Three Hogs Named NCBWA All-Americans
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Three Razorbacks, including Ethan McElvain, Camden Kozeal and Hunter Dietz, have been named All-Americans by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. McElvain collected up second-team praise as a relief pitcher, while Kozeal and Dietz secured third-team recognition at shortstop and starting pitcher, respectively.
The Arkansas trio are the 39th, 40th and 41st All-America selections in program history, and the 40th, 41st and 42nd overall All-America honorees in the Dave Van Horn era (2003-pres.). Additionally, McElvain and Dietz are the 11th and 12th pitchers to earn an All-America honor under the leadership of pitching coach Matt Hobbs (2019-pres.), while Kozeal is the 12th hitter to garner an All-America accolade under the guidance of hitting coach Nate Thompson (2018-pres.).
McElvain was a force in the Razorback bullpen during the season, posting a 6-0 record with a 1.03 ERA and six saves in 35.0 innings in 19 relief appearances. The left-hander, who earned All-SEC honors from the league’s 16 head coaches and was named one of 14 finalists for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award honoring the nation’s top relief pitcher, tallied 52 strikeouts while limiting opposing hitters to a .163 average and allowing just four runs on 21 hits and 10 walks.
He struck out a season-high seven batters across three scoreless frames in relief at Kentucky on May 15 before tossing a season-long 4.1 innings of shutout ball with six strikeouts vs. Auburn on May 23 in the SEC Tournament. McElvain’s final appearance of the year came in a start against Kansas on May 31 in the NCAA Lawrence Regional, allowing four runs in 3.1 innings of work to finish the campaign with a 6-0 record, 1.88 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 38.1 innings on the mound.
Kozeal slashed a team-leading .318/.410/.653 with 20 home runs and 71 RBI in 62 games on the year. The Razorback shortstop led the team in nearly every major offensive category: batting average (.318), runs scored (59), base hits (78), doubles (18), triples (2), home runs (20), RBI (71), total bases (160) and slugging percentage (.653). With his 20 homers, he finished tied with Chad Spanberger, Andrew Benintendi and Rodney Nye for fourth most in a season by a Razorback.
Dietz, meanwhile, blossomed into Arkansas’ ace and one of the top pitchers in all of college baseball after injury-plagued seasons as a true freshman and redshirt freshman in 2024 and 2025, respectively. The left-hander, a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy, finished the campaign with a 7-4 record, 3.57 ERA and a team-leading 131 strikeouts, including an SEC-best 47 strikeouts looking, in 85.2 innings over 16 starts on the mound for the Hogs.
The Trinity, Florida, native, who earned All-SEC honors from the league’s 16 head coaches, turned in an SEC-leading nine quality starts on the year and was the first SEC pitcher to eclipse the 100-strikeout mark for the season. With his 131 strikeouts, Dietz finished his breakout year fourth on the program’s single-season top 10 list for strikeouts by a pitcher.
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