Three Hogs on Preseason All-SEC Teams; Arkansas Predicted to Finish Third in Preseason Coaches Poll

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Led by sophomore right-handed starting pitcher Gabe Gaeckle’s first-team recognition, three Razorbacks were named to the Preseason All-SEC Teams as selected by a vote of the league’s 16 head coaches.

In addition to Gaeckle, junior left-hander Landon Beidelschies and junior right-hander Christian Foutch earned second-team praise at starting pitcher and relief pitcher, respectively. Arkansas’ three preseason All-SEC representatives are its most since 2022, when the Razorbacks placed three position players on the Coaches Preseason All-SEC Teams.

Arkansas’ three preseason All-SEC pitchers on this year’s Coaches Preseason All-SEC Teams are also the most of any school and the most it has ever placed on the Coaches Preseason All-SEC Teams, which were first voted on in 2015.

Gaeckle, who enters the 2025 campaign as Baseball America’s preseason SEC Pitcher of the Year as well as a preseason All-American by Baseball America, D1Baseball and Perfect Game, heads into the season looking to build upon a historic rookie year in which he was named a unanimous first-team Freshman All-American. The Aptos, Calif., native made 22 relief appearances on the mound, posting a 3-3 record with a 2.32 ERA, 57 strikeouts and a team-leading seven saves in 42.2 innings of work to become the fifth Arkansas freshman pitcher since 2003 to record five or more saves in a season.

Beidelschies, a transfer from Ohio State, was the Buckeyes’ Friday night starter one year ago, posting a 6-7 record with a 4.15 ERA and 91 strikeouts in 84.2 innings across 15 starts on the mound. The Canfield, Ohio, native, named a preseason All-American by Perfect Game alongside Gaeckle, logged seven quality starts during his sophomore campaign at Ohio State and recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts in an outing at West Virginia (March 15, 2024) last season.

Foutch, meanwhile, is coming off a strong sophomore campaign in which he made 20 relief appearances for the Hogs, posting a 1-0 record with a 0.81 ERA, 20 strikeouts and one save in 22.1 innings. The Littleton, Colo., native who allowed two runs (both earned) all year, finished the season with the lowest ERA by a Razorback pitcher to appear in at least 20 percent of the team’s games since pitcher Kevin Kopps recorded a 0.90 ERA in 89.2 innings over 33 appearances in 2021.

Arkansas, led by 23rd-year head coach Dave Van Horn, was picked to finish third in the Preseason Coaches Poll and received three first-place votes, second most behind predicted winner Texas A&M’s league-leading 10 first-place votes.

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.

2025 SEC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Texas A&M (10) – 228
2. Tennessee (1) – 215
3. Arkansas (3) – 214
4. LSU (1) – 204
5. Florida (1) – 183
6. Georgia – 165
7. Vanderbilt – 156
8. Texas – 146
9. Mississippi State – 112
10. Kentucky – 102
11. Oklahoma – 101
12. Auburn – 100
13. Alabama – 98
14. South Carolina – 61
15. Ole Miss – 60
16. Missouri – 31

() – First place votes

2025 Coaches Preseason All-SEC Baseball Team
First Team
C: Ike Irish, Auburn
C: Devin Burkes, Kentucky
1B: Jared Jones, LSU
1B: Hunter Hines, Mississippi State
2B: Cade Kurland, Florida
3B: Gavin Grahovac, Texas A&M
SS: Justin Lebron, Alabama*
SS: Dean Curley, Tennessee*
OF: Jace LaViolette, Texas A&M
OF: Ethan Petry, South Carolina
OF: Max Belyeu, Texas*
OF: Tre Phelps, Georgia*
DH/Util: Hayden Schott, Texas A&M
SP: Ryan Prager, Texas A&M
SP: Gabe Gaeckle, Arkansas
SP: Liam Doyle, Tennessee
SP: Kade Anderson, LSU
RP: Nate Snead, Tennessee
RP: Alton Davis II, Georgia
RP: Gavin Guidry, LSU

Second Team
C: Rylan Galvan, Texas*
C: Luke Heyman, Florida*
1B: Cooper McMurray, Auburn
2B: Gavin Kilen, Tennessee
2B: Wyatt Henseler, Texas A&M
2B: Daniel Dickinson, LSU*
3B: Andrew Fischer, Tennessee
3B: Slate Alford, Georgia*
SS: Colby Shelton, Florida
OF: RJ Austin, Vanderbilt
OF: Hunter Ensley, Tennessee
OF: Caden Sorrell, Texas A&M
DH/Util: Will Hodo, Alabama
SP: Zane Adams, Alabama
SP: Landon Beidelschies, Arkansas
SP: Hunter Elliott, Ole Miss*
SP: JD Thompson, Vanderbilt*
SP: Kyson Witherspoon, Oklahoma*
RP: Christian Foutch, Arkansas
RP: Miller Green, Vanderbilt
RP: Robert Hogan, Kentucky

*Ties

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