The Arkansas baseball team is set to host the Oklahoma State Cowboys for Friday and Saturday exhibitions at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville this weekend.
Admission and parking is free to the public for both games. Concessions will be available and no outside food and drinks are allowed except in the Hog Pen. There will be no television or stream option.
“We’ll play nine (innings Friday) and then the way we’re going to work it on Saturday, is we’re going to probably play 10 innings, but we’re going to play two 5-inning games,” head coach Dave Van Horn said Thursday. “We talked about this yesterday, and we had talked about it originally when we were making plans to do this, to play a little bit more than nine innings. So we decided to go 10. So at the end of five innings on Saturday, we’ll take a five- or 10-minute break and let them fix the field again.”
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WHO: Arkansas vs. Oklahoma State
WHAT: Baseball exhibitions, free for public to attend
WHEN: Friday, Oct. 11 at 6 p.m. & Saturday, Oct. 12 at 12 p.m. CT
WHERE: Baum-Walker Stadium — Fayetteville, Arkansas
UPDATES: Below... (IT WILL NOT BE TELEVISED OR ON RADIO)
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Live updates began rolling at 5:10 p.m. CT
Starting Lineups
Arkansas
1. CF Charles Davalan
2. SS Wehiwa Aloy
3. C Ryder Helfrick
4. RF Logan Maxwell
5. 3B Brent Iredale
6. 2B Nolan Souza
7. DH Kuhio Aloy
8. 1B Reese Robinett
9. LF Justin Thomas Jr.
SP - RHP Gabe Gaeckle
Oklahoma State
1. 2B Avery Ortiz
2. LF Nolan Schubart
3. 3B Aidan Meola
4. 1B Colin Brueggemann
5. DH Jayson Jones
6. CF Kollin Ritchie
7. C Ian Daughtery
8. DH Garrett Shull
9. RF Donovan LaSalle
10. SS Brock Thompson
SP - LHP Harrison Bodendorf
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Top 1st - (Gabe Gaeckle pitching for Arkansas)
- Avery Ortiz strikes out on 98 mile per hour fastball
- Nolan Shubart three-pitch strikeout
- Aidan Meola reaches second via throwing error by Brent Iredale
- Colin Brueggemann strikes out swinging
0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB
Score: Oklahoma State 0, Arkansas 0
Bottom 1st - (Harrison Bodendorf pitching for Oklahoma State)
- Charles Davalan flies out to right field
- Wehiwa Aloy lines a 113 mile per hour single to left field
- Ryder Helfrick grounds out to the pitcher, Aloy advanced to second
- Aloy advances to third on wild pitch
- Logan Maxwell grounded out to second base
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB
Score: Oklahoma State 0, Arkansas 0
Top 2nd - (Zach Root pitching for Arkansas)
- Jayson Jones reaches second via fielding error in left by Justin Thomas Jr.
- Kollin Ritchie hits an RBI single to left, Jones scores (1-0)
- Ian Daughtery hits into 4-6-3 double-play
- Garrett Shull strikes out swinging
1 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 0 LOB
Score: Oklahoma State 1, Arkansas 0
Bottom 2nd - (Bodendorf still pitching for Oklahoma State)
- Brent Iredale singled to center
- Nolan Souza hits a 106 mile per hour double to right-center, Iredale to third
- Kuhio Aloy hits a 105 mile per hour RBI single to right, Iredale scores, Souza to third (1-1)
- Reese Robinett hits an RBI single to right, Souza scores, K. Aloy to second (2-1)
- Justin Thomas Jr. strikes out swinging
- Davalan grounds out to second, K. Aloy to third, Robinett to second
- W. Aloy lines a 110 mile per hour double to left, K. Aloy and Robinett score (4-1)
*inning called after that*
4 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB
Score: Arkansas 4, Oklahoma State 1
Top 3rd - (Root still pitching for Arkansas)
- Donovan LaSalle struck out swinging
- Brock Thompson struck out swinging
- Ortiz struck out swinging
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB
Score: Arkansas 4, Oklahoma State 1
Bottom 3rd - (RHP Noah Wech now pitching for Oklahoma State)
- Helfrick popped out to third
- Maxwell struck out swinging
- Iredale doubled to left
- Souza struck out swinging
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB
Score: Arkansas 4, Oklahoma State 1
Top 4th - (RHP Gage Wood now pitching for Arkansas)
- Schubart struck out swinging
- Meola flied out to right
- Brueggemann struck out swinging
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB
Score: Arkansas 4, Oklahoma State 1
Bottom 4th - (Wech still pitching for Oklahoma State)
- K. Aloy grounded out to third
- Robinett singled up the middle
- Thomas with a 382-foot RBI triple to the wall in left-center (5-1)
- Davalan RBI sacrifice fly out to center (6-1)
- W. Aloy struck out swinging
2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB
Score: Arkansas 6, Oklahoma State 1
Top 5th - (Wood still pitching)
- Jones lined out to center
- Ritchie walked
- Daughtery struck out swinging
- Shull struck out swinging
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB
Score: Arkansas 6, Oklahoma State 1
Bottom 5th - (RHP Sean Youngerman now pitching for Oklahoma State)
- Helfrick strikes out looking
- Maxwell doubles off the wall in right-center
- Iredale singled to right, Maxwell thrown out at home plate
- Souza flied out to center
0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB
Score: Arkansas 6, Oklahoma State 1
Top 6th - (LHP Landon Beidelschies pitching for Arkansas)
- LaSalle three-pitch strikeout
- Thompson three-pitch strikeout
- Ortiz lined out to center
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB
Score: Arkansas 6, Oklahoma State 1
Bottom 6th - (Youngerman still pitching for Oklahoma State)
- K. Aloy flied out to right
- Robinett struck out swinging
- Thomas walks
- Davalan walks, Thomas to second
- W. Aloy grounds out to short
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB
Score: Arkansas 6, Oklahoma State 1
Top 7th (LHP Cole Gibler now pitching for Arkansas)
- Schubart grounds out to first
- Meola struck out swinging
- Brueggeman struck out swinging
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB
Score: Arkansas 6, Oklahoma State 1
Bottom 7th (RHP Stormy Rhodes now pitching for Oklahoma State)
- Helfrick walked
- Maxwell walked, Helfrick to second
- Runners advance on wild pitch
- Iredale RBI sacrifice fly to center, Helfrick scored, Maxwell to third (7-1)
- Souza RBI single to left, Maxwell scored (8-1)
- Cam Kozeal pinch hitting, reaches on error by third baseman, Souza to second
- Souza to third on wild pitch
- Kozeal stole second
- Robinett struck out swinging
*inning called with two outs*
2 runs, 1 hits, 1 errors, 2 LOB
Score: Arkansas 8, Oklahoma State 1
Top 8th (RHP Carson Wiggins now pitching for Arkansas)
- Jones struck out swinging
- Ritchie singled to shortstop
- Sylvester grounded into 6-4-3 double play
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB
Score: Arkansas 8, Oklahoma State 1
Bottom 8th (LHP Ryan Ure now pitching for Oklahoma State)
- Thomas popped up to second base
- Davalan fouled out to third base
- W. Aloy walked
- Helfrick walked
- Carson Boles pinch hitting, struck out swinging
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB
Score: Arkansas 8, Oklahoma State 1
Top 9th (RHP Christian Foutch now pitching for Arkansas)
- Shull struck out looking
- Bray Smith pinch hit swinging strikeout
- Thompson flied out to center
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB
Score: Arkansas 8, Oklahoma State 1
Bottom 9th (Ryan Ure still pitching)
- Iredale singled to center
- Souza grounded out to third, Iredale to second
- Iredale to third on wild pitch
- Kozeal struck out looking
- Michael Anderson struck out swinging
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB
FINAL: ARKANSAS 8, OKLAHOMA STATE 1
Game Preview
This will be the first time the Diamond Hogs have faced outside competition on the college level in the fall since September 2019, when the Oklahoma Sooners came to town for a 14-inning exhibition. Arkansas also hosted the Texas Rangers instructional league team for two exhibitions in Oct. 2022. The Razorbacks won both matchups and outscored the Rangers, 18-6.
The Diamond Hogs and Cowboys have plenty of recent history, as Arkansas won two of three games over Oklahoma State to make it out of the 2022 Stillwater Regional and eventually make a deep run in the College World Series before being eliminated by the eventual national champions, Ole Miss.
Arkansas has also played Oklahoma State at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, each of the past two seasons. The Razorbacks picked up an 18-1 run-rule win in seven innings on Feb. 19, 2023, and the Cowboys returned the favor with a 2-1 victory in 14 innings Feb. 24 of this year.
Last season, the Razorbacks finished with a 44-16 overall record and a 20-10 mark in SEC play. Oklahoma State was 42-19 overall with a 19-9 record in Big 12 play last season.
Van Horn's roster features 51 players entering fall ball, and he'll have to cut it down to 40 before starting the 2025 season. After next year, the roster limit of 40 with a total of 11.7 scholarships will change to a limit of 34 roster spots and scholarships.
Key players back for Arkansas include pitchers Gabe Gaeckle, Gage Wood, Will McEntire, Christian Foutch and others, along with position players Wehiwa Aloy, Nolan Souza, Kendall Diggs and more.
Arkansas also dipped in the transfer portal to form one of the nation's top transfer classes this offseason. Names to know include transfer pitchers Zach Root (East Carolina) and Landon Beidelschies (Ohio State), plus FGCU transfer outfielder Charles Davalan, TCU transfer outfielder Logan Maxwell and others in the field.
As always, HawgBeat will have plenty of coverage of Arkansas fall baseball live on The Trough message board throughout the weekend.
