In his inaugural Swatter's Club meeting of the 2025 season Monday, Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn keyed in on the strides some returning Razorbacks made during the offseason.
One of those players was sixth-year senior right-handed pitcher Will McEntire, who has made 65 appearances on the mound for Arkansas with a career 4.23 ERA, 204 strikeouts and 70 walks in 197.2 innings pitched.
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"Will McEntire is back for his 16th year (laughter), I mean sixth," Van Horn said. "I wrote it down wrong. Love having Mac around. The great thing is, he's worked harder this year than he ever has, and he's throwing good. His fastball — last year's issue was, the cover pitch he has is really good, but when that's what you throw for a strike all the time, they just sit on it and they figure it out now that you've been around."
Last season for Arkansas, McEntire racked up a 5-0 record and a 4.83 ERA behind 65 punchouts and 18 free bases. In the two seasons since his immaculate 2022 campaign (2.59 ERA), McEntire has allowed more hits (148) than innings pitched (141), but an uptick in control and velocity for his fastball this offseason, according to Van Horn, should help curb that issue in 2025.
"Well now (McEntire is) throwing his fastball for a strike and he's throwing it harder than ever, and it's still not 95, but he's gotten up to 92, throwing 90 most of the time," Van Horn said. "When you're sitting on that other pitch, it's 83, 84, it looks like it's 95. He's done a good job."
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According to stats compiled by local media, McEntire finished the 2024 fall schedule with a 9.00 ERA in 7.0 innings pitched thanks to 10 allowed hits despite eight strikeouts and zero walks. The Bryant native has bounced back in his two preseason spring appearances, though, with seven strikeouts, one walk, three hits given up and a 2.25 ERA in four innings, according to the GameChanger app.
Known for drawing swings and misses from his off-speed pitches due to his aforementioned usually high 80s-low 90s fastball, McEntire's improvements with the heater have forced batters to respect it more, according to Van Horn.
"Well, it’s just that he’s throwing it for a strike," Van Horn said. "Last year, he left it high or throwing it too far out, trying to throw the ball away. Our guys are sitting on that cutter a little bit, then that fastball comes and they don’t catch up to it. It just keeps them off balance and that’s what he was missing last year. That’s the key for him."
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Arkansas will open its season Friday, Feb. 14, against Washington State at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.
Click here to read more of HawgBeat's content previewing the 2025 season for the Diamond Hogs.
