Tag: Brady Tygart

Diamond Hogs change starting rotation on the mound vs. LSU

Actually, this might make Arkansas’ pitching even better.

During Wednesday’s press conference previewing this weekend’s series versus No. 8 LSU, coach Dave Van Horn told the media that there will be slight shake-up in the starting rotation.

Since the beginning of the season, the starting pitchers have played in the order of Hagen Smith on game one, then Brady Tygart, and finally Mason Molina. For the LSU series, Tygart and Molina will switch places.

Van Horn wants Tygart to have an extra day “to get right” after an uncharacteristic outing from the righty. Against Auburn, Tygart had trouble finding the zone, giving up 3 earned runs and a single-game career-high 5 walks in 3 2/3 innings.

Despite the performance, Tygart still has a 1.59 ERA on the season with 39 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings pitched.

There will be no drop-off in production on Friday, though. Molina is arguably the best third-day starter in the country. Other than a slightly higher ERA, he has a similar stat line to the other starters, recording a 2.57 ERA, 12 hits, 8 walks, and 47 strikeouts in 28 innings pitched.

Arkansas’ series against the Tigers starts Thursday, March 28, at 6:00 pm.

Arkansas baseball to begin 2024 with four-game series against JMU

Sophomore ace Hagen Smith will take the ball in Friday’s season-opener against James Madison.

After suffering through dismal football and basketball seasons, Arkansas fans are hopeful that Razorback baseball team can finally shake the doldrums and return some joy to the faithful fanbase.

Ranked in the top four of all five major polls, the Diamond Hogs begin their journey on Friday, as James Madison comes to Baum Walker Stadium for the first of a four-game series to open the season.

The opener has been moved up an hour, due to inclement weather, and will begin at 2 p.m.

Head Coach Dave Van Horn has tabbed ace left-hander and consensus All-American Hagen Smith to take the hill in Game 1, making him the first Arkansas hurler to start consecutive Opening Days since Blaine Knight did it in 2017 and 2018.

Smith tossed five scoreless innings in a 3-2 win over Texas in last season’s opener in Arlington, striking out eight Longhorns. The 6-foot-3 junior Texas native is one of the top returning pitcher in the country, following a stellar 8-2 sophomore campaign, in which he had a team-best 3.64 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 71.2 innings.

After holding opposing batters to a .217 batting average and being named a semifinalist for both, the Golden Spikes and College Baseball Foundation’s National Pitcher of the Year Awards, Smith has been flooded with numerous preseason accolades.

Junior right-hander Brady Tygart, who finished 3-1 in an injury-plagued 2023, will take the ball for the Razorbacks on Saturday at 2 p.m. Junior lefty Mason Molina, a Texas Tech transfer, will make his Arkansas debut on Sunday at 1 p.m., while freshman left-hander Colin Fisher will start Monday’s finale at noon.

The Razorbacks return a solid core of veterans, while welcoming in the nation’s top freshman class, as well as some key additions from the transfer portal. The Hogs had a disappointing ending in the Fayetteville Regional after posting a 43-18 overall record a year ago and claiming their fourth SEC title. They are the only conference program, and one of just two teams in the country, to win at least 40 games in each of the last six full seasons.

Arkansas enters the season ranked No. 2 by Perfect Game, No. 3 by Baseball America and D1Baseball, and No. 4 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers and the USA TODAY Coaches polls.

Now entering his 22nd season in Fayetteville, Van Horn has never lost a season-opening home series, and has led the Razorbacks to 12 series sweeps on Opening Weekend. Van Horn’s 1,424 overall collegiate wins are the most among all active Division I head coaches. He was won 839 at Arkansas, including 333 SEC wins.

This will mark the first time that Arkansas has met James Madison on the diamond. The Dukes went 31-25 overall last season and finished 15-13 in their first season competing in the Sun Belt Conference.

All four games will be aired on the SEC Network+, and on the radio, along the Razorback Sports Network.

Dave Van Horn pleased with Diamond Hogs’ bullpen as season nears

Dave Van Horn is very confident in Arkansas’ bullpen depth and versatility entering the 2024 season.

[autotag]Arkansas baseball[/autotag] has never really had issues with the quality of their pitching under [autotag]Dave Van Horn[/autotag]. Quantity, on the other hand, has been the issue over as of late.

Entering the 2024 season, Van Horn expressed a renewed confidence in his bullpen rotation when speaking to the media last week.

The bullpen is shaping up fine, we have some really good arms,” Van Horn said. “Obviously, they have to go out and do it in a real game, but bullpens have been great.

We feel like we have a really good mix of left and right-handed pitching. The right-handed pitching is usually there, but have some options (that are) left-handed out of the pen is going to be a big-time plus for us this year.”

Last year, the bullpen was decimated by injury and struggled without the key arms of [autotag]Dylan Carter[/autotag], [autotag]Koty Frank[/autotag] and [autotag]Brady Tygart[/autotag]. This year, they will add those guys back to a stacked and pretty healthy pitching rotation.

Carter is still recovering from Tommy John surgery and freshman left-hander Hunter Dietz will miss about two months with a stress fracture, but other than that the Diamond Hogs are in good shape.

Their starting rotation of [autotag]Hagen Smith[/autotag], Brady Tygart and [autotag]Mason Molina[/autotag] could be one of the strongest in the SEC. Koty Frank, Gage Wood and Will McEntire headline an extremely strong bullpen rotation that is more than capable of holding their own and throwing different looks at opponents.

Left-handed Kansas transfer [autotag]Stone Hewlett[/autotag] was a guy that Van Horn singled out in his press conference.

“If you’re looking for a left-on-left matchup, we have Stone Hewlett, he transferred in from Kansas,” Van Horn said. “That’s what he does. He gets lefties out.”

Aside from Hewlett, Arkansas has sophomore Parker Coll and a slew of other freshman who looked very promising through the fall.

All-in-all, this year’s pitching staff has a legitimate chance to be the nation’s best. The key, as always, will be remaining healthy and avoiding an avalanche of major injuries like last year. If the [autotag]Diamond Hogs[/autotag]’ bullpen can do that, the rest of college baseball should be very afraid.

Arkansas baseball opens up their season with a four-game series against James Madison beginning on Friday, Feb. 16th at 3:00 p.m. in Baum-Walker Stadium.

Two Diamond Hogs named College Baseball Foundation All-Americans

Hagen Smith picked up his fifth All-American honor of the summer. Brady Tygart notched his first.

How good is Brady Tygart? He missed more than a month of the season and was still named an All-American.

The Arkansas right-hander was bestowed the honor Friday alongside teammate and fellow pitcher Hagen Smith by the College Baseball Foundation. Both were named second-team All-Americans.

For Smith, Arkansas’ left-handed ace, the honor marks the fifth All-America team he has made this summer. He was previously named to the teams for the American Baseball Coaches Association, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Associatino and Perfect game.

Smith had an 8-2 record with a 3.64 earned-run average with 109 strikeouts in 71 2/3 innings. He was even better in SEC play, lowering his ERA to 3.07 and logging 65 punchouts in 44 innings while opponents hit just .201 against him.

Tygart is Arkansas’ 33rd baseball All-American in program history. Not counting Freshmen All-Americans, that is. He had a 3.20 ERA in 25 1/3 innings, but pitched in just four games in relief before missing almost two months with an elbow injury. In SEC play, he had 12 strikeouts in 10 innings and opponents hit a miniscule .094 against him.

Both players are set to return to Arkansas in 2024, giving the Diamond Hogs the beginnings of one of the best pitching staffs in the country.

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Arkansas’ two best pitchers to get Team USA tryouts

Hagen Smith and Brady Tygart will get a chance to play for their home country this summer.

Hagen Smith and Brady Tygart will have a shot to play for Team USA.

Arkansas’ two best pitchers were announced as invitees to the 2023 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp on Monday.

The camp will have 56 collegiate players play a four-game intrasquad series June 25-28. From there, Team USA will be comprised of 26 of those players for a series against Chinese Taipei and Japan from June 30 to July 12.

Smith earned All-American honors for the Razorbacks after going 8-2 with a 3.64 earned-run average and 102 strikeouts in 71 2/3 innings. He was even better in SEC play, notching a 3.07 ERA with 65 strikeouts in 44 frames and limited opponents to a .201 batting average.

Tygart missed about half the season because of injury, but still had a 3-1 record with a 3.20 ERA in 25 1/3 innings and he, too, was even better in league play, registring a 1.80 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 10 innings while opponents hit just .094 against him.

Arkansas most recently had pitcher Jaxon Wiggins and former second baseman Robert Moore make the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team in 2021.

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Arkansas baseball vs. South Carolina – Game 2: How to watch, stream, listen

Arkansas looks to capture the series with No. 7 South Carolina tonight with Brady Tygart on the mound. Here’s how to watch all of the action.

The No. 3 Diamond Hogs handled business in Game 1 of their weekend season with South Carolina on Friday night, defeating the No. 7 Gamecocks 4-1.

Behind a solid outing from the Razorback bullpen and the hot bat of [autotag]Kendall Diggs[/autotag], Arkansas took sole control in the SEC standings. Tonight, they’ll have the chance to capture another conference series win.

Coming off of back-to-back sweeps against Texas A&M and Mississippi State, the Diamond Hogs are hitting their stride at the right time once again. This coincides with the team finally getting back healthy after suffering numerous key injuries across the roster.

Stud RHP [autotag]Brady Tygart[/autotag], who missed the majority of the season with a sprained UCL, will make his third start tonight since returning from injury. In his last outing, Tygart looked great in two innings of worked. He allowed no hits, no runs and struck out one batter against Mississippi State last weekend.

Here’s how fans can catch all of tonight’s action between the Hogs and Gamecocks.

Dynamite! Brady Tygart set to join Arkansas rotation Friday night against Texas A&M

Arkansas’ All-American hasn’t pitched in two months.

Brady Tygart was, perhaps, the No. 1 reason the Arkansas pitching staff was considered the best in the country in the offseason. He and Jaxon Wiggins.

But Wiggins was lost for the season before the year even began and Tygart pitched in just four games before missing basically two months with an apparent elbow injury. Arkansas’ staff has largely struggled since, despite the team being ranked No. 6 in the country.

The good news is that Tygart is set to return. Like, now.

The junior will make his first career start Friday night against Texas A&M. He hadn’t pitched since March 1. First pitch from Baum-Walker is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Tygart was an All-American last year when he struck out 51 batters in 31 2/3 innings as Arkansas’ closer. But the Razorbacks sit in the bottom quarter in the SEC in earned-run average this season, largely without Tygart, so coach Dave Van Horn is experimenting with maximizing Tygart’s innings count to give the Hogs their best chance.

Arkansas won the series opener on Thursday, 7-5.

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Column: The sky isn’t falling for Arkansas baseball after one series

Arkansas baseball struggled mightily over the weekend, but things are never as bad as they seem. Especially when Dave Van Horn is your coach.

The No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks dropped their second conference series of the season in embarrassing fashion over the weekend. They were swept by the unranked Georgia Bulldogs (23-17, 7-11) and didn’t really look like a team deserving of a No. 5 ranking.

Head coach [autotag]Dave Van Horn[/autotag]’s passionate ejection on Saturday was able to save the Diamond Hogs from a complete collapse in the ninth inning. The Razorbacks led by four heading into the bottom of the ninth, but the struggling Bulldogs were able get a grand slam and solo homer back-to-back to get the win.

Losing is always frustrating. Losing the way Arkansas did Saturday will cause even the most staunch Diamond Hog supporters to ask “what’s going on?” Some delusional Arkansas fans went a little too far with their frustrations on social media but that should be expected.

Arkansas baseball’s struggles are easy to explain right now and Dave Van Horn’s track record of righting things ahead of the postseason should offer some comfort to wavering fans.

First, Diamond Hogs have been decimated by injury this season. They lost their projected ace [autotag]Jaxon Wiggins[/autotag] before the season and the hits kept on coming after play started. Pitchers [autotag]Brady Tygart[/autotag] and [autotag]Koty Frank[/autotag] were each hurt in early March. Tygart should return soon but Frank is out for the season.

Stud outfielder [autotag]Jared Wegner[/autotag] has been out since April 11 with a fractured thumb after sliding into third base. Ahead of Thursday’s first game against the Bulldogs it was announced that starting catcher [autotag]Parker Rowland[/autotag] would not play. Van Horn confirmed later that Rowland would be out indefinitely due to back issues.

“We’re just trying to patch this thing together until we can get all our guys back,” Van Horn said about all of the injuries. “We’re just trying to win enough games to get to a regional. There’s going to be a lot of conference games played without our guys.”

Aside from Wiggins and Frank, Arkansas fans should expect Tygart, Wegner and Rowland back in the near future. That should help ease some of the struggles we saw over the weekend.

The injury issues can’t be helped by Van Horn or anyone else, and it’s disingenuous to let one series sweep negate the dominance we’ve seen from this team at times.

Arkansas fans remember the 2018 team for being one out from being crowned champions, but forget how much that team struggled in the regular season. The Diamond Hogs failed to win a single road series in conference play during that 2018 season.

Until proven otherwise, it would behoove Razorback fans to trust Dave Van Horn to make it six straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

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Tygart earns another Freshman All-American honor

Make that three All-American honors for the Razorbacks’ closer.

Arkansas right-hander [autotag]Brady Tygart[/autotag] had an amazing first season in a Razorback uniform.

He struck out 51 batters over 37 innings in 24 appearances, nailing down 8 saves for Arkansas in his freshman campaign. Those numbers were big enough for D1Baseball to take notice, as they named Tygart 2nd team Freshman All-American.

He, along with starting pitcher [autotag]Hagen Smith[/autotag] extended a streak this season by being named to the Freshman All-American team by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper early last month, which marked the sixth straight season that a first-year player has earned an All-American nod.

Tygart earned his second All-American honor during Arkansas’ stay in the College World Series, as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association included Tygart in their Freshman All-American honors.

Tygart was one of two SEC players to be named second team All-American by D1Baseball, joining Mississippi State’s Hunter Hines. Out of all pitchers named Freshman All-American, Tygart earned the most saves.

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Hagen Smith and Brady Tygart get shot with Team USA

Arkansas freshmen Hagen Smith and Brady Tygart have the stuff to play for the national team.

Hagen Smith and Brady Tygart weren’t just two of the better freshmen on the Arkansas baseball roster this season. They were two of the better freshmen in the country.

As such, Smith and Tygart have been invited to tryout for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. Twenty-six players will be selected for Team USA and will play games next summer, starting June 9, against Japan, Italy, Cuba, Netherlands and Curacao.

Smith spent most of the season as a weekend starter for the Razorbacks during his first college season. He recorded 90 strikeouts with a 4.66 earned-run average of 77 1/3 innings.

Tygart had 51 strikeouts and a 3.82 ERA in 37 2/3 innings as he spent a bulk of the year as Arkansas’ closer.

Team USA will be coached by Mike Bianco. Bianco led Ole Miss to the national championship earlier this month after the Rebels were the last team to get an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.