We are six days away from Arkansas baseball, and HawgBeat is continuing its annual lineup preview series for the Diamond Hogs.
With scrimmage coverage, analysis, interviews, previews, the Diamond Hawgs Podcast and more, HawgBeat provides the best Arkansas baseball coverage around.
We continue things with the cleanup spot in the lineup, which third baseman Brent Iredale is projected to fill...
#10 - Brent Iredale - 3B
Jr. | R/R | 6-3 | 200
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia / The Hill Sports HS / New Mexico JC
2024: 58 GP, .441/.576/1.000, 22 2B, 4 3B, 25 HR, 78 RBI, 47 BB/32 K, 24 SB
Junior college transfer Brent Iredale is one of a handful of Razorbacks who somehow snuck through the cracks of Major League Baseball scouting departments and made it to campus in Fayetteville.
The Australia native regularly crushed baseballs for New Mexico JC last season, when he bashed 25 home runs, 22 doubles and four triples. Iredale had an incredible 1.576 OPS and he also stoled 24 bases.
"You know, Brent was a guy that turned down money to come to school here, obviously," Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said Sept. 3. "He’s put up huge numbers at the junior college level. You can say, ‘well, it’s junior college’, but he still put up the numbers. He hit, he’s a good defender, he’s a big, strong kid. He’s got a lot of power. He can actually really run, as well.
"His tools are a little better than we thought they would be. I thought we were looking more at a hitting guy, pretty good fielder. I didn’t know he could run like he can. He throws accurate. He’s one of about five guys that we got through that we didn’t think we were going to get him, to be honest with you."
Of the players with at least 30 at bats recorded by local media in the fall, Iredale had a team-best 1.412 OPS across 34 at bats. He recorded 15 hits, one double, a team-high five homers and 16 RBI. Iredale also ranked third on the team with six successful stolen bases on six attempts.
During the Oct. 11 exhibition against Oklahoma State at Baum-Walker Stadium, Iredale went 4-4 at the plate with a double and a triple. Iredale also went 3-4 at the plate with two RBI and two stolen bases in the team's Fall Classic on Oct. 4.
On top of having a big bat at the plate, Iredale has been an above-average defender in scrimmages. Last season at New Mexico JC, Iredale had a .949 fielding percentage with eight errors primarily at third base.
"He’s better than I thought he would be, because he’s a better defender," Van Horn said Oct. 4. "He really listens. That’s helped a little bit on that end, but he came in good."
While Iredale has fared well against the Razorbacks' pitching, it'll be interesting to see how he starts off against outside competition. It seems to be a recent trend for the Hogs' hottest preseason hitter to start slow when the season gets going, but maybe Iredale can put an end to that.
"I call him The Silent Assassin," Van Horn said Jan. 15. "He doesn't say a whole lot, but he'll get after you in the game. You guys might have been out to a few of our fall scrimmages, but then when we played (Oklahoma State), he got his hits that Friday night, four or five of them. He didn't kill the ball, but we've seen him hit balls off the scoreboard, opposite field, pull balls out of the park.
"He's a big guy that can run. He can steal bases, kind of sneaky there. I think the players love him, because like I said, he doesn't say a whole lot, smiling all the time, and yeah, he's got a chance to be really good. Now, you know the question always is, and probably for the scouts and everybody else, is, OK, you're going from junior college to Division I, but he did a good job in the fall. It's not like we saw a guy that couldn't hit a slider or couldn't recognize a change up. He's got some awareness to him, and he's coachable."
Arkansas will host Washington State at Baum-Walker Stadium on Friday, Feb. 14 for Opening Day. The first game of the season is set for a 3 p.m. CT first pitch.
HawgBeat's Lineup Breakdown Series
4. #10 - Brent Iredale - 3B
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