Nation-Leading Four Razorbacks Named Baseball America Preseason All-Americans

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A nation-leading four Hogs, including Gabe Gaeckle (first team), Carson Wiggins (first team), Ryder Helfrick (second team) and Camden Kozeal (third team), were named preseason All-Americans by Baseball America.

Baseball America’s preseason All-America teams are voted on and selected by scouting departments of major league organizations. Arkansas is one of two programs (Texas A&M) with a nation-best four preseason All-America honorees.

Gaeckle, previously named a preseason All-American by Perfect Game, made 19 appearances with nine starts on the mound as a sophomore last season, posting a 4-2 record with a 4.42 ERA and two saves in 71.1 innings. The right-hander from Aptos, Calif., tallied 92 strikeouts while limiting opposing hitters to a .235 average, turning in his best outing of the year at the College World Series with a career-high 10 strikeouts over six innings of one-run ball in relief against LSU.

Wiggins made 14 relief appearances on the mound as a true freshman before suffering a season-ending injury. The hard-throwing right-hander from Roland, Okla., went 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 14.0 innings during his rookie campaign, logging three saves, second most on the team, while limiting opposing hitters to a miniscule .152 average.

Helfrick, previously named a preseason All-American by D1Baseball, played in 61 games with 56 starts as a sophomore last season, slashing .305/.420/.616 with 15 home runs and 38 RBI. The Razorbacks’ star catcher, who recorded 14 multi-hit games and 11 multi-RBI games during the campaign, was even better in SEC play, slashing .337/.449/.635 with seven home runs and 21 RBI in 30 games against conference opponents. Defensively, the Discovery Bay, Calif., native was also one of the best behind the dish in all of college baseball last season, committing only three errors in 629 total chances (.995 fielding percentage) and throwing out 10-of-45 attempted base stealers (.222 caught stealing percentage).

Kozeal, meanwhile, played in 60 games with 55 starts as a sophomore last season, slashing .333/.386/.606 with 15 home runs and 62 RBI in his first year as a Razorback after transferring from Vanderbilt. The Omaha, Neb., native, who earned All-SEC honors at first base, had 23 multi-hit games and 16 multi-RBI games, including a team-best three 5+ RBI games.

Along with Gaeckle, Helfrick and Maika Niu, Kozeal and Wiggins are now the fourth and fifth Razorbacks to be named preseason All-Americans. Niu, who enters his first season at Arkansas after transferring from Marshall where he slashed .276/.343/.560 with a team-high 15 homers and 52 RBI, was previously named a Perfect Game preseason All-American.

Additionally, Gaeckle and Helfrick landed on Baseball America’s preseason watch lists for college pitcher and college player of the year, respectively. Carson Brumbaugh, previously named the D1Baseball and Perfect Game preseason SEC Freshman of the Year, earned a spot on the publication’s preseason watch list for college freshman of the year.

Brumbaugh enters his true freshman campaign at Arkansas after a standout prep career at Edmond Santa Fe High School in Edmond, Okla. Ranked by both Perfect Game and Prep Baseball Report as the No. 77 overall prospect in the class of 2025 as well as the No. 3 overall prospect in Oklahoma and No. 3 shortstop in the state, Brumbaugh is expected to start at shortstop for the Razorbacks this season, which would make him Arkansas’ first everyday true freshman shortstop since infielder Tim Smalling started 45 games at the position as a true freshman in 2007.

Arkansas is one of six teams (LSU, Tennessee, Texas, TCU, UCLA) with at least one player on each of Baseball America’s preseason watch lists for college player, college pitcher and college freshman of the year. Baseball America will release midseason watch lists on April 1 and announce four finalists in each category on May 27. Players not included on preseason watch lists remain eligible to win all awards. College production served as the primary evaluation factor for inclusion, with prospect status, feedback from professional evaluators and level of competition also considered.

The Hogs, led by 24th-year head coach Dave Van Horn, begin the 2026 season against Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13 in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. In 2025, Arkansas went 50-15 overall and 20-10 in SEC play to clinch its sixth 20-win SEC campaign and make its 12th trip to Omaha in program history.

Arkansas, the winningest team in the nation since the start of the 2017 campaign with 383 total victories, is the only SEC program, and one of only two programs in the country along with Southern Miss, to win 40-plus games in each of the last eight full seasons: 2017 (45), 2018 (48), 2019 (46), 2021 (50), 2022 (46), 2023 (43), 2024 (44) and 2025 (50).

For complete coverage of Arkansas baseball, follow the Hogs on Twitter (@RazorbackBSB), Instagram (@RazorbackBSB) and Facebook (Arkansas Razorback Baseball).