FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas baseball team saw its starting rotation live up to all of the preseason hype during a four-game Opening Weekend series sweep of Washington State at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Arkansas' four starting pitchers combined for 20.0 innings pitched — 5.0 innings each — on the weekend and they allowed just three earned runs on nine hits combined. That group of four issued just four combined walks with 29 strikeouts between them.
"You wouldn’t have it any other way," Landon Beidelschies said Monday. "The expectation is what it is. The fact that everybody is performing and exceeded their expectation is pretty impressive to me. You know, it’s the old saying, ‘iron sharpens iron,’ and that’s exactly how our pitching staff is. Everybody just kind of feeds off each other. We could easily be butting heads, but everyone has the same common goal and we all try to do the same stuff, it doesn’t matter who it is."
Earning the start in the 3-2 win Game 1 on Friday was sophomore right-hander Gabe Gaeckle, who was touching 97 miles per hour on his fastball during a rather dominant 1-2-3 top of the first inning. Gaeckle retired his first six batters faced in a row before he issued his first, and only, walk of the game to lead off the third inning.
Gaeckle got out of some trouble in the third inning while picking up two more strikeouts in the process. The Aptos, California, native entered the top of the fifth with 67 total pitches and he was determined to get through another frame. He did just that, as Gaeckle went three up, three down with two more punchouts in his fifth and final inning.
GAME 1 RECAP: Razorbacks walk off Cougars in season-opener
The 6-foot-0, 190-pound preseason First Team All-SEC selection allowed just one hit and no runs with the one walk and seven strikeouts on 78 total pitches.
"I thought that Gaeckle was outstanding," Van Horn said postgame Friday. "You take away the, I think it was the third inning when his pitch count got up there. He was cruising after two innings, he’d only thrown 22 pitches and you’re thinking ‘This guy might go 6 or 7 today.’ And give them credit. They fought him a little bit."
East Carolina transfer left-hander Zach Root got the start in the second game of Friday's doubleheader, which resulted in a 14-2 run-rule win, and Root proved why he was worthy of the preseason accolades he earned, such as a preseason Second Team All-American honor from Perfect Game.
Root also went five innings in his outing and he allowed just one earned run on two hits with one walk and eight strikeouts on 75 total pitches. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound lefty from Fort Myers, Florida, was at 95 miles per hour on his fastball to begin his outing, which featured two first inning strikeouts.
GAME 2 RECAP: Arkansas routs Washington State to finish doubleheader sweep
A preseason Second Team All-SEC selection, Root picked up two more strikeouts in a 1-2-3- top of the second inning. After another three up, three down frame in the third, Root allowed a leadoff single in top of the fourth. That runner eventually scored via a 6-4 RBI fielder's choice.
Root's final frame in the top of the fifth started with his only walk of the outing and finished with three straight strikeouts.
"The second game I think Zach Root really set the tone first inning," Van Horn said Friday. "He was really good. Really good five innings honestly. Really commanded his breaking ball, had a cutter, fastball, busted right-handers in with his heater, locked them up. He had it all going today. It was fun to watch. So good day for us."
Sporting a new No. 14 jersey, junior right-hander Gage Wood started the 5-2 Game 3 win on a misty Saturday in Fayetteville. The Batesville (Ark.) native touched 97 miles per hour during his amped-up top of the first inning that featured two impressive strikeouts to start things off.
Wood struck out two batters and worked around a one-out double in the top of the second inning. Following a three up, three down frame in the third, Wood gave up a pair of runs with one out in the fourth inning via an RBI triple and RBI sacrifice fly in back-to-back at bats.
GAME 3 RECAP: Razorbacks slug past Cougars, clinch Opening Weekend series
The fifth inning was another 1-2-3 frame from Wood, who picked up his career-best seventh strikeout in the process and finished his day with 77 total pitches through five innings of two-run ball.
"I thought Gage had good stuff," Van Horn said postgame Saturday. "Really didn’t have his breaking ball today and did it mostly with the fastball and the cutter, so that was impressive. If he could get that breaking ball going, it would’ve been a really good day for him."
Ohio State transfer lefty Landon Beidelschies started Game 4 on Monday afternoon and was immediately met with a bunt single to lead the game off. The Canfield, Ohio, native worked himself out of trouble and earned two strikeouts in the first frame.
After facing just one more than the minimum across the second, third and fourth innings combined, Beidelschies entered the fifth inning with nobody even warming up in the bullpen. That changed quickly, as the lefty had runners on the corners with one out. Beidelschies allowed one run to score via an RBI groundout, but he closed the top of the fifth with his seventh strikeout to end his outing after 71 pitches.
"I think Landon pitched outstanding," Van Horn said. "I think he got a little tired there in the fifth. I mean, between the early in the season and the temperatures, what more could we ask from our pitchers? I think we walked five on the weekend. Maybe hit a couple, so we didn’t give them much. Just a super job there."
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.
