccolini, out the last three SEC series with forearm soreness, threw a bullpen-session ring in Wednesday’s practice and seems likely to be activated Friday for this weekend’s SEC roster.