FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 5 Arkansas baseball team saw a handful of freshmen contribute to the team's four-game Opening Weekend series sweep over Washington State at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Most of the impactful performances came from the likes of starting pitchers Gabe Gaeckle, Zach Root, Gage Wood and Landon Beidelschies, plus sluggers Brent Iredale, Wehiwa Aloy and others at the plate. But there were some freshmen who did contribute winning plays throughout the weekend.
The first freshman to see the field was catcher Zane Becker, a native of Flower Mound, Texas. He entered as a pinch runner for Ryder Helfrick during the bottom of the sixth inning in Game 2. He did end up scoring during the frame to contribute one of the team's 14 runs in the 14-2 run-rule win.
Less than 24 hours later, Becker got his first career start behind the plate catching for starting pitcher Gage Wood in Game 3 on Saturday. Batting in the eight-hole, Becker drove a two-out RBI double to centerfield to put the Hogs on the board first in the bottom of the second inning. In his third and final at bat of Saturday's game, Becker doubled again, this time to left-center.
“I thought he did a pretty good job,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said Saturday. “Whenever you really don’t notice the catcher, that means they’re doing a good job. There was one pitch that got by him. I think it was pretty far outside, late in the game, but I don’t think that was his fault all the way. He’s a good blocker. Really gotten a lot better receiving. We had Gage (Wood) and him work together last weekend in their last scrimmage, just to get a little more familiar with each other. We figured we’d catch Ryder the first couple of games.
“We needed to get Becker some experience. He’s been hitting as good as anyone on our team all fall, or excuse me, all spring. Whatever this is winter. Since Christmas break, he’s really been swinging it good. We knew on the offensive side, he’d give us some good at-bats. It was good to see him and Gage work good together.”
Becker wasn't the only freshman that impacted Game 3, as flame-throwing right-handed pitcher Carson Wiggins took the mound in the top of the ninth to close things down. The younger brother of former Razorback Jaxon Wiggins, Carson touched 100 miles per hour on each of his first four pitchers, per Trackman analytics.
“He could be in High A or A-Ball now, or rookie ball, whatever,” Van Horn said Saturday. “But he’s going to get a lot of development here, and he’ll get his money. He’s going to be patient and he’s going to enjoy it along the way and be around the guys for a couple years, but we throw pitchers all the time or players all the time, they could have signed and they decided to come to school. But yeah, that’s the player that you’re seeing these days.”
Wiggins retired the first two batters he faced relatively quickly before giving up a two-out double to left field. He responded with a seven-pitch strikeout, the first of his career, to earn his first ever save.
“Even his misses were close,” Van Horn said. “Thought he threw a couple sliders that were close. It’s good to see a young guy come in. It wasn’t like we were only up one, but he still had to finish the game. If they get another guy on there, it gets a little dicey because now they’ve got the tying run at the plate and they know he throws hard, so they’re just cheating to the fastball as best they can. Got to have another pitch, and he’s got one, but it was really good to see.”
The third freshman to appear on Opening Weekend was left-handed pitcher Cole Gibler, who pitched the top of the seventh inning in the 12-2 run rule win Monday. The native of Blue Springs, Missouri, started his one inning with his first career strikeout and then he followed it with a walk. He erased the walk by picking up a 6-4-3 groundout double play to finish the game.
Only one other freshman appeared Opening Weekend and that was infielder Gabe Fraser, who pinch ran during Saturday’s game but was caught in a rundown trying to steal third base in the bottom of the seventh inning. Unfortunately for Fraser, that out ended an inning in a one-run ballgame at the time.
Up next, the Razorbacks will travel to Arlington, Texas, for the College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field, the home of the Texas Rangers. Arkansas will play Kansas State on Friday (7 p.m. CT), TCU on Saturday (7 p.m. CT) and Michigan on Sunday (11 a.m. CT). All three games will be streamed on FloSports.
Most of the impactful performances came from the likes of starting pitchers Gabe Gaeckle, Zach Root, Gage Wood and Landon Beidelschies, plus sluggers Brent Iredale, Wehiwa Aloy and others at the plate. But there were some freshmen who did contribute winning plays throughout the weekend.
The first freshman to see the field was catcher Zane Becker, a native of Flower Mound, Texas. He entered as a pinch runner for Ryder Helfrick during the bottom of the sixth inning in Game 2. He did end up scoring during the frame to contribute one of the team's 14 runs in the 14-2 run-rule win.
Less than 24 hours later, Becker got his first career start behind the plate catching for starting pitcher Gage Wood in Game 3 on Saturday. Batting in the eight-hole, Becker drove a two-out RBI double to centerfield to put the Hogs on the board first in the bottom of the second inning. In his third and final at bat of Saturday's game, Becker doubled again, this time to left-center.
“I thought he did a pretty good job,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said Saturday. “Whenever you really don’t notice the catcher, that means they’re doing a good job. There was one pitch that got by him. I think it was pretty far outside, late in the game, but I don’t think that was his fault all the way. He’s a good blocker. Really gotten a lot better receiving. We had Gage (Wood) and him work together last weekend in their last scrimmage, just to get a little more familiar with each other. We figured we’d catch Ryder the first couple of games.
“We needed to get Becker some experience. He’s been hitting as good as anyone on our team all fall, or excuse me, all spring. Whatever this is winter. Since Christmas break, he’s really been swinging it good. We knew on the offensive side, he’d give us some good at-bats. It was good to see him and Gage work good together.”
Becker wasn't the only freshman that impacted Game 3, as flame-throwing right-handed pitcher Carson Wiggins took the mound in the top of the ninth to close things down. The younger brother of former Razorback Jaxon Wiggins, Carson touched 100 miles per hour on each of his first four pitchers, per Trackman analytics.
“He could be in High A or A-Ball now, or rookie ball, whatever,” Van Horn said Saturday. “But he’s going to get a lot of development here, and he’ll get his money. He’s going to be patient and he’s going to enjoy it along the way and be around the guys for a couple years, but we throw pitchers all the time or players all the time, they could have signed and they decided to come to school. But yeah, that’s the player that you’re seeing these days.”
Wiggins retired the first two batters he faced relatively quickly before giving up a two-out double to left field. He responded with a seven-pitch strikeout, the first of his career, to earn his first ever save.
“Even his misses were close,” Van Horn said. “Thought he threw a couple sliders that were close. It’s good to see a young guy come in. It wasn’t like we were only up one, but he still had to finish the game. If they get another guy on there, it gets a little dicey because now they’ve got the tying run at the plate and they know he throws hard, so they’re just cheating to the fastball as best they can. Got to have another pitch, and he’s got one, but it was really good to see.”
The third freshman to appear on Opening Weekend was left-handed pitcher Cole Gibler, who pitched the top of the seventh inning in the 12-2 run rule win Monday. The native of Blue Springs, Missouri, started his one inning with his first career strikeout and then he followed it with a walk. He erased the walk by picking up a 6-4-3 groundout double play to finish the game.
Only one other freshman appeared Opening Weekend and that was infielder Gabe Fraser, who pinch ran during Saturday’s game but was caught in a rundown trying to steal third base in the bottom of the seventh inning. Unfortunately for Fraser, that out ended an inning in a one-run ballgame at the time.
Up next, the Razorbacks will travel to Arlington, Texas, for the College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field, the home of the Texas Rangers. Arkansas will play Kansas State on Friday (7 p.m. CT), TCU on Saturday (7 p.m. CT) and Michigan on Sunday (11 a.m. CT). All three games will be streamed on FloSports.
