Dave Van Horn reveals Arkansas' pitching rotation for Mississippi State weekend

The Arkansas Razorbacks are looking to bounce back from a series loss when they take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs. To do that, Dave Van Horn knows he’s going to need a strong effort out of his starting pitching.

As he revealed ahead of the weekend series, the Razorbacks are going to be sticking with the same pitching rotation this weekend.

“After yesterday’s workout, we’re gonna stick to the same rotation,” Dave Van Horn said.

The Arkansas rotation saw Hagen Smith start on Friday night last week at Kentucky. That was the one game Arkansas won during the series, and he went six innings while only allowing a single run. After Smith, Brady Tygart went on Saturday and was only able to pitch three innings. On Sunday, Dave Van Horn turned to Mason Molina, who also only got through three innings.

That’s the rotation for now, though it could change. However, without a mid-week game, everyone is feeling good going into the weekend.

“Because they feel good, healthy,” Dave Van Horn explained. “Nobody has a sore arm. No complaints. Ready to go.”

On Friday night, when Hagen Smith takes the mound, Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis knows his team is going to be facing a big challenge, calling Smith the best pitcher in the country.

“They can really pitch. They arguably have maybe the best pitcher in the country with Hagen Smith. All three of their starters are really good and they pitch good at the back end. I’m sure they’re very comfortable pitching at home. It’s a veteran offensive group that has won a lot of games. They know how to play winning baseball,” Lemonis said.

“They can move the ball. They got some guys that can hit it out the park. They play really good defense. They play winning baseball.”

This season, Hagen Smith has pitched in 12 games, starting all of them. He’s thrown 66 innings and has an ERA of 1.36. On top of that, he has 125 strikeouts. He hasn’t given up more than one earned run in a game since April 4th and hasn’t given up more than three in a game all season.

Brady Tygart has an ERA of 3.34 in 12 starts this season. Meanwhile, Mason Molina has an ERA of 3.81 in 11 starts. Neither has made an appearance out of the bullpen.

Dave Van Horn is hoping Hagen Smith can set the tone for Arkansas in what will be the team’s final regular season series at home this season. As the SEC race takes shape and teams position themselves for postseason play, winning this series is going to be vital.