Hog Trio Named NCBWA Preseason All-Americans
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Highlighted by sophomore right-handed starting pitcher Gabe Gaeckle’s second-team recognition, three Razorbacks were named preseason All-Americans by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
In addition to Gaeckle, junior lefty Zach Root and junior righty Christian Foutch earned third-team honors at starting pitcher and reliever, respectively. Arkansas’ three NCBWA preseason All-America pitchers are the most of any team.
Gaeckle enters the 2025 campaign with numerous accolades after 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 following a historic rookie year in which he made 22 relief appearances on the mound and posted a 3-3 record with a 2.32 ERA, 57 strikeouts and a team-leading seven saves in 42.2 innings, becoming the fifth Arkansas freshman pitcher since 2003 to record five or more saves in a season.
Root, previously named a preseason All-American by both D1Baseball and Perfect Game, collected his third preseason All-America honor of the spring. The ECU transfer went 6-2 with a 3.56 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 68.1 innings across 13 appearances, including 12 starts, on the mound during his stellar sophomore campaign in 2024, which earned him a spot on the midseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award. The Fort Myers, Fla., native recorded four quality starts last season, punctuated by a career-best seven-inning, 10-strikeout performance against Cal State Fullerton (March 2, 2024).
Foutch, who earned his first preseason All-America honor, turned in a strong sophomore campaign in 2024, making 20 appearances in relief for Arkansas and posting a 1-0 record with a 0.81 ERA, 20 strikeouts and one save in 22.1 innings. The Littleton, Colo., native, who earned preseason second-team All-SEC recognition from the league’s 16 head coaches, allowed only two runs (both earned) last year, finishing the season with the lowest ERA by a Razorback pitcher to appear in at least 20 percent of the team’s games since Kevin Kopps recorded a 0.90 ERA in 89.2 innings over 33 outings in 2021.
The Razorbacks, ranked in the preseason top five by Baseball America (No. 4), D1Baseball (No. 5), the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (No. 5) and the USA Today Coaches Poll (No. 5), open the season with a four-game series against Washington State on Feb. 14-17 at Baum-Walker Stadium. Arkansas, the nation’s winningest program since 2017 with 333 wins, is one of only two schools in the country to win 40 or more games in each of the last seven full seasons.
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