The No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks are preparing for their four-game opening series against the Washington State Cougars this weekend at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.
Led by second-year head coach Nathan Choate, the Cougars are coming off a 21-32 (9-21 PAC-12) overall season that saw them win early-season non-conference games against Kentucky and Kansas. Washington State also won series against Utah Tech, Rhode Island and Arizona State.
Interestingly, the Cougars return just one everyday starter in their lineup (outfielder Max Hartman) and only two relievers in the pitching staff (RHPs Kaden Wickersham and Rylan Halder). It sets up what should be a piecemeal plan adjustment-wise for Arkansas this weekend.
"Our scouting report is brief," coach Dave Van Horn said Wednesday. "To the point where if we wanted to do some shifting in the infield, so to speak, we really can’t do it yet. We don’t have enough info. There’s not enough on these guys because there’s so few at bats to go by.
"I mean, their starting pitcher, we have three pitches and that’s him throwing in a fall scrimmage I think, or maybe it was in junior college. This is what we’re dealing with. We don’t have a bunch of swings against him to go off of. So what you do is you just play baseball and kind of set them up straight up out there and you watch swings and see what they’re doing, you make notes and maybe Game 2 you do a little more or maybe the third at bat you do something different.
"I don’t think they have any overpowering-type arms. They’re going to have guys who throw in the low-90s like everybody, but we know they’re going to go right the first game, then left the second game and right the third game and TBA for No. 4. That’s about all we have, honestly."
Arkansas is coming off another stellar regular season that ended in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Razorbacks went 44-16 (20-10 SEC) and finished atop the SEC West standings as a result.
The Hogs have faced Washington State 10 times before Friday's matchups and lead the all-time record, 7-3. The two programs last met in the 2010 Fayetteville Regional, in which both teams faced off three times with Arkansas taking two. The Razorbacks and Cougars also opened the 2009 season against each other in Fayetteville, with Arkansas sweeping a doubleheader on Opening Day and finishing the series with a sweep.
2025's series opener will also feature a Friday doubleheader between the Razorbacks and Cougars, who will run out RHP Griffin Smith to face Arkansas RHP Gabe Gaeckle in an ace-on-ace battle. Gaeckle earned multiple All-American nominations as a freshman a year ago and Smith was a NJCAA Division II All-American at Rock Valley Community College in 2024.
Here's a closer comparison of Arkansas' and Washington State's stats from a year ago, along with projected starters, key players, HawgBeat's prediction and more ahead of Friday's game, which is set to start at noon CT and will stream on SEC Network+.
Statistical comparison
Statistical Comparison| 2024 Stats | Arkansas | Washington State |
|---|---|---|
| Batting average | .271 | .270 |
| OPS | .834 | .765 |
| Runs per game | 6.7 | 5.7 |
| Home runs | 87 | 43 |
| Stolen bases (success rate) | 44 (80%) | 43 (68%) |
| ERA | 3.87 | 6.16 |
| Opponent batting average | .217 | .291 |
| Fielding percentage | .981 | .976 |
Arkansas Starting Rotation:
Friday: Sophomore RHP Gabe Gaeckle
6'0", 190 pounds / Aptos, California / Aptos HS
2024 stats: 3-3, 2.32 ERA, 22 GP, 42.2 IP, 26 H, 11 ER, 19 BB, 57 K
Saturday: Junior LHP Zach Root
6'2", 210 pounds / Fort Myers, Florida / East Carolina
2024 stats: 6-2, 3.56 ERA, 13 GP, 68.1 IP, 56 H, 27 ER, 21 BB, 76 K
Sunday: Junior RHP Gage Wood
6'0", 205 pounds / Batesville, Arkansas / Batesville HS
2024 stats: 3-2, 4.46 ERA, 22 GP, 40.1 IP, 42 H, 20 ER, 8 BB, 56 K
Monday: Junior LHP Landon Beidelschies
6'3", 230 pounds / Canfield, Ohio / Ohio State
2024 stats: 6-7, 4.15 ERA, 15 GP, 84.2 IP, 71 H, 39 ER, 31 BB, 91 K
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Arkansas Projected Starting Lineup:
1. #24 - Charles Davalan - CF
2. #9 - Wehiwa Aloy - SS
3. #22 - Logan Maxwell - RF
4. #10 - Brent Iredale - 3B
5. #5 - Kendall Diggs - DH
6. #1 - Rocco Peppi - 1B
7. #3 - Nolan Souza - 2B
8. #27 - Ryder Helfrick - C
9. #4 - Justin Thomas Jr. - LF
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Washington State Projected Starting Rotation:
Friday: Junior RHP Griffin Smith
6'2", 194 pounds / Appleton, Wisconsin / Rock Valley C.C.
2024 stats: 11-0, 1.99 ERA, 13 GP, 77.0 IP, 52 H, 17 ER, 13 BB, 113 K
Saturday: Redshirt Freshman LHP Nick Lewis
6'1", 183 pounds / Corona, California / Santiago HS
2024 stats: N/A
Sunday: Junior RHP Luke Meyers
6'1", 179 pounds / Denver, Colorado / Central Arizona College
2024 stats: 7-4, 2.20 ERA, 14 GP, 77.2 IP, 53 H, 19 ER, 29 BB, 82 K
Monday: TBA
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Washington State Projected Starters:
- C: Will Cresswell
2024 stats (Washington State): 29 GP, .242 BA, 91 AB, 22 H, 2B, HR, 3 RBIs, 11 BB, 22 K
- 1B: Ryan Skjonsby
2024 stats (Cypress College): 42 GP, .349 BA,152 AB, 53 H, 11 2B, 9 HR, 51 RBIs, 25 BB, 29 K
- 2B: Ollie Obenour
2024 stats (High School): 29 GP, .407 BA, 91 AB, 37 H, 10 2B, 2 HR, 23 RBIs, 14 BB, 2 K
- SS: Gavin Roy
2024 stats (Cloud County CC): 59 GP, .317 BA, 208 AB, 66 H, 13 2B, 3B, HR, 28 RBIs, 28 BB, 33 K
- 3B: Kyler Northrop
2024 stats (High School): .380 BA, 3 HR, 61 RBIs
- LF: Ely Kennel
2024 stats (Washington State): 27 GP, .194 BA, 36 AB, 7 H, 2B, 2 RBIs, 2 BB, 14 K
- CF: Max Hartman
2024 stats (Washington State): 49 GP, .286 BA, 55 H, 11 2B, 3 HR, 41 RBIs, 18 BB, 49 K
- RF: Logan Johnstone
2024 stats (Washington State): 27 GP, .250 BA, 17 H, 3 2B, 3B, HR, 10 RBIs, 7 BB, 9 K
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Washington State Fast Facts:
- The Cougars finished second in the Pac-12 in 2024 with 50 double plays turned and third with a .976 fielding percentage.
- Washington State has added 24 newcomers to its 34-player roster and was picked to finish third in the Mountain West Conference. Head coach Nathan Choate begins his second season at WSU after five seasons at Loyola Marymount.
- Junior outfielder Max Hartman was named to the Preseason All-Mountain West Conference Team and the Cougars were picked to finish third. Last season, Hartman hit .286 with 55 hits, 11 doubles, three home runs and 41 RBI to go along with 32 runs scored and 10 stolen bases as the Cougars leadoff hitter.
The junior from St. Albert, Alberta, tallied 17 multiple-hit games and tied for the team lead with 10 multiple-RBI games. Hartman was also a CSC Academic All-District and conference honor roll selection after posting a 3.56 GPA while majoring in civil engineering.
- Washington State's roster features four players who were named JUCO All-Americans last season.
- The Cougars have won their last two matchups against SEC opponents (Kentucky 6-4 in 2024 Round Rock Classic and Texas A&M 11-6 in 2022 Frisco Classic).
