FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM)–When Dave Van Horn makes a pitching change, the question that comes to mind is ‘which one of the three guys will he go to?’
That trio includes sophomore Matt Cronin along with juniors Jake Reindl and Barrett Loseke. With a combined 21 saves, 3.00 ERA and 155 strikeouts, teams have come to fear the Hog bullpen.
“Some people have been calling me, Reindl and Loseke the three-headed dragon and I think it’s perfect cause any of us can come in to the game and shut it down,” Cronin said.
“I made it up on our way to the bullpen in the S-E-C tournament,” Reindl explained. “I had a lot of great names for us and that’s the one we chose when we were all running down there.”
“Three or four guys that first off are very well rested, and they’ve gotten a lot of experience this year,” head coach Dave Van Horn said.
“Having Reindl, Loseke and Cronin out there who can all go three four innings, it’s huge,” added starter Isaiah Campbell. “Matt’s been lights out all year for us.”
Blaine Knight agreed. “As long as we can hold them down long enough to get to the pen, we’ve got a good shot of winning.”
But it wasn’t always easy for the bullpen. Just as Loseke and Reindl found their groove, Cronin went down with a bout of mono. After missing twelve games and just over three weeks, the sophomore threw against Texas A&M in the series finale.
” I’m 100%. I’ve been eating a lot of food, getting the weight back, which I have finally. And been able to work out in the weight room for the past few weeks and able to get my strength and endurance back,” Cronin said.
“One of the best in the country at what he does, so having him back we missed him there for a while. It kind of got interesting,” Knight said.
“He was awfully good when we threw him last weekend and I think he’s good for a few innings a couple times a week,” Van Horn said about Cronin’s five strikeout performance against Florida in the SEC Tournament.
Cronin leads Arkansas against Oral Roberts in the Fayetteville Regional opener at 2 p.m. Friday inside Baum Stadium.
