#5 Arkansas Hosts Washington State on Opening Weekend
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Fifth-ranked Arkansas, led by 23rd-year head coach Dave Van Horn, hosts Washington State on Opening Weekend inside the friendly confines of Baum-Walker Stadium to begin the 2025 college baseball season.
First pitch in the season opener between the Razorbacks and Cougars is noon Friday on SEC Network+. Instead of playing Sunday as originally scheduled, Arkansas and Washington State will now play a doubleheader on Opening Day with first pitch in game two of the series on SEC Network+ set to be thrown 30-45 minutes following the conclusion of game one.
Saturday’s matchup, the third of the four-game set, is still scheduled for 2 p.m. on SEC Network+, while the series finale between the Razorbacks and Cougars gets underway at noon Monday on SEC Network+ as originally scheduled.
Arkansas, the nation’s winningest program since 2017 with 333 overall victories, enters the 2025 season as the only SEC teams, and one of only two schools in the country, to win 40 or more games in each of the last seven full seasons.
Opening Weekend Schedule
Friday, Feb. 14
Washington State vs. #5 Arkansas [DH-1] – Noon – SEC Network+ – Listen – Live Stats
Washington State vs. #5 Arkansas [DH-2] – TBD – SEC Network+ – Listen – Live Stats
Saturday, Feb. 15
Washington State vs. #5 Arkansas – 2 p.m. – SEC Network+ – Listen – Live Stats
Monday, Feb. 17
Washington State vs. #5 Arkansas – Noon – SEC Network+ – Listen – Live Stats
On the Mound
Friday, Feb. 14 [DH-1]
Washington State – RHP Griffin Smith (2024 at Rock Valley CC: 11-0, 1.99 ERA)
Arkansas – RHP Gabe Gaeckle (2024 at Arkansas: 3-3, 2.32 ERA)
Friday, Feb. 14 [DH-2]
Washington State – LHP Nick Lewis (2024 at Washington State: Redshirt season)
Arkansas – LHP Zach Root (2024 at ECU: 6-2, 3.56 ERA)
Saturday, Feb. 15
Washington State – RHP Luke Meyers (2024 at Central Arizona College: 7-4, 2.20 ERA)
Arkansas – RHP Gage Wood (2024 at Arkansas: 3-2, 4.46 ERA)
Monday, Feb. 17
Washington State – TBA
Arkansas – LHP Landon Beidelschies (2024 at Ohio State: 6-7, 4.15 ERA)
Tune In
Brett Dolan (play-by-play) and Troy Eklund (analyst) have the call of Friday and Saturday’s games, while Shawn Murnin (play-by-play), the voice of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, will join Eklund in the booth for Monday’s series finale. All four games of the Opening Weekend series between Arkansas and Washington State will stream on SEC Network+.
The entire Opening Weekend series can also be heard on the Razorback Sports Network from Learfield, including locally in Fayetteville on 92.1 FM or through the Razorback app, with Phil Elson (play-by-play) and Razorback great and former big leaguer Bubba Carpenter (analyst) on the call. A full list of radio affiliates is available here.
In the Polls
The Razorbacks begin the 2025 season ranked in all five major polls. Arkansas is ranked fourth by Baseball America, fifth by D1Baseball, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and USA Today Coaches Poll, and 13th by Perfect Game.
Arkansas, a top 10 team in the coaches’ preseason poll for the seventh time since 2018, received one first-place vote and has been ranked in each of the last 110 coaches’ polls since 2017, the longest active streak in the sport.
History Lesson
Arkansas maintains a 7-3 overall series record against Washington State, including a 5-2 record in games played in Fayetteville. Under Dave Van Horn, the Razorbacks are 6-1 overall and 5-1 at Baum-Walker Stadium against the Cougars.
Hogs on Opening Weekend
Under head coach Dave Van Horn, the Razorbacks are 21-1 overall on Opening Day, including a stellar 16-1 record when opening the season inside the friendly confines of Baum-Walker Stadium.
When kicking off the season at home, Arkansas has never lost an Opening Weekend series under Van Horn, most recently winning three-of-four games against James Madison during Opening Weekend at Baum-Walker in 2024.
In the Van Horn era, the Razorbacks have recorded 12 Opening Weekend series sweeps (2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) when beginning their season in Fayetteville.
30 Seasons of Baum-Walker Stadium
The 2025 campaign marks the 30th season in the history of Baum-Walker Stadium, which opened in 1996. Since the venue opened, Arkansas has recorded six 30-win seasons inside the friendly confines of Baum-Walker Stadium: 2004 (31 wins), 2018 (program-record 34 wins), 2019 (33 wins), 2021 (30 wins), 2023 (32 wins), 2024 (program-record 34 wins).
Excluding 2020, the Razorbacks have won 28 or more home games in seven consecutive seasons at Baum-Walker Stadium: 2017 (29 wins), 2018 (34 wins), 2019 (33 wins), 2021 (30 wins), 2022 (28 wins), 2023 (32 wins), 2024 (33 wins).
Entering 2025, Arkansas has won 696-of-939 (74.1%) total games played at Baum-Walker Stadium. With an Opening Weekend series sweep, the Razorbacks can clinch their 700th overall victory in the stadium’s 30-year history.
29 and Counting
Entering this year’s Opening Weekend series against Washington State, Arkansas has won 29 consecutive non-conference home weekend series in a streak dating back to the start of the 2015 season.
The Hogs have not lost or tied a non-conference regular season weekend series at Baum-Walker Stadium since 2014. That season, Arkansas dropped two-of-three games to South Alabama in its final non-conference home weekend series.
Let’s Play Two on Opening Day
Friday’s Opening Day doubleheader marks the Razorbacks’ first scheduled Opening Day doubleheader since the 2009 campaign. That year, Arkansas also coincidentally began its season against Washington State at Baum-Walker Stadium and played twice on Opening Day en route to an Opening Weekend series sweep to start the campaign.
Arkansas also played a doubleheader against Eastern Illinois to start the 2019 season, but that year’s twin bill was played on Saturday after Friday’s scheduled Opening Day was postponed due to weather. That season, the Razorbacks came away with an Opening Weekend series sweep against the Panthers to start their campaign.
In both 2009 and 2019, Arkansas would ultimately advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
Get the Gack
Following his historic rookie campaign, sophomore Gabe Gaeckle enters the 2025 season as one of college baseball’s top pitchers. The right-hander has racked up numerous preseason awards, including being named Baseball America’s preseason SEC Pitcher of the Year, clinching consensus preseason All-America status from Baseball America, D1Baseball, NCBWA and Perfect Game and earning preseason first-team All-SEC recognition from the league’s 16 head coaches.
The Aptos, Calif., native was a unanimous first-team Freshman All-American in 2024 after he made 22 relief appearances for Arkansas and posted a 3-3 record with a 2.32 ERA, 57 strikeouts and a team-leading seven saves in 42.2 innings of work. Gaeckle became the fifth Razorback freshman pitcher since 2003 to record five or more saves in a season.
Gaeckle, who will get the ball in game one for Arkansas, is the sixth sophomore to start on the mound for the Hogs on Opening Day and fifth sophomore to start the home opener on Opening Day in the Dave Van Horn era (2003-pres.).
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