The Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team has won 7 of its first 10 games, but you’d hardly know it by monitoring the levels of concern on Hog Twitter. Only one of the seven wins has been a true laugher (a 15-3 win over Omaha on Wednesday), and the losses have been marred by a dormant offense. The 2021 Hogs used gorilla ball and Kevin Kopps to ride to a 50-win season and near wire-to-wire #1 ranking. That squad pounded 109 homers to lead the SEC, outscoring their opponents by more than 3.5 runs per game.
The 2022 squad has a long way to go to reach those heights. Through 10 games the Sooieville Sluggers have only 8 home runs and are averaging just 5.5 runs/game – about 2 runs/game fewer than last season.
Yet they’ve scraped and clawed their way to those seven wins thanks to a deep and talented pitching staff. Pitching coach Matt Hobbs and longtime skipper Dave Van Horn pushed a “next man up” mentality amongst the men of the bullpen after projected ace Peyton Pallette went down preseason with Tommy John surgery. The group has clearly embraced the challenge.
Several performances jumped off the page over the weekend, but we’d be remiss if we failed to acknowledge the work put in by senior Connor Noland. He took the loss in a weird game on Friday, a result he earned but just barely. Noland has looked brilliant at times, and his steady presence at the top of the rotation gives Arkansas a chance each weekend. The loss to Southeastern Louisiana not withstanding, Noland’s control has set the tone. He throws strikes, strands runners, and looks like a Friday night guy. Hats off to the Greenwood product who has remade himself on the mound and looks ready to fulfill the lofty expectations laid out for him as a freshman.