By Otis Kirk

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas now hits the road for a three-game series at Georgia that begins on Thursday night.

Arkansas (30-7, 11-4) has battled injuries to some key players this season and will be without standout left fielder Jared Wegner this weekend. However, following a 6-3 win over UCA Tuesday night, Van Horn said one of the injured, sophomore pitcher Brady Tygart, could be returning for this series.

"There’s a possibility," Van Horn said. "He’ll probably be on the 27-man (roster), that’s the key. You see him on there, you’ll probably see him throw."

Tygart has been limited to four games this season. He last pitched on March 1 suffering a UCL sprain. This season, Tygart is 1-0 with an ERA of 5.68 and has one save. In 2022, Tygart appeared in 24 games. He was 3-4 with an ERA of 3.82 and earned eight saves.

That would be good news since Jaxson Wiggins and Koty Frank are lost for the season. Wegner is expected to return at some point this season. Georgia (20-17, 4-11) is in last place in the SEC East, but Van Horn knows this won't be an easy series.

"Yeah, Georgia, if you look at Georgia, they got off to a great start this year in regular season from opening day, and they’ve hit all year," Van Horn said. "They’ve done nothing but hit and score runs, hit home runs. They’ve played a really tough schedule, non-conference schedule. They played Georgia Tech two or three times. 

"The starting pitching, I mean it’s been a little bit up and down, but they’re very talented. They might start three lefties against us. So who’s to say, but really good team. You look at their record in league, now it’s the second half, you’ve got to turn the page. I’m sure that’s what they’re talking about, but we’ve just got to go in there and do what we do and just give ourselves an opportunity to get late in the game and have a chance to win."

The Bulldogs definitely have some power. First baseman Charlie Condon has 17 home runs, knocked in 53 runs and hitting .444. Left fielder Connor Tate has hit 12 home runs, 38 RBIs and a batting average of .369. Designated hitter Parks Harber has 11 home runs, 37 RBIs and is hitting .276. Third baseman Will David only has three home runs, but has a batting average of .307. 

Last weekend, Van Horn started Hunter Hollan, Will McEntire and Ben Bybee in that order. Hagen Smith and Cody Adcock have also started games. Van Horn will start Hollan Thursday.

“As of right now, we’re gonna do the same thing we've been doing, you know, same left-handed starter and TBA TBA, and so we’ll go with Hollan, TBA," Van Horn said. "It could be (Will) McEntire but if we had to use him, we’ll use him so we’re going to do what we need to do."

Van Horn surprised many last week with the Hogs holding a 5-2 lead heading into the seventh inning. He brought in Smith to pitch the final three innings. Smith had returned to the starting rotation the previous week with success.

“It’s not about winning game 1, it's about winning a game we are ahead in and winning a game," Van Horn said. "It’s trying to get to know as many SEC wins as you can. If we are losing 5-3 we are not pitching him. We’ve been winning every time we’ve bought him in and he’s held the lead. So, uh yeah I mean he doesn't pitch Thursday, he might start Friday, If he doesn't, pitch on Friday, he’s gonna start on Sunday, he’s gonna pitch and if he hasn't pitched the first two days he’ll start game 3, and I think everybody in the league knows what we’re doing and they get it. So it’s just the way it is. If we get Tygart back we might start announcing some people."

Smith has appeared in 10 games this season with five times as a starter. He has two saves out of the bullpen. He's 5-1 with an ERA of 2.79. In 38.2 innings, Smith has struck out 59 hitters. Van Horn went into more indepth on what concerns him with Smith as a starter. 

"Well as a starter, you know the only issue I see with him is that there is too many full counts and he strikes out a lot of people so his pitch count is going to get up and you're looking at 4 or 5 innings a lot of times when we want him to go 6 or 7, pitch to contact," Van Horn said. "When he’s in relief he knows when he comes in you know “What do I need’ I need 9 outs, I need 10 out and he just gets after it.  You know, I feel like his arm is in great shape right now where we say you’re gonna start he can go 100 pitches, 110 probably. Is that 6 innings, 7 innings, 5 innings whatever, so I like him in both roles. Honestly, when he’s standing on the mound I feel really good. I just, we just have to be really smart if we bring him in relief because there is always another game and if there is not he’s starting it, the last one."

Thursday's game will begin at 6 p.m. and televised on the SEC Network. Friday's start is 5 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. Both those games will be on the SEC Network+.

Photos Courtesy of Craven Whitlow CW3 Action Sports