FAYETTEVILLE -- Until last season as an Arkansas Razorback freshman relief pitcher, Dominic Taccolini never relieved because his team was in trouble.
"In high school I relieved a little bit, really because I was in trouble and they didn't want me to start," Taccolini, a high school Team USA International Baseball Federation selection, confessed laughing. "Other than that they really didn't want me to relieve that much."
Taccolini sounds so California mellow.
"I got that strikeout, and the next dude dribbled it back to me and I got the runner at home, and the next dude I got a slider inside and got him on the last out," was his laid-back summation of his first relief outing that beat Mississippi State earlier this season after previously being Arkansas' No. 2 starter.
You would never know he actually hails from Sugar Land, Texas. Nor would you know he once had a flaring temper that apparently got him some high school admonishments, although he admits that perhaps he needs to reignite that just a bit.
Taccolini said he thinks he should be a little more on edge to keep his edge as he prepares hopefully to be Arkansas' starter Sunday at the NCAA Regional tournament in Stillwater, Okla. Then again, he is also on call as a possible reliever for Games 1 and 2 in the four-team double-elimination tournament that starts Friday.
Second-seeded Arkansas, with Trey Killian starting, opens against third-seeded Oral Roberts at noon Friday.
Arkansas freshman Keaton McKinney, though recently plagued by an inflamed hip, will start Saturday in either the winner's or loser's bracket game pending the outcome of Arkansas' game against ORU.
Expect Taccolini, 6-4 with 2 saves in 13 starts and 4 relief appearances, to relieve early if McKinney ails Saturday.
So Taccolini said he can't approach Friday and Saturday like he'll be Sunday's starter.
"If you are not pitching that day you kind of chill-lax," Taccolini said. "You are not too enwrapped in the game and are kind of thinking about the next day."
So the sophomore right-hander figures he'd better heat up the concentration instead of just chilling.
"I used to have a really big temper and would get a little too jacked up," Taccolini said. "I kind of need to get in between because I have been too laid-back recently, a little too nonchalant, when I pitch."
Taccolini, who pitched three scoreless relief innings at last week's SEC Tournament and then started two days later, is more "tough guy" than nonchalant, fellow pitcher James Teague said.
Pitching coach Dave Jorn said Taccolini perseveres despite "tenderness" from a tendinitis inflammation underneath his right armpit.
"Two days from now he could be throwing the best he's ever felt," Teague said Tuesday. "He recovers better than anyone I have ever seen as far as throwing, and he throws more than anyone I have ever seen."
Sports on 05/27/2015