OSU Coach’s Lofty Comment Underscores Hogs’ Stellar Pitching + More from Exhibition Win

Gabe Gaeckle, Landon Beidelschies, Gage Wood, Arkansas baseball, Arkansas vs Oklahoma State
photo credit: Craven Whitlow

FAYETTEVILLE — If Friday night was any indication, Arkansas baseball has another loaded pitching staff entering the 2025 season.

Seven Razorbacks combined for 18 strikeouts and allowed just two hits in an 8-1 exhibition win over Oklahoma State — and that lone run for the Cowboys was unearned.

Game 5 of the NLDS was played simultaneously, albeit 1,500 miles to the west, but Oklahoma State baseball coach Josh Holliday came away thinking some of the arms his team faced were more suited to pitch at Dodger Stadium than Baum-Walker Stadium.

“Those guys pitching tonight, you could have snuck some of them in a Dodgers or Padres uniform tonight and they could have held their own,” Holliday said. “Those are some talented guys.”

While that may be hyperbole, Arkansas baseball coach Dave Van Horn was very happy with what he saw on the mound, describing the performance as “lights out.” He added that he believes the Razorbacks will once again have one of the best pitching staffs in the country, as long as they stay healthy.

That much is definitely not an exaggeration, based on what was on display Friday night.

Only five Cowboys reached base in nine innings, and two of them came via errors. Oklahoma State center fielder Kollin Ritchie accounted for the other three times, going 2 for 2 with a walk, and his two hits were a soft liner to left and an infield single — nothing hit particularly hard.

The rest of Oklahoma State’s lineup combined to go 0 for 27 with 18 strikeouts, including an 0-for-3, two-strikeout day for second-team All-American left fielder Nolan Schubart.

“Our creed as a pitching staff is to get ahead and stay ahead,” left-hander Landon Beidelschies said. “We really focus on first-pitch strikes and getting the at bat over in three or less pitches, being as efficient as possible.”

None of Arkansas’ pitchers were asked to throw more than two innings, so it remains to be seen how well they do in extended work, but having seven arms as talented as those is an excellent starting point for the Razorbacks. In fact, their top seven pitchers last season accounted for 81.3% of their total SEC innings last season.

Here are a few other key takeaways from Game 1 of the Arkansas vs Oklahoma State exhibition series…

Starting Rotation Options for Arkansas Baseball

Dave Van Horn didn’t rule out other pitchers, including some who will throw on Saturday, but the first four who saw the mound Friday night appear to be the frontrunners for the three weekend rotation spots.

Perhaps only one of them has locked down one of those jobs and that’s sophomore right-hander Gabe Gaeckle, who got the starting nod in the exhibition.

He was electric against Oklahoma State. It should have been a perfect first inning, but a throwing error by Brent Iredale extended it. Gaeckle didn’t seem bothered, as he stranded the runner with his third strikeout.

Eight of his 17 pitches were fastballs and each of them were 97-99 mph. According to TrackMan, the UA’s analytics system, those pitches averaged 97.8 mph. He also threw only four balls, and two of them came against the batter he wouldn’t have faced if it wasn’t for the error.

East Carolina transfer Zach Root was the first pitcher out of the bullpen and was actually charged with the only run Arkansas allowed. However, it was the direct result of Justin Thomas Jr. dropping a fly ball in left to start the inning, so it was unearned.

That runner scored on a soft line drive by Kollin Ritchie, but instead of unraveling, Root locked in and was dominant from that point on. With a fastball that sat roughly 94 mph, plus a changeup and breaking ball, the left-hander induced a double play in an 0-2 count the very next at bat and then struck out the next four batters he faced.

“We feel like he’s one of those guys that the bigger the game, the lights come on, he’s going to step it up a little bit,” Van Horn said. “His velocity was up and, you think about it, it’s October and he pitched in the spring. Usually it starts to go the other way.”

It was a second straight strong outing for Root, who had struggled in the fall intrasquad scrimmages and was shelled in his appearance just prior to last weekend’s Fall Classic, in which he struck out two in a scoreless inning of work.

“We had this leaderboard up and I saw I wasn’t where I wanted to be,” Root said. “So I just put my head down and got back to work, just trying to prove to everyone that I belong here and I made the right decision coming here.”

Right-hander Gage Wood has had a very good fall and continued that as the next guy out of the bullpen. The only blemish on his line was a one-out, full-count walk in the fifth inning, but he responded with back-to-back strikeouts to strand the runner and cap his two scoreless frames.

The second of those strikeouts was particularly impressive because it came in a full count and on the very next pitch after he didn’t get a check-swing call to go his way. Wood’s fastball sat in the 95-96 mph range.

Finally, one of the more eye-popping performances of the night belonged to left-hander Landon Beidelschies. The Ohio State transfer came out throwing heat. All but one of his 13 pitches were fastballs and they were consistently 95 mph, with a couple of 96s and 97s mixed in — an uptick from how hard he was throwing for the Buckeyes this past spring.

“All fall, they were kind of clowning me for not throw a lot of fastballs, so I did want to prove a point,” Beidelschies said. “The plan was to throw nine straight fastballs and get out of there, but it didn’t quite go as planned.”

It only slightly went off-script, as he was two-thirds of the way to an immaculate inning before having to battle back from a 2-0 count and getting Avery Ortiz to line out to center.

Freshman Phenoms

Arguably the two best signees to get through the MLB Draft and make it to campus, both Cole Gibler and Carson Wiggins look like they will carve out significant roles on the pitching staff as freshmen.

Gibler, a left-hander from Blue Springs, Mo., has been the most consistent of the two this fall and actually entered the day leading the entire team in strikeouts per nine innings, according to unofficial statistics compiled by local media.

Despite facing the heart of Oklahoma State’s lineup, he continued that strong performance Friday night. He induced a soft ground out from Nolan Schubart, the All-American, and then struck out the next two Cowboys to finish off a perfect frame.

What fans who were at Baum-Walker Stadium will likely remember, though, is what Wiggins did in the eighth inning. His second and third pitches were 100 mph and he eventually touched 101 mph before striking out former Arkansas player Jayson Jones on a nasty 85 mph slider.

“I’ve seen guys that throw really hard, but they don’t throw it over the plate,” Van Horn said. “He threw it over the plate. He’s been throwing it over the plate. For a guy who throws that hard, he’s got a really good delivery, he repeats it and it gives him an opportunity to throw it over the plate consistently. Breaking ball was really good tonight. I mean, that was impressive.”

Wiggins, the younger brother of former Arkansas pitcher Jaxon Wiggins, was up in the count 0-2 when Kollin Ritchie hit a slow roller to short and reached on an infield single. It didn’t rattle him, as he got the very next batter to ground into an unconventional 6-4-3 double play. (Nolan Souza’s relay throw to first got by Reese Robinett, but the runner ever-so-slightly rounded the bag and Robinett was able to tag him out when the ball bounced back to him.)

“Just being around those guys every day, there’s no one that works harder than Cole Gibler, in my opinion, and Carson’s the same way,” Beidelschies said. “I wasn’t around Jaxon as much, but they say they’re pretty much the same person, so it is cool to see two of the most talented freshmen in the country go to work. I can’t wait to see what they do in the future.”

Offense Does It Without the Long Ball

One of the biggest criticisms of Arkansas’ offense the last few years has been that it is too reliant on the home run. Dave Van Horn has heard that and seems to agree, as it’s been a major point of emphasis this fall.

The Razorbacks are still going to hit the ball out of the park, but the hope is that they can manufacture runs even when that isn’t happening — and that’s just what they did Friday night.

None of Arkansas’ 13 hits cleared the fence, although two were line drives off the wall for extra bases, and it still managed to score eight runs and win comfortably.

“We hit a lot of home runs this fall, (but) we didn’t hit a home run tonight and we still scored eight runs,” Van Horn said. “I love that. … We created a lot of good innings, took a few walks, fouled off a lot of pitches, got a few really good two-strike hits, two-out hits.”

Just because there weren’t any home runs doesn’t mean Arkansas wasn’t hitting the ball hard. In fact, the Razorbacks consistently made solid contact. Take out their 10 strikeouts and they put the ball in play 26 times — and nearly half of those times, 12 to be exact, it had an exit velocity of 100-plus mph. That doesn’t even include a couple of laser line drives that went foul and eclipsed the triple-digit exit velo threshold.

Even though there was only one stolen base, Van Horn liked how they drove up the Oklahoma State pitch counts. The Cowboys’ starter, left-hander Harrison Bodendorf, threw 46 pitches and didn’t even record the final out of the second inning.

“Tonight was more about just making contact and advancing runners,” Van Horn said. “We didn’t do it with our legs so much or hit the ball out of the park, but we were hard to strike out in certain situations.”

Five of Arkansas’ seven run-producing plate appearances came with two strikes, including three when the hitter was down 1-2. One of those was a sacrifice fly by Brent Iredale, who hit the ball hard, but to dead center.

“Thompson and I — and the team — have made a two-strike approach,” Iredale said. “We’re shortening up on the bat and our swing percentage has gone down a little bit, but we’re still making hard contact and that’s what I try to do.”

That sacrifice fly was actually the only time Iredale failed to record a hit. He finished the exhibition 4 for 4 with a double, which is indicative of the kind of fall he’s had for the Razorbacks.

A transfer from New Mexico J.C., Iredale is originally from Australia and was a major MLB Draft risk who made it to campus. Playing in front of an estimated crowd of 8,000, which he said was “definitely” the biggest he’s ever had, didn’t seem to bother him.

“This is only a fall game and this is the biggest I’ve ever been in,” Iredale said. “I’ve played a little bit of pro ball back home, but the crowds are a little different. They’re more hyped and engaged in the game over here, so I’m enjoying it. It’s different, but it’s fun.”

Up Next for Arkansas Baseball

The Razorbacks will wrap up fall ball with another exhibition against Oklahoma State beginning at noon CT Saturday.

The two teams are scheduled to play 10 innings, with Dave Van Horn telling reporters that they’re treating it as two separate 5-inning games with a short break in between.

As was Friday night’s exhibition, it will be free to attend.

Other Arkansas Baseball Tidbits

  • It wasn’t a save situation, but right-hander Christian Foutch closed out the victory with two strikeouts in a perfect ninth inning. All but three of his 14 pitches were fastballs, which were mostly 98 mph, but did touch 99 a couple of times.
  • Shortstop Wehiwa Aloy had an impressive day at the plate, going 2 for 4 with a double, one walk and two RBIs. His two hits had exit velocities of 113 and 110 mph.
  • The only change from Arkansas’ loaded lineup in last week’s Fall Classic to Friday’s starters was in left field, as JUCO transfer Justin Thomas Jr. got the nod over freshman Brenton Clark. He dropped a fly ball in left for the error that led to Oklahoma State’s only run, but he also had an RBI triple on a line drive that hit near the top of the wall in left-center, narrowly missing out on a two-run homer.
  • Former Arkansas third baseman/left fielder Jayson Jones returned to Baum-Walker Stadium with his new team and went 0 for 3 with a strikeout and run scored. He hit fifth in the lineup and started at designated hitter, but subbed in at third base midway through the game.
  • Unlike what they do for most games, the Razorbacks kept hitting coach Nate Thompson in the dugout and allowed assistant Bobby Wernes coach third base. Wernes is usually the first base coach. Instead, first-year student assistant Hudson Polk, who was a catcher the last two years, handled the first base coach duties.

Arkansas Baseball Postgame Interviews

YouTube video
YouTube video

Arkansas vs Oklahoma State Box Score (Game 1)

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