FAYETTEVILLE - The Arkansas pitching staff may very well be built around the bullpen this season. But Cliff Springston showed Saturday that not all is lost when it comes to the starting rotation.

Making his first start after four strong outings in relief, Springston worked 6 1/3 innings and allowed just one earned run as Arkansas pulled away for a 17-2 win against Siena. For the junior left-hander who transferred from Baylor, it was an ideal outing in the ideal situation.

"It's been good. I feel lucky to be here and I'm glad to be here," Springston said. "Getting off to a good start is just a plus and hopefully I can keep it going."

Springston struggled in his two seasons at Baylor, compiling earned run averages of 6.39 and 6.92 as a freshman and sophomore, respectively. But in front of a season-high crowd of 2,425 in Baum Stadium, Springston looked more like the top prospect he was coming out of high school.

"I thought Springston did an outstanding job," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. "I think he got a little bit tired there at the end and started getting under his breaking ball and changeup and he started leaving stuff up. And we knew it was time to get him out. We were just trying to get him through another inning, give him a few more pitches to get him built up for the future.

"He had a good fastball and located it very well early. So that was very positive for us."

While no Arkansas starter had gone more than five innings this season, Springston worked into the seventh. And at the time, the Razorbacks (10-1) needed everything the southpaw was giving them.

Through four innings, Springston (1-0) gave up just one hit. He finished the game allowing one run on five hits, while walking none and striking out four. And he left with Arkansas leading 4-1 game before the Hogs broke things open with a 12-run seventh inning aided by five Siena (1-8) walks and four hit batters in the inning.

"He's looking great back there," catcher Ryan Cisterna said. "He's hitting spots, his slider is commanding. It's sharp and breaking. He's getting strikeouts and he's doing a hell of a job out there. Basically all I do is set up location and he hits it.

"He tried to overthrow there in the later innings but overall he did an amazing job."

And now, Springston is looking the part of something the Razorbacks thought they were without.

A true, top starting pitcher.

"We're not so caught up this year in having a No. 1 (starter)," Van Horn said. "We just want a guy to get us through four or five innings. We feel like we're going to have a good offense and we think our bullpen can match up with a lot of people.

"So whether (Cliff) throws Friday or Sunday, they all count the same. We're just excited that it looks like we have a guy that can help us on the weekend."