FAYETTEVILLE — Most of the attention may be on the gridiron right now, but Arkansas baseball returned to Baum-Walker Stadium this week with the start of fall ball.
The Razorbacks concluded their first week of work with a pair of intrasquad scrimmages over the weekend, playing 11 total innings across Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.
Between the two scrimmages, 20 position players – including only four who were on last year’s team – saw action and 22 pitchers threw an inning apiece, with 10 of them being newcomers.
Only nine players on the roster didn’t play and most of them are dealing with known injuries, such as senior outfielder Kendall Diggs (shoulder) and Oregon State transfer right-hander Aiden Jiminez (Tommy John).
Below are a few takeaways from fall ball’s opening weekend, including top performers from the weekend as well as new names to watch for…
Arkansas Bats Flex Muscles
Arkansas opened its scrimmage season with a power onslaught, hitting 10 home runs on Friday afternoon.
Florida Gulf Coast transfer Charles Davalan, JUCO transfer Brent Iredale and returner Nolan Souza hit back-to-back-to-back long balls to lead off the opening scrimmage against sophomore Gabe Gaeckle.
Wehiwa Aloy joined the party in the bottom half of the first frame with a homer of his own off heralded East Carolina transfer Zach Root.
Freshman Brenton Clark made a statement of his own with a pair of home runs in his Arkansas fall debut. Fellow newcomers Trenton Rowan (JUCO transfer) and Carson Willis (freshman) had one homer apiece.
Sophomore Ryder Helfrick later took freshman Tag Andrews yard immediately after Souza did the same, earning his second home run trot of the game.
Saturday morning’s scrimmage didn’t match Friday’s 10 home runs, but Iredale did his part to add to the total with two more impressive shots of his own. The Australian’s first banged off the batter’s eye and the second found the roof of the Hunt Center beyond the right field wall.
True freshman Gabe Fraser and returner Reese Robinett rounded out the weekend with a solo shot each.
The Razorbacks hit nearly 16% of last year’s home run total (86) in just 22 innings at the plate this weekend, which is an encouraging sign of the potential power of Arkansas’ revamped lineup in 2025.
Here are the TrackMan metrics for the 14 home runs:
Freshmen Hit The Ground Running
Between the two scrimmages, Arkansas played 15 true freshmen, headlined by impressive performances at the plate by Gabe Fraser and Brenton Clark.
Fraser showed veteran patience in Game 1 by earning two walks, one of which led to a stolen base, before showcasing his power by taking fellow freshman Carson Wiggins’s fastball and sending it to the roof of the development center on Saturday morning.
Clark felt the need to one up his peer, hitting two long balls on Friday to go along with a sacrifice fly, totaling three RBIs in just three official at bats across the two scrimmages. Not a bad way to begin your Arkansas career.
Freshmen impressed on the mound, too.
Left-hander Cole Gibler, a top-150 recruit from Blue Springs, Mo., shined bright in his debut in the cardinal and white. He needed just 13 pitches to strike out heralded JUCO transfer Justin Thomas Jr. and key returnees Nolan Souza and Wehiwa Aloy in his lone inning of work.
Other notable freshman performances include those by catcher Carson Willis and the right-handed pitcher trio of Carson Wiggins, Steele Eaves and Kel Busby, the latter of whom had an electric strikeout of Willis after a long at-bat to end the fifth inning Saturday.
Arkansas Baseball Position Battles To Watch
There are only a few positions in the Arkansas defense that seem to be set in stone, with Ryder Helfrick and Wehiwa Aloy seemingly locked in at catcher and shortstop, respectively.
Assuming he’s fully healthy, Kendall Diggs will likely find himself starting in right field again, but with so many newcomers, the outfield could become crowded to say the least.
Two scrimmages might be too early to jump to conclusions, but Florida Gulf Coast transfer Charles Davalan seems to be the leading candidate in center field. He displayed some elite speed and range this weekend, plus potential at the plate by going 2 for 5 with a double and home run.
Even if Diggs and Davalan lock down the spots in right and center field, respectively, that leaves at least one outfield position, third base, second base and first base open for an all out position war.
Names to watch for in the outfield include TCU transfer Logan Maxwell, freshman Brenton Clark, DII transfer Carson Boles, JUCO transfer Justin Thomas Jr. and spark plug Fresno State transfer Rocco Peppi.
In the infield, returners Reese Robinett and Nolan Souza could find themselves fending off transfers in Cam Kozeal (Vanderbilt), Michael Anderson (Rhode Island), Brent Iredale (JUCO), Trenton Rowan (JUCO) and Kuhio Aloy (BYU), among others. Highly touted freshman Gabe Fraser could also play his way into the conversation.
Arkansas Baseball Unofficial Scrimmage Box Scores
Friday, Sept. 6
Saturday, Sept. 7
Andrew Hutchinson contributed to the above
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