Scouting Arkansas' College Baseball Showdown opponents
For the first time in 239 days, the Diamond Hogs will take the field in a meaningful game Friday night.
Arkansas is set to participate in the College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, for the second time in three seasons. The event features some of the nation’s best teams, four of which cracked the D1Baseball top 25. The eighth-ranked Razorbacks will take on the barely unranked Texas Longhorns, the No. 15 TCU Horned Frogs and the No. 9 Oklahoma State Cowboys, in that order.
“All three teams are ranked based on a few polls,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said Wednesday. “These are teams that were in regionals last year and are projected to be there this year.”
The Razorbacks and the Longhorns will renew their rivalry at the home of the Texas Rangers for the second time in a duel of left-handed aces that will pit Hagen Smith against Lucas Gordon. A preseason All-Big XII selection, the junior started 16 games for Texas during its 2022 run to the College World Series, rocking a 3.05 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in more than 85 innings.
The 2023 Texas roster looks significantly different from its CWS team, namely without 2022 Golden Spikes Award winner Ivan Melendez, but as D1Baseball managing editor Kendall Rogers mentioned in the tweet above, it boasts a promising freshman trio.
Perfect Game ranked middle infielder Jalin Flores the No. 11 player in the Lone Star State, first baseman Jared Thomas No. 21 and outfielder Max Belyeu No. 29. For comparison, PG ranked Arkansas freshmen Jayson Jones and Sean Fitzpatrick No. 3 and No. 38, respectively.
Saturday brings another former Southwest Conference foe the Hogs’ way in the form of the Horned Frogs, who will start right-hander Cam Brown against Will McEntire. The TCU junior started nine games last season, including an eight-inning gem in which he allowed no earned runs against Louisiana at the College Station Regional. Brown posted a 4.42 ERA and 1.43 WHIP in 53 innings.
The Big XII coaches picked TCU to win the league and named six Horned Frogs to the preseason all-conference team, including preseason player of the year Brayden Taylor. The junior third baseman also picked up two All-America honors and a spot on the Golden Spikes Award watch list. He is a career .319 hitter through two seasons with a 1.024 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, 25 home runs and 103 runs batted in.
Joining Taylor on the All-Big XII team is preseason freshman of the year Anthony Silva, PG’s No. 5 overall player from Texas. Also named to the squad were two outfielders — Elijah Nunez, who stole 31 bases last year, and Austin Davis, a career .313 hitter — and relievers Luke Savage and Garrett Wright, both of whom recorded sub-3.00 ERAs in 2022.
The Razorbacks are set to conclude opening weekend with a rematch of the 2022 Stillwater Regional final Sunday. The Cowboys have not officially announced a starting pitcher, but an Oklahoma State source told HawgBeat that Janzen Keisel is expected to get the nod against Arkansas lefty Hunter Hollan. The right-hander pitched 46 ⅓ innings as a freshman at BYU last season, with a 4.27 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP in 19 games, nine of which were starts.
Two-way player Nolan McLean earned a spot on the 2023 Golden Spikes Award watch list after belting 19 homers — two of which came against Arkansas — as the Pokes’ third baseman last year. With four All-America selections to his name, he is expected to play right field when he is not pitching this season.
Second baseman Roc Riggio, who hit three doubles and homered twice against the Hogs last June, also garnered a couple All-America honors. Rounding out the Cowboys’ preseason honorees is All-Big XII shortstop Marcus Brown, a Springdale native with a .323 average during his two years in Stillwater.
Arkansas’ first two contests are slated to begin at 7 p.m., but they are dependent on two prior games both days, plus a mandatory 45-minute intermission. The Hogs’ finale is set for 2:30 p.m. Sunday, the second game of the day. All games can be streamed lived on the paid subscription service FloSports.