Dave Van Horn on Arkansas' rotation: 'We have to really figure this thing out'

With the Arkansas Razorbacks‘ win on Sunday over the Mississippi State Bulldogs, the Razorbacks won another key SEC series. However, head coach Dave Van Horn left the series frustrated with the performance of the rotation.

Following the series, Van Horn shared that he feels Arkansas needs to figure out its rotation late in the season and might make a change.

“That’s obviously the major concern,” Dave Van Horn said. “The win’s awesome but now we have to really figure this thing out and we’ve got some things we’re thinking about that we’ll probably make a decision if we’re going to start some different people or how we’re going to handle it.”

In the series against Mississippi State, Arkansas started Hagen Smith on Friday, Brady Tygart on Saturday, and Mason Molina on Sunday.

This season, Smith has been one of the best pitchers in the SEC, with an ERA of 1.65 and 136 strikeouts this year. However, he had his worst start in terms of runs allowed and innings pitched since before conference play began on Friday. Tygart, meanwhile, has now given up nine runs in his last two starts while only pitching 4.2 innings. Molina has struggled just as much in his last two starts, giving up seven runs in 4.0 innings. Prior to their last two games, both Tygart and Molina have been solid for Arkansas.

Now, amid those struggles, Dave Van Horn is wondering if he needs to make a change. That would come despite Molina starting all 12 games he’s pitched while Tygart has started all 13 of his appearances.

“Probably depends on where we are in the standings and some other things,” Van Horn said. “We’ve got one guy that’s been rock solid all year, and we have two guys that have struggled down the stretch here. So, we might have to make a move. We’ll see what happens.”

If Dave Van Horn does make a change, it would be a turn from his position ahead of the Mississippi State series, when he said he was sticking with his rotation and only brought up that everyone was feeling healthy.

Next weekend, Arkansas is going to face a major test to end the regular season, when the Razorbacks go on the road to play the Texas A&M Aggies. As of now, Arkansas has a two-game lead over Texas A&M in the SEC standings, so this is a prime spot for the Aggies to catch the Razorbacks, especially if Arkansas’ starting pitchers can’t figure things out. After that, Arkansas is headed to Hoover for the SEC Tournament.