OMAHA, Neb. -- Connor Noland will start Saturday's opener against No. 2 seed Stanford at the College World Series, a designation he has earned as the staff ace for the University of Arkansas.
After that, it's anybody's guess who the Razorbacks (43-19) will trot out to the mound in either a relief role or as a starter the rest of the way after the senior right-hander Noland (7-5, 3.86 ERA) faces Stanford ace right-hander Alex Williams (8-3. 2.88) at 1 p.m. Central.
Even Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn admitted Thursday after the Razorbacks' practice session at Charles Schwab Field that the pitching selections were up in the air and "TBA" the rest of the way.
"We needed to make some adjustments," Van Horn said. "We struggled down the stretch on the mound a little bit. We were giving up big innings, and big innings usually happen when you walk people, pitch behind in the count. That's what happened a lot.
"And so we changed up a little bit where we didn't announce our three starters. We'd give you Friday's starter and then just see who we had left."
The trio of Noland, Hagen Smith and Jaxon Wiggins had pitched in that order all season long before the very end of the year. The length of the starters shortened drastically, beginning roughly on May 1, the final game of a series win against Ole Miss, another College World Series participant, during a 4-3 victory in which Wiggins, Zack Morris and Brady Tygart worked three innings each.
The Razorbacks won their ensuing series at No. 14 Auburn, but the starters were not providing the same innings and it caught up to them with consecutive series losses to Vanderbilt, at Alabama and during an 0-2 appearance at the SEC Tournament.
Van Horn was asked about the uncertain nature of his starting and relieving roles this late in a season and whether he remembered this kind of situation before.
"No, I don't think I've really done this before," Van Horn said. "... We had to do something. And we had to make a change. And I'm sure if it wouldn't have worked, at least we said we tried.
"I'd hate to look back and say we should have done this or done that."
The move has seemed to reinvigorate the staff.
Noland's last two starts have resulted in wins over Grand Canyon and North Carolina with 13 2/3 innings combined, 1 run allowed on 12 hits and 4 walks, plus 10 strikeouts. He had pitched no longer than five innings in each of his previous four starts.
Smith (6-2, 4.85) moved into the bullpen and served as a left-handed closer during a 7-3 win at Oklahoma State and a 4-1 win at North Carolina.
Wiggins (6-3, 6.12) has had five outings of less than five innings in his last six starts, and he did not appear in the super regional sweep at 10 seed North Carolina as the Razorbacks did not play a third game.
Right-hander Will McEntire (1-2, 2.81) has made three starts in the last four weekends, including a scoreless 5 2/3-inning gem in the clincher at North Carolina, and the lefty Morris (6-0, 1.89) turned in a scoreless 3 1/2-inning start against Oklahoma State on June 6.
The mixing and matching makes the Razorbacks somewhat unpredictable for opponents in Omaha.
"What I appreciate is the way that all the pitchers and the players have accepted it and said, yeah, we need to try this," Van Horn said. "And we tried it. It worked. Did it again, it worked. Flipped another guy in there and we started winning again."
The Razorbacks have other pitchers like seniors Kole Ramage and Zebulon Vermillion with backgrounds as starters that could also slide into spot-starting roles, long relief or selective relief in Omaha.
Ramage (3-2, 4.56) pitched all three games in the road series at Alabama to close the regular season, worked against the Crimson Tide again in the SEC Tournament, and has already pitched four times in the postseason to take his season total to 29 appearances, one behind team leader Evan Taylor (5-0, 3.46), who has worked in 8 of the last 11 games and 6 of 8 postseason games.
Vermillion (2-0, 2.59), who was in the rotation for a chunk of 2021 when the Razorbacks did not lose a weekend series until the NCAA super regionals, has allowed one earned run in his last five outings dating back to the Vanderbilt series.
Tygart (3-4, 3.82), who allowed eight runs in a span of three consecutive outings against Florida and Oklahoma State, might be sharing the closer's role with Smith.
But just like the rest of the staff, his usage will be decided on a inning-by-inning basis as the Razorbacks play in Omaha for the third time in the last four College World Series.
"We told the pitching staff that all hands on deck," Van Horn said. "Don't think you're starting tomorrow, you may be pitching today. And it seemed to work a little bit. And then we've had a few guys step up for us."
Van Horn said Noland and some other pitchers looked tired during the late stretch, but the shake-up has done almost all the pitchers a lot of good.
"I think I knew we were tough the whole year," Noland said. "Just sometimes you have to wait for an opportunity to prove it. And I think that the last two weeks have given us an opportunity to prove it.
"And I've seen it here and there again, but it's really staying true this past two weeks, three weeks. The team's really come together. And we're playing a brand of baseball that Arkansas should be proud of."
At a glance
TODAY’S GAMES All times Central
Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M, 1 p.m.
Notre Dame vs. Texas, 6 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Arkansas vs. Stanford, 1 pm.
Mississippi vs. Auburn, 6 p.m.