Head coach Dave Van Horn and the No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks (1-0) won Game 1 of Friday's doubleheader in extra innings against Washington State, 3-2, at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.
Led by a five-inning, seven-strikeout, one-walk, one-hit pitching performance by Arkansas right-handed ace Gabe Gaeckle, Arkansas was able to walk away with the win despite only scratching across six total hits in 32 at-bats.
The Razorbacks' new-look offense didn't start the season particularly strong, as it went 2-for-11 with runners on base and 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. In fact, the first hit recorded was a drag bunt by catcher Ryder Helfrick in the third inning.
Sixth-year right-handed senior pitcher Will McEntire came in for relief after Gaeckle exited the game, and he went 2.2 innings with one earned run, three strikeouts, zero walks, and two allowed hits.
Washington State's Logan Johnstone took McEntire deep in the sixth to start the game's scoring, but a sacrifice fly by Arkansas designated hitter Logan Maxwell tied things up in the latter half of the same frame.
After some rather unexciting innings, the Razorbacks made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth. Maxwell and cleanup man Brent Iredale grounded out and flied out, respectively, to start the frame, but a Nolan Souza smashed single kept things interesting. The inning was seemingly over when six-hole Rocco Peppi hit a groundball to third, but an error gave the Hogs runners on the corners with two outs.
Unfortunately for Van Horn's club, a Diggs swinging strikeout in a 1-2 count ended any hopes for a walkoff in the ninth, and onto extras both teams went.
Disaster struck in the 10th, as Foutch returned to the mound and was delivered an error by his defense on the potential first out of the inning to give the Cougars a leadoff man on. A sacrifice bunt advanced the runner, and another throwing error scored him to give Washington State a 2-1 lead.
An immaculate basket catch in the outfield for an out and subsequent throw home by Wehiwa Aloy and tag by Helfrick got the Razorbacks out of harm's way and gave the offense a chance to tie or win the game.
Three straight walks by Helfrick, Thomas and Charles Davalan loaded the bases for the Razorbacks in the bottom of the 10th, and following an Aloy strikeout, a wild pitch scored Helfrick to tie the game.
Following an intentional walk to Maxwell, Iredale walked off the game with a sacrifice fly to left field to score Thomas from third base.
HawgBeat has an inning-by-inning recap for Game 1 of Friday's doubleheader below with highlights, stats and more:
FINAL: Arkansas 3, Washington State 2
- First Inning - Arkansas 0, Washington State 0
The first pitch of Arkansas' 2025 season was a strike via Gaeckle on a failed leadoff bunt attempt by Cougar leadoff man Max Hartman, who struck out swinging on a fastball four pitches later.
Despite the frigid temperatures, Gaeckle set Washington State shortstop Gavin Roy down 0-2 with back-to-back fastballs before drawing another swing and miss on the curveball. Finally, a 1-0 fly out by right fielder Logan Johnston gave Gaeckle his first 1-2-3 frame of the season.
Leading off for the Razorbacks was center fielder Charles Davalan, who put a solid swing on Washington State RHP Griffin Smith, but it resulted in a deep fly out to left field. Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy's new stance was evident in the batter's box, but he poked one off the end of the bat for a groundout to second base.
To cap off the first, designated hitter Logan Maxwell popped up to second base on a 1-2 pitch.
- Second Inning - Arkansas 0, Washington State 0
Gaeckle shook off a couple of pitches from Arkansas catcher Ryder Helfrick before delivering a first-pitch ball on a close curveball to Cougar batter Ricco Longo to start the second. He eventually worked a full-count, but Gaeckle got Longo looking on the ninth pitch of the at-bat.
First baseman Ryan Skjonsby skied a pitch in the air, and despite Aloy not seeing it, Hog third baseman Brent Iredale came over to secure the catch. Then, Ollie Obenour punched a fly ball into left center, where Arkansas left fielder Justin Thomas Jr. ranged over to make the final out.
Power bat Iredale went down swinging on a buried slider down and away to start Arkansas' half of the inning, and second baseman Nolan Souza followed up with a strikeout of his own on a changeup.
Grad senior first baseman Rocco Peppi made the best contact up to that point for the Razorbacks, but it resulted in a lineout to left field to shut the door on the inning.
- Third Inning - Arkansas 0, Washington State 0
Gaeckle's perfect game was erased in the top of the third, when he walked Cougar catcher Will Cresswell in a full-count for the first baserunner of the game. Some pretty offspeed pitches from Gaeckle earned him a looking strikeout in the next at-bat against Washington State third baseman Kyler Northrop.
With the next at-bat in a 2-1 count, Cresswell successfully stole second base to put added pressure on Gaeckle. Then a wild pitch by Gaeckle moved Cresswell to third base, but Arkansas' ace punched nine-hole Cole Watterson on a curveball.
The excitement didn't stop there, as a hit-by-pitch on Hartman gave the Cougars runners on the corners with two outs. Gaeckle finally drew a groundball to Aloy, who tossed it over to Souza at second base for the final out.
Arkansas right fielder Kendall Diggs nearly smashed a storybook home run to right field to leadoff the bottom of the third, but it hooked just foul. He ended his at-bat with a beautiful oppo-lineout to left field.
As everyone predicted, the first base hit of Arkansas' season was via Helfrick on a drag bunt. In a 2-2 count against nine-hole Thomas, Washington State threw out Helfrick on an attempted steal at second base. Thomas then followed up with a walk and stole second on a 3-1 strike, before Davalan smacked a lineout to left field to cease the danger.
- Fourth Inning - Arkansas 0, Washington State 0
It was nearly a quiet frame for Gaeckle in the top of the fourth after two fly ball outs, but a rocket groundball to Peppi at first base booted away for the Cougars' first hit of the game. It didn't amount to much, though, as Obenour flied out to Diggs in right field for the full-count final out.
Now back for his fourth inning of work, Washington State ace Smith's slider away forced a swing and a miss from Aloy, but a seeing-eye single by Maxwell in the next at-bat gave Arkansas a one-out baserunner.
Iredale got the first hit of his Razorback career to follow suit and the Hogs had two men on with only one out. However, back-to-back flyouts by Souza and Peppi ended any potential scoring for the Razorbacks.
- Fifth Inning - Arkansas 0, Washington State 0
With senior right-handed pitcher Will McEntire warming up in the bullpen, it was clear that Gaeckle's day was nearing a close to start the fifth. Gaeckle wasn't quite ready to exit the game, though, as he went 1-2-3 through the Courgars' order with a fly ball and two strikeouts to end his day.
Speaking of strikeouts, Diggs swung hard through an offspeed pitch to kickstart the Hogs' fifth frame with an out. Following a Helfrick walk, Thomas grounded into an inning-ending double play.
- Sixth Inning - Arkansas 1, Washington State 1
Making his season debut in the sixth was McEntire, who struck out his first batter on a fastball. A first-pitch flyout gave the Cougars two outs, but then danger struck when Johnstone ripped a 102 MPH 2-2 pitch off the building in right field for a home run. A groundout to Aloy got Arkansas out of the inning without any more damage.
Finally, some reprieve hit for Arkansas, as leadoff man Davalan sliced a single into left field to gets things going for the Hogs. He was aided by a poor throw-over to first base, which allowed Davalan to advance to second base easily.
In a full-count, Aloy punished an offspeed pitch 107 MPH for a left-field single to give Arkansas runners on the corners with zero outs. A Maxwell crushed ball to left center field was miraculously caught, but it was good enough to score Davalan and tie the game on a sac-fly.
With Aloy on first, Iredale struck out swinging on a perfectly placed fastball. Aloy stole second, but he was stranded after Souza struck out swinging in a full-count to end the inning.
