Hogs’ co-aces find ‘even keel’ as regional beckons
FAYETTEVILLE - When both pitch well and are well-rested, it hasn’t mattered which order that the Arkansas Razorbacks started Blaine Knight and Trevor Stephan for the first two games of a Southeastern Conference series.
It certainly shouldn’t matter now for the four-team double-elimination Fayetteville Regional Arkansas hosts at Baum Stadium, Knight asserts.
Junior right-hander Stephan, 8-4 with a 3.12 ERA, opens the tournament for top-seed Arkansas at 7 p.m. Friday pitching against the fourth-seeded Oral Roberts University Golden Eagles.
Saturday, against either Missouri State or Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. or 7 p.m., sophomore right-hander Knight (8-4, 3.08) will start for the Razorbacks.
Both pitched well last week in their last starts at the SEC tournament in Hoover, Ala., and in their last SEC regular-season starts at Texas A&M.
“I don’t care as long as I pitch and help us win,” Knight said of recently following Stephen in the rotation rather than pitching ahead. “That’s all I care about. They bumped me back (at Texas A&M and actually to the third game at the SEC tournament) to rest and everything else because I was getting a little tired. But it is what it is.”
And what it is doesn’t matter to either’s ego, Knight said.
“I don’t feel like there is any one that you would call ‘Ace,” Knight said.
Not unless you called them both “Ace,” it seems.
“Me and Trevor are pretty even keel across the board,” Knight said. “Yeah, we compete with each other but I am happy for him when he’s pitching and he’s happy for me that I am pitching. As long as we are both successful that’s all we care about.”
And they do feel successful and feel their 42-17 team is, too, coming off a runner-up SEC tournament finish after an 18-11 regular SEC season. Arkansas is one of 16 teams hosting regionals that start the process of winnowing 16 teams to best-of-three Super Regionals and ultimately the Elite Eight playing for the national championship at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
“It’s the right time,” Knight said of he and Stephan hitting mutual stride. “I ran into a couple of rough weekends and I had to work my way out of it and keep grinding through it. I am on the upper end of it now. I’m happy. I know Trevor struggled for a little bit earlier on and now he’s on a roll, too. So it’s really good to have us back shooting straight again.”
They got a boost in Hoover when sophomore left-hander Kacey Murphy shut out SEC East champion Florida and some good innings from senior Dominic Taccolini, also a potential third-game starter if not used in relief Friday or Saturday.
“I’ve known Kacey a long time,” Knight said. “And that’s the way I’ve always known Kacey to pitch long as I’ve known him. So I was really happy he did as well as he did against Florida. Coming into that game we knew that when he was toeing the rubber he’s going to give us everything he had and he was really good that day and beat a really, really good team.”
The emergence of starter/relievers Murphy and Taccolini and the recent bullpen brigade bounty reaped by right-handers Jake Reindl. Kevin Kopps and Josh Alberius and left-hander Matt Cronin ease their burdens, Knight said of himself and Stephan.
“Well, it makes us breathe a little easier, that’s for sure,” Knight said. “Doesn’t put as much stress for us to have to do more than we’re capable in the first couple of games that we pitch. And if those guys don’t start they come out of the pen or whatever they do, we have full confidence they are going to come in and pick us up once we leave. I hope they keep doing what they’re doing. They’ve made a really big jump.”
That Arkansas’ hitters supported his recent 8-0 and 9-2 victories at Texas A&M and over Mississippi State at the SEC Tournament helps, too.
“It makes my job easier, that’s for sure,” Knight said. “I mean it’s not a lot of fun to go out there if you have a 1-run lead or everything is tied up. It’s a lot of pressure on you because if you mess up it’s SEC and you mess up on one pitch it can leave the yard and they’ve got the lead in a hurry. So to be able to have the run support they are putting up makes my job easier and Trevor’s job easier and all the pitchers’ jobs a lot easier. We can relax and just fill up the zone.”
And watch Arkansas first baseman Chad Spanberger fill the stat
sheet like his five home runs and three doubles at the SEC tournament, of which he was named MVP.
How would Knight pitch to Spanberger?
“I wouldn’t,” Knight said laughing. “We had a one-on-one thing in the fall where you’d go one pitcher vs. one hitter. No infield or nothing. I didn’t want to throw it to him then and he wasn’t as hot as he is right now. I threw it to him and hit one out on me. So I don’t know how you pitch to him to be honest with you. He’s a threat in the box, that’s for sure.”
However Knight knows he’ll be facing major threats Saturday whether it’s Missouri State third baseman Jake Burger, .341, 22 home runs, 67 RBI, or Oklahoma State leading hitter Garrett McClain, .334.
“We play either Oklahoma State or Missouri State on Saturday and I have seen both of them play this year,” Knight said, Arkansas lost to Oklahoma State at the Frisco (Texas) Classic and beat Missouri State in Springfield. “I know they are good teams and I know Oral Roberts (is) always a good team. Look at their record (42-14) and from however long they’ve been going into postseason and stuff. But I know Trevor will do well against those guys. We are really confident going into against these teams.”
Knight said he will do his best to keep “an even keel” and “not get jittery” trying to do too much before the home folk.
But growing up an Arkie in Bryant and wanting to be a Razorback all his life, he says this is special for the Hogs to host, especially since last year’s 26-29 (7-23 SEC) Razorbacks didn’t even qualify for the SEC tournament.
“We are all pumped,” Knight said. “It beats the heck out of last year when we weren’t playing anymore as of last week. So to be able to keep playing and do it in front of our home crowd is going to be a fun experience. I’m overall looking forward to it.”