Category: Arkansas baseball

ACC baseball team jumps Arkansas in new Field of 64 postseason projection

A look at where Baseball America projects the Arkansas Razorbacks in its weekly Field of 64 forecast for the 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament.

The Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team got back on track with a much-needed series victory against Mississippi State in SEC play earlier this week by taking two of three from a tough Bulldogs team that also has a shot at hosting a regional in the opening round of the 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament.

Arkansas (42-10 overall, 19-8 SEC) moved up one spot to the No. 5 overall seed in Baseball America’s new Field of 64 projections released Wednesday. On3 has the Razorbacks as a No. 2 seed in its latest postseason forecast this week.

The downside, if you put much stock into these projections, is that it wasn’t enough to keep coach Dave Van Horn’s team from being passed for a higher top eight national seed in Baseball America’s outlook — in large part because of a streaking ACC team that’s now in position to win that conference’s regular-season championship this weekend.

In Baseball America’s projections, North Carolina jumped ahead of Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Clemson to land the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament. The streaking Tar Heels are 39-11 overall and have won nine of their last 10 games to vault themselves into a three-game lead in the ACC standings entering the final weekend of conference play.

For the second straight week, Kentucky is the projected No. 1 overall seed by Baseball America. The Wildcats climbed one spot to No. 3 in this weeks’ USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll.

RELATED: Arkansas up to No. 2 in new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll

Tennessee rose one spot to No. 3 in Baseball America’s projections. Texas A&M is one spot ahead of Arkansas for the No. 4 seed despite losses in four of the Aggies’ last six games after dropping back-to-back series at LSU and Ole Miss.

Joining Arkansas in Baseball America’s projected Fayetteville Regional are Nebraska, Kansas State and Saint Louis. If the Razorbacks win their regional, they would then host a best-of-three Super Regional at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The Razorbacks visit College Station for a highly anticipated three-game showdown beginning Thursday. If they can win that series, Arkansas would jump not only Texas A&M in projections entering the SEC Tournament but possibly others teams as well. First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT. The game can be seen on ESPN2.

In the SEC standings race, Kentucky leads Arkansas by one game and will wrap up its regular season at home against Tim Corbin’s Vanderbilt team. Tennessee is tied with the Razorbacks at 19-8 in conference play while the Diamond Hogs lead Texas A&M by two games.

The final Field of 64 that will make up the NCAA Tournament and compete for a berth in the College World Series in Omaha will be unveiled on Selection Monday, May 27 at 11 a.m. CDT.

Where will Arkansas baseball land after final SEC weekend?

Arkansas can still win the SEC regular-season title, a mighty boon, even if the Hogs are locked into a top-four seed, anyway.

The Arkansas baseball team still has a shot at a regular-season SEC championship heading into the final weekend of play.

The Diamond Hogs, who have been ranked inside the top five all year and spent about half the season at No. 1, are a game behind Kentucky for the conference lead with three games left. Arkansas is traveling to the league’s third-place team, Texas A&M, for its finale while the Wildcats are off to Nashville to play Vanderbilt.

Kentucky owns a one-game lead over Arkansas, which means a series sweep of the Commodores and UK is the outright champs. No one can catch them. If Vandy takes a game, Arkansas still needs to win its series against A&M. If Kentucky drops just one of the three games, Arkansas needs a sweep. Tennessee, which is tied with the Diamond Hogs for second, needs the same outcome.

While a conference title brings home a trophy, what happens after the SEC Tournament is what matters most. Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas A&M all have national championship dreams. Shooting for a conference tournament crown could potentially wear out a team before the race for the real prize the following weekend.

The good news for all four teams is that the top four finishers in the regular season all receive byes for the tournament next week Hoover. The byes mean fewer games even with wins. Fewer games means less chance at injury and less fatigue.

It’s time for the home stretch.

Arkansas baseball climbs in new Field of 64 projections

A hard-fought series victory against a solid SEC opponent helped Dave Van Horn’s Arkansas Razorbacks move back up in this week’s Field of 64 projections for the 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament from On3.

What a difference a weekend makes.

After losing two of three games at SEC leader Kentucky just over a week ago, the Arkansas Razorbacks are back on the rise in this week’s Top 25 rankings and the USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll.

RELATED: Arkansas up to No. 2 in new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll

The Diamond Hogs (42-10 overall, 19-8 SEC) won two of three from a solid Mississippi State team over the weekend at Baum-Walker Stadium in conference play.

With that, Arkansas climbed back up to the No. 2 overall seed in On3’s latest Field of 64 projections for the 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament. On3 had forecast the Razorbacks as its No. 4 seed a week ago.

In its weekly outlook for the postseason, On3 moved Arkansas ahead of Texas A&M and Clemson for higher seeding. Kentucky is projected as the overall No. 1 national seed.

Did the Hogs earn the higher seed? Well, sure. But their climb back to the No. 2 seed was helped in large part by Texas A&M’s recent struggles. The Aggies suffered their second straight series loss over the weekend, dropping two of three at Ole Miss one week after falling at LSU. Prior to that, Texas A&M had been ranked No. 1 in the nation for three straight weeks.

On3’s Jonathan Wagner explains:

“Arkansas gets the nod as our No. 2 overall seed, largely due to Texas A&M’s struggles as the two teams gear up to meet this weekend. The Razorbacks are a safe top eight seed, and could still be in contention for the top couple of seeds should they win over the weekend. Arkansas is joined in the Fayetteville Regional by Oregon, Virginia Tech and New Mexico.”

The final Field of 64 that will make up the NCAA Tournament and compete for a berth in the College World Series in Omaha will be unveiled on Selection Monday, May 27 at 11 a.m. CDT.

Arkansas will close out the regular season beginning Thursday with its much-anticipated three-game series in College Station against the Aggies. First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT. The game can be seen on ESPN2.

Arkansas pitcher Gabe Gaeckle named SEC Freshman of the Week

Arkansas Razorbacks pitcher Gabe Gaeckle was awarded Freshman of the Week honors by the Southeastern Conference Monday.

Arkansas pitcher Gabe Gaeckle was named SEC Freshman of the Week Monday.

The true freshman from Aptos (Calif.) High School made two appearances in relief in the Razorbacks’ series victory over No. 16 Mississippi State at Baum-Walker Stadium over the weekend.

Gaeckle pitched 3 1/3 innings against the Bulldogs without allowing an earned run. He pitched two scoreless frames and struck out three of the nine batters he faced in Sunday’s 9-6 Arkansas victory. Gaeckle picked up his team-best seventh save of the season.

In Friday’s 7-5 victory over Mississippi State, Gaeckle pitched an inning and a third and walked three batters but did not allow a hit.

Gaeckle lowered his ERA to 2.06 in 35 innings this season. His 19 appearances trail only Will McEntire and left-hander Stone Hewlett among Arkansas pitchers.

The Razorbacks close out the regular season beginning Thursday with a three-game series at No. 5 Texas A&M. First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT. The game can be seen on ESPN2.

Arkansas up to No. 2 in new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll

The Arkansas Razorbacks are back on the move in the new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, released Monday, May 13.

The Arkansas Razorbacks are moving up in the USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll.

After taking two of three from Mississippi State over the weekend at Baum-Walker Stadium, the Razorbacks climbed one spot to No. 2 in the new poll, released Monday, May 13.

The Diamond Hogs (42-10 overall) edged out No. 3 Kentucky (37-11) for the second spot. Tennessee (42-10) remained No. 1 for the second straight week after taking two of three from Vanderbilt over the weekend.

Texas A&M (42-10) dropped two spots to No. 4, giving the SEC the top four teams in the new poll. The SEC had the most teams ranked in the coaches poll with eight, followed by the ACC with seven.

Arkansas also moved up in the new D1Baseball Top 25 rankings Monday. The Razorbacks climbed two spots to land at No. 3 in D1Baseball’s rankings and stayed at No. 3 in Baseball America’s Top 25 rankings.

RELATED: Arkansas baseball on the rise in new D1Baseball Top 25 rankings

Arkansas will close out the regular season against Texas A&M in College Station beginning Thursday night. First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT. The game can be seen on ESPN2.

Arkansas baseball on the rise in new D1Baseball Top 25 rankings

The Arkansas Razorbacks moved up in D1Baseball’s new Top 25 rankings, released Monday, May 13.

The Arkansas Razorbacks are back on the move in one of the major college baseball Top 25 rankings following their impressive, hard-earned series victory over Mississippi State.

The Diamond Hogs (42-10 overall) moved up two spots to No. 3 in this week’s D1Baseball Top 25 rankings, released Monday, May 13.

Arkansas rallied from a 6-0 deficit to defeat the Bulldogs, 9-6, to win the series Sunday at Baum-Walker Stadium. The Razorbacks had previously fallen to No. 5 after dropping two of three at Kentucky the previous week.

The SEC made up four of the top five teams in D1Baseball’s new rankings. Kentucky (37-11) jumped Arkansas to move up two spots to No. 2 in the rankings after the Wildcats won another series at Florida over the weekend.

Tennessee (42-10) stayed at No. 1 for the second consecutive week after winning two of three at Vanderbilt.

In other rankings, Arkansas stayed at No. 3 in Baseball America’s Top 25 Monday. Per Baseball America’s Teddy Cahill and Peter Flaherty:

“The Razorbacks got back on track this weekend with a key series win against Mississippi State in which they notched a pair of come-from-behind victories. On Friday, they scored three runs in the eighth inning—headlined by Hudson White’s game-winning, two-run single—before scoring nine unanswered runs on Sunday to take the series. White paced the offense this weekend with six RBIs, while in the series finale Peyton Holt hit the game-winning, two-run home run and Will McEntire (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K) and Gabe Gaeckle (2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K) combined to throw four scoreless innings. Arkansas is still alive in the SEC title race, but has its work cut out for it this weekend at Texas A&M.”

Texas A&M, which spent three weeks at No. 1 in every major Top 25 poll before last week, fell two spots to No. 5 in both Baseball America and D1Baseball’s rankings. The Aggies dropped two of three at Ole Miss over the weekend.

Arkansas will close out the regular season against Texas A&M in College Station beginning Thursday night. First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT. The game can be seen on ESPN2.

Diamond Hogs beat Mississippi State in finale to close Baum-Walker regular season

Arkansas trailed 6-0. It won 9-6. Rally!

The Arkansas baseball team closed Baum-Walker Stadium on a high note Sunday.

Closed it for a few weeks, anyway.

The No. 6 Razorbacks beat Mississippi State, 9-6, in the series finale against the Bulldogs to take the three-game set, two games to one. The victory kept Arkansas a game behind SEC leader Kentucky and two games in front of SEC West No. 2 Texas A&M. Arkansas and the Aggies will finish out the regular season next weekend in College Station.

Mississippi State looked like dominant early, racing out to a 6-0 lead after three innings, including a five-run second. That chased starter Mason Molina and Gage Wood held the fort for three innings in relief, allowin two more runs.

From there Arkansas’ bats came alive. The Diamond Hogs scored runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings to rally. Hudson White’s two-run home run in the sixth tied things and one out later, Peyton Holt popped a two-run homer to give Arkansas the last lead it would need.

Christian Foutch, Will McEntire and Gabe Gaeckle worked the final five innings for Arkansas, scattering five hits and striking out four batters.

The Razorbacks’ final series of the regular season will get started Thursday at A&M. After that, Arkansas will know its seeding for the SEC Tournament, play down at Hoover and prepare to come back to Fayetteville for the NCAA Tournament.

Razorbacks rally falls short in 8-5 loss to Mississippi State

It was too little and too late for the Arkansas baseball team Saturday night at Baum-Walker Stadium.

A rally attempt in the mid to late innings wasn’t enough to help No. 3 Arkansas erase an 8-0 deficit as No. 15 Mississippi State evened the three-game series with an 8-5 victory Saturday night at Baum-Walker Stadium in SEC play.

It was the fourth loss in conference play by a Razorbacks (41-10 overall, 18-8 SEC) team that started 16-4 in league games.

Arkansas starter Brady Tygart’s struggles continued for a second straight start. After giving up five runs in three innings against Kentucky in his last outing, Tygart found himself in trouble right from the start against Mississippi State (33-17, 15-11).

He walked the first two batters he faced and allowed a single to Dakota Jordan to load the bases with no one out in the first inning.

Things only got worse from there.

After a run scored on a ground ball double play that made it 1-0, State’s Amani Larry followed with a two-run home run that upped the early lead to 3-0 after a half-inning.

After getting the first two men to lead off the second inning, the walks continued for Tygart, who issued back-to-back free passes to Johnny Long and Bryce Chance. David Mershon reached on an infield single before Tygart walked in a run for a 4-0 Bulldogs lead.

Tygart’s night was done after that. He threw 54 pitches (27 strikes) in just 1 2/3 innings, allowing five walks to go with four runs and three hits.

Things didn’t get any easier for Arkansas with Ben Bybee on in relief. Bybee walked three more batters in the third inning but escaped without allowing a run. In the fourth, he wasn’t so lucky. Jordan sent a two-run home run to right to up the Bulldogs’  lead to 6-0. After a two-out error by Wehiwa Aloy, Logan Kohler hit State’s third home run of the night for a two-run shot and an 8-0 lead.

Arkansas got a two-run home run from Peyton Stovall in the fifth inning to get back into the game at 8-4. They tacked on another run in the sixth courtesy of a leadoff walk to Nolan Souza, who advanced from first to third on a Ross Lovich single. Kendall Diggs drove in Souza with a sacrifice fly.

The Razorbacks’ best chance to pull even came in the eighth inning when they put runners on first and second and got two cracks to try to tie the game. Instead, Brook Auger struck out Lovich and Diggs looking to get the Bulldogs out of the inning.

In the ninth, Tyler Davis allowed a two-out single to Aloy but struck out Ben McLaughlin looking to end the game.

One night after walking nine batters, Arkansas pitchers walked 11 in Saturday’s contest. Tygart (4-3) suffered the loss with Cam Schuelke (3-2) earning the win in relief for the Bulldogs.

Both teams finished with nine hits apiece. Hudson White continued his hot hitting with a 2-for-4 night. Aloy (3-5) led Arkansas with three hits, including two doubles.

The rubber match of the series is scheduled for 2 p.m. CDT Sunday. The game can be seen on SEC Network.

Wehiwa Aloy, Hudson White fuel Arkansas comeback against Mississippi State

Arkansas Baseball: Hudson White had the game-winning hit as the third-ranked Razorbacks defeated Mississippi State, 7-5, in SEC play Friday night at Baum-Walker Stadium.

Third-ranked Arkansas rallied for three runs in the eighth inning to win a shaky, back-and-forth series opener against No. 15 Mississippi State, 7-5, Friday night at Baum-Walker Stadium in SEC play.

For a while, it looked like it might be the Bulldogs’ night.

After Arkansas grabbed a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning on a two-run home run by Hudson White, Mississippi State answered with three runs of their own a half-inning later.

In the sixth, Jared Sprague-Lott broke a 3-all tie with a 421-foot home run to left-center, a solo blast that put the Razorbacks ahead, 4-3.

Mississippi State (32-17 overall, 14-11 SEC) answered in the eighth by taking advantage of some free bases against otherwise reliable freshman right-hander Gabe Gaeckle. After a fielding error by Ben McLaughlin at first base, Gaeckle hit Nolan Stevens after getting ahead 0-2 in the count.

Gaeckle then walked three of the next four batters he faced to allow the tying and go-ahead runs to score. The Bulldogs evened the game at 4-4 when Johnny Long drew a bases-loaded walk. A well-hit sacrifice fly to center from Bryce Chance scored Nate Chester to give Mississippi State a 5-4 lead.

After Gaeckle allowed his third walk, Will McEntire entered and struck out Dakota Jordan to leave the bases loaded. The big hit — any hit — never came for State, and Arkansas would take advantage in their half of the eighth.

After singles from Peyton Holt and Jared Sprague-Lott, Wehiwa Aloy tied the game with a single to center that scored Holt. McLaughlin walked to load the bases, which set the stage for White’s second big hit of the night.

He lined a two-run single to right for a 7-5 lead that would be enough to give Arkansas the victory — barely.

More drama awaited in the ninth after Mississippi State loaded the bases with no one out on a walk and two singles off McEntire. Gage Wood entered and retired Chester on a popup to second base for the first out. He then struck out Logan Kohler before getting Long on a popup to first base.

The Bulldogs left the bases loaded for the second straight inning, in addition to having previously stranded two runners on base in the seventh. State left 13 on base for the night and failed to fully capitalize on nine walks issued by Razorbacks pitchers.

McEntire (4-0) earned the win in relief with Wood picking up his second save. Tyson Hardin (3-1) suffered the loss after allowing all three runs in the eighth.

Starters Hagen Smith and Khal Stephen received no-decisions. Stephen pitched seven innings and allowed four runs on six hits. He struck out six without allowing a walk.

Smith surrendered three runs and four hits in five innings of work. He struck out 11 but walked four in a 94-pitch effort (58 strikes).

Arkansas (41-9, 18-7) outhit Mississippi State, 10-7. In addition to White’s two hits and four RBIs, Aloy and Sprague-Lott both went 2-for-4.

The Razorbacks remain one game behind Kentucky in the SEC standings. The Wildcats defeated Florida in 10 innings Friday.

Game 2 of the series is scheduled for 6 p.m. CDT Saturday. The game can be seen on SEC Network+.

Arkansas baseball falls several spots in new Field of 64 projections

Arkansas Baseball: Here’s a look at where the Arkansas Razorbacks are ranked in the final regular-season Top 25 polls.

The Arkansas Razorbacks are coming off a rough weekend in SEC play that saw them drop two of three games at Kentucky.

How costly were the Diamond Hogs’ losses in Lexington? Enough to drop the Razorbacks in the latest Field of 64 projections for the 2024 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament in the eyes of two outlets.

In its new forecast for the 64-team postseason, On3 dropped Arkansas from a projected No. 2 seed to a No. 4 seed. That’s enough to keep Arkansas a “safe” best to finish as a top eight national seed, according to On3’s Johnathan Wagner.

Notes Wagner:

“The Razorbacks are still 40-9 overall, 17-7 in the SEC and No. 3 in RPI with remaining weekends vs. Mississippi State and at Texas A&M. It won’t be an easy finish, but Arkansas is still safe to host as a top eight seed. Joining them in Fayetteville is Virginia Tech, Louisiana Tech and New Mexico.”

With the stretch run of the season upon them, the Razorbacks find themselves down two pitchers after coach Dave Van Horn announced that left-handers Colin Fisher and Hunter Dietz would miss the remainder of the season with elbow injuries. Fisher has been the team’s de facto No. 4 starter this season.

RELATED: Diamond Hogs lose two pitchers to season-ending injuries

While On3 is still relatively high on the Hogs (just a week ago, they predicted that the Arkansas-Texas A&M series in College Station to close the regular season would determine the No. 1 overall national seed), Baseball America wasn’t as favorable in its new postseason outlook.

Baseball America dropped Arkansas from a projected No. 2 national seed to the No. 6 seed. Similarly, BA lifted Kentucky all the way to the top of its projections and forecasts the Wildcats as the new No. 1 overall national seed. Kentucky rose to as high as No. 4 in one of the major Top 25 polls after its series victory over Arkansas.

Joining the Razorbacks in Baseball America’s projected Fayetteville Regional are Oklahoma State, Louisiana Tech and Arkansas-Little Rock. Texas A&M dropped to No. 2 with Clemson at No. 3. Tennessee and North Carolina also jumped Arkansas for higher seeds in Baseball America’s projections.

The final Field of 64 that will make up the NCAA Tournament and compete for a berth in the College World Series in Omaha will be unveiled on Selection Monday, May 27 at 11 a.m. CDT.

Arkansas returns to SEC play Friday night at Baum-Walker Stadium when it hosts Mississippi State beginning at 6:30 p.m. CDT. The Bulldogs (32-16, 14-1) are ranked as high as 12th in one poll this week and are No. 15 in this week’s USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll.