FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas right-hander Zach Jackson often finds himself working with heavy traffic on the bases.
"I feel like Zach is a better pitcher when he's got the bases loaded and nobody out than if he comes in with a clean slate," Razorbacks starter Trey Killian said. "It's weird how it works like that. Some guys do better when the pressure is on them. I feel like Zach is that kind of guy."
Zach Jackson glance
SCHOOL Arkansas
CLASS Sophomore
HOMETOWN Berryhill, Okla.
POSITION Pitcher
THROWS Right-handed
HEIGHT/WEIGHT 6-4, 215 pounds
STATS 5-0, 6 saves, 2.25 ERA, 70 strikeouts, 35 hits, 33 walks in 48 innings
NOTEWORTHY All-SEC first-team relief pitcher as voted on by the conference coaches. … Invited to pitch this summer for Team USA.
NCAA Regional
NO. 2 SEED ARKANSAS VS. NO. 3 SEED ORAL ROBERTS
WHEN Noon Friday
WHERE Allie P. Reynolds Stadium, Stillwater, Okla.
RECORDS Arkansas 35-22, Oral Roberts 41-14
OTHER TEAMS No. 1 Oklahoma State (37-18) and No. 4 St. John’s (39-14)
SERIES Arkansas leads 65-35. RADIO Razorbacks Sports Network. Check local listings.
TELEVISION SEC Network
Jackson may be the college baseball poster boy for getting into and then out of trouble on the mound as Arkansas prepares for its NCAA regional game against Oral Roberts on Friday in Stillwater, Okla.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy those pressure situations, even though sometimes I put myself into them," said Jackson, an All-SEC reliever as voted on by the coaches. "Luckily, I've been able to get out of most of them this year."
Jackson's ability to create and then escape a jam was never more evident than in the Razorbacks' 10-3 victory over Ole Miss on March 26.
The Razorbacks led 5-3 in the seventh inning when the Rebels loaded the bases against Jackson with two walks and a bunt single. Jackson struck out Ole Miss' No. 3, 4 and 5 hitters -- J.B. Woodman, Sikes Orvis and Tate Blackman.
"Very rarely can you wiggle out of a jam like that against that type of talent," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "But when you have the kind of stuff that Zach has, you can."
The next weekend at Auburn in the series finale April 5, the Tigers loaded the bases against Jackson in the ninth inning, but he struck out Melvin Gray to seal the Razorbacks' 6-4 victory.
"Zach is killing me, but he's pretty good," Van Horn told a Swatters Club audience the next day. "It's hard to take him out because he doesn't give up many hits."
Jackson is 5-0 with 6 saves and a 2.25 earned run average heading into Friday's game. He's held opponents to 35 hits in 48 innings and has 70 strikeouts, but he also has given up 33 walks.
"At times, I'd say it's not the most comfortable feeling," Arkansas pitching coach Dave Jorn said with a smile when asked what it's like watching Jackson pitch. "But historically he's been able to get the job done for us, so you've got to have confidence in him."
Jackson, a sophomore from Berryhill, Okla., has had some situations this season where he wasn't able to pull off a great escape.
After shutting out Vanderbilt for 3 1/3 innings in the SEC opener, he allowed four runs in the ninth as the Commodores won 8-7 in 12 innings. Texas A&M's Nick Banks hit a grand slam off Jackson, but Van Horn called it a routine fly ball that was wind blown into a home run right before a rainstorm hit. The Razorbacks rallied to win the postponed game 9-8.
"If you look at the bottom line -- how to finish games, wins, losses, saves -- Zach's had a really good season," Van Horn said. "Did he have some bad innings? Yes. But most of the time he found a way to get out of them without it costing us the ballgame."
Jackson pitched scoreless ninth innings in two SEC Tournament victories by the Razorbacks -- 2-1 over Tennessee and 7-6 over Florida -- although he allowed a base runner in each game that kept things interesting.
"There was a stretch there in the mid-season of the SEC where I was struggling a little bit and gave up a few runs," Jackson said. "But I think I figured out some stuff."
Trying to figure out Jackson, 6-4 and 215 pounds, can be tough for hitters. He throws a fastball, curveball and change-up.
"He's got a nasty breaking ball that has a lot of depth to it, and it's hard," Van Horn said. "It fools them a little bit. They think it's a fastball coming out of his hand, and then if they start to sit on that he'll throw the ball in the mid-90s and he can throw it by you.
"He's got a really good two-pitch mix for the most part, and he's started working on a change-up that's not bad."
Arkansas pitcher James Teague said it's fun to see how hitters struggle against Jackson.
"It's almost comical to watch sometimes, because you see a curveball that breaks a crazy amount that's 86 on the [radar] gun," Teague said. "You're just kind of blown away. You're thinking, 'OK, this isn't real.'
"He's got three pitches, and they might all three be the best pitches of anyone on our staff."
Jorn said as good as Jackson is, he can get a lot better.
"I don't think he commands the baseball like he's capable of," Jorn said. "The more experience he gets and the more innings he gets out there and the more he can control his emotions and the feel for the ball coming out of his hand, I think he's going to be a lot more successful."
Sports on 05/28/2015