Hogs eye bounce back performance at Memphis
FAYETTEVILLE — Isaiah Campbell’s pitching problems in a
17-2 loss at Florida last Saturday have extenuating circumstances preventing him from pitching in the Thursday through Saturday Southeastern Conference series against the Ole Miss Rebels.
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn, whose No. 6 Razorbacks (177) play the Memphis Tigers (8-17) at 6:30 p.m. at Auto Zone Park in Memphis, announced Monday that Campbell has inflammation in his right elbow and apparently will not travel to Oxford, Miss., where the Razorbacks play the No. 4 Rebels at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, 6:30 p.m. Friday and 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Ideally, Van Horn would move third-game SEC starter Kacey Murphy into Campbell’s game two SEC slot, but with Murphy having started Sunday’s finale in Gainesville, Murphy will start Saturday’s game against Ole Miss, Van Horn said.
Van Horn said sophomore lefty Evan Lee and freshmen righthanders Bryce Bonnin and Jackson Rutledge are possible Friday night starting options in Oxford after his ace, junior right-hander Blaine Knight, opens the series Thursday night.
Knight is 2-0 in the SEC, winning starts over Kentucky and Florida.
Regarding Campbell, who missed last season with injuries and had pitched eight innings to beat then fourth-ranked SEC Kentucky the Saturday before getting knocked out in two innings at Florida, Van Horn said, “He’s got a little inflammation on his elbow. We had him looked at today. So we’re going to give him one week off, let him rest a little bit, just doing the normal meds type things.”
Van Horn was asked if he had been aware of Campbell fighting any arm issues before his Florida start.
“Didn’t know he was having any issues at all until the next day,” Van Horn said. “His elbow is just bugging him a little bit. So we had it looked at, precautionary, so we’re going to give him a week off.”
Van Horn said he believes Campbell’s absence will be short term.
“That’s what everything points to,” Van Horn said. “He’s just got some irritation in there, and it happens with pitchers. Sometimes it’s just the way body works, so we’ll give him some time to heal up. Some other guys have to step it up.”
Van Horn said he will use tonight’s game in Memphis, with no TV but broadcast on the Razorbacks’ radio network, as an opportunity to jump start junior right-hander Jake Reindl.
Projected to be the closer in the preseason, Reindl, 1-1 with one save, has struggles with a 5.23 earned run average in relief and will look to redirect his momentum from the start.
“We’ve got to get him going,” Van Horn said. “He’s a guy that was really big for us out of the pen last year. He’s gotten off to a slow start. I figure we’ll just give him a few innings, see how he does.”
Could Reindl still pitch relief against Ole Miss? “Three or four innings (at Memphis) and he would be ready go again if necessary Saturday,” Van Horn said. “It’s a quick week for us. Ole Miss has a little bit of an advantage. Their conference series last week was Thursday, Friday, Saturday. It’s just the way it goes. You’ve just got to play it.”
Left-hander Danny Denz (1-1), 3.24 ERA, is expected to start for the Tigers tonight for veteran coach Daron Schoenrock.
Tyler Webb, .316, is the lone .300 hitter for a Memphis team swept by the Houston Cougars to start Conference USA play last weekend.
“They haven’t been scoring a lot of runs, but they’ve been pitching well,” Van Horn said. “They came off a tough weekend at the University of Houston. I’ve watched them some on video, and we played them last year, and we played them in the past. We know some of their older players.
“They are like us. They need a win on a Tuesday to get some momentum going into the weekend.”
Other than possibly catcher Grant Koch, Van Horn said he does not plan on resting regulars tonight as the Razorbacks try and rebound from two losses at Florida.