Gage Wood helped save the University of Arkansas baseball team’s bullpen Saturday and earned a bigger role on the pitching staff, Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn said.
No. 8 Kentucky beat No. 2 Arkansas 11-3 on Saturday at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington, Ky., but Wood was a bright spot for the Razorbacks.
Wood, a sophomore right-hander from Batesville, went a career-long 4 1/3 innings in relief of starter Brady Tygart. He allowed 3 runs, 3 hits and 2 walks and matched his career-high 6 strikeouts. He held the Wildcats scoreless in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings and threw 55 strikes on 79 pitches.
Saturday’s strong performance came after Wood started against Missouri State on Tuesday night and pitched three scoreless innings in Arkansas’ 12-7 victory.
“That was just a huge plus,” Van Horn said of Wood’s performance against Kentucky. “I mean, Gage didn’t just eat up innings, he’s getting ready to take somebody’s job. I loved what I saw.
“The breaking ball wasn’t there for him and he got them out with that fastball. It had good carry on it. They were having trouble hitting it and I thought he threw great.
“He did save our bullpen for [Sunday] and we’ve got them lined up. If things don’t go right early we’ll go straight to it.”
Wood was the Razorbacks’ closer last season when he had five saves, but freshman Gabe Gaeckle has taken over that role for the most part this season.
“[Wood’s] already a long reliever and he could close, too,” Van Horn said. “So he’s going to get his opportunity to start a game. He started on Tuesday and he started for a reason, and [Saturday] we let him go about 75 to 80 pitches for a reason.
“So yeah, we’ll see how this turns out.”
Van Horn said junior left-hander Mason Molina (3-1, 3.47 ERA) will start Sunday’s game after missing last week’s series against Florida because of a right ankle injury.
In Molina’s previous start at South Carolina, the transfer from Texas Tech went 3 1/3 innings and allowed 7 walks, 2 hits and 2 runs, which seems to beg the question whether Molina is pitching for his spot among the starting rotation against Kentucky if Wood is getting ready to take someone’s spot.
“I don’t need to answer that question,” Van Horn said. “We have the SEC Tournament, too.
“I think every time somebody goes out on the field, they’re pitching to keep their spot. Guys are working in practice to keep their spot. Once you get established, you get some leeway, but we’ve got to go with the guys that are getting it done.
“It’s that time of year. On the mound, [Hagen] Smith has been lights out and Brady’s had two good weekends in a row. [Saturday] wasn’t a good day for him, but it’s good to know that we’ve got some other guys that can pick us up or grab a spot if they need to.”
Wood is 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA in 17 games this season. He has 40 strikeouts and 6 walks in 25 2/3 innings.
“He’s always going to fill the zone up,” Arkansas catcher Hudson White said. “That’s the first and most important thing is that he throws everything for a strike.
“He’s not scared to throw his fastball in fastball counts. He gets ahead and he had a lot of life on his fastball [Saturday]. He looked really good.”
White also was Molina’s teammate at Texas Tech.
“He’s a competitor,” White said. “He loves to be out there and we missed him last week, but I’m just excited to see how he bounces back.”