FAYETTEVILLE -- Tucker Pennell set a Razorbacks' 2015 season record last weekend when Arkansas won 2 of 3 from Mississippi State at Baum Stadium.
The junior college transfer became Arkansas' first catcher in 2015 to start all three games of a SEC series.
"It was weird," Arkansas sophomore catcher Alex Gosser of North Little Rock said with a tongue-in-cheek smile. "We wondered what the heck is going on?"
It never got so weird last weekend for Pennell to finish a game.
This season it seems about as rare for an Arkansas catcher to finish what he starts as it does for an Arkansas catcher to start three consecutive games.
At some point, redshirt freshman Carson Shaddy, the son of 1980s Razorbacks shortstop Chris Shaddy, generally replaces Pennell or Gosser as a pinch-hitter or pinch-runner and catches at least awhile.
"It is what it is," Shaddy said earlier this season of the shuffling. "This is what gives our team the best chance of winning, so you go with it."
Dave Van Horn, Arkansas' coach since 2003, said he usually relies on one main catcher and occasionally two.
That format has been broken by the evolution of Pennell, the best catcher but the lightest-hitting of the bunch (.180 batting average), Gosser, the middle man hitting .222, and Shaddy, the best hitter (.348) and the fastest of the three but also least experienced.
"I have never gone three, but we have used three in one game multi times this year and most of those games we have won," Van Horn said. "They all bring something a little different."
All three appreciate what each brings.
"We all have each other's back no matter who is playing," Pennell said. "If one of us isn't there that day, we expect the other catcher to come pick us up whether it be offensively or defensively."
All appreciate none are wearing down like one regular catcher tends to wane down the SEC stretch.
"That's a huge plus," Pennell said.
Seems it might keep the pitchers unsettled, throwing to two, sometimes three different catchers in a game, but apparently not.
"All of our catchers pretty much have the same styles," Gosser said. "I don't know if [pitchers] prefer one over others, but they just kind of go with the flow."
Even if they don't know the flow, like when Gosser unmasked between innings to the bemusement of pitcher James Teague.
"I know I caught Teague one weekend, and he said, 'I didn't even know that was you. I thought Tucker was still catching,' " Gosser said. "They don't really pay too much attention to it."
Although he's mostly thrown to Pennell this year, sophomore starter Dominic Taccolini said he's comfortable throwing to all three and finished his winning stint against Mississippi State throwing to Shaddy.
"I've thrown to Gosser and Shaddy since last year with bullpens and stuff," Taccolini said. "They are all good catchers, so it's really not a big deal. You get used to it."
Sports on 04/29/2015