ARLINGTON, Texas — Razorback baseball is back.
No. 8 Arkansas opens the 2023 season against three Big 12 teams, No. 9 Oklahoma State, No. 15 TCU and Texas, in the College Baseball Showdown this weekend at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers, in Arlington, Texas.
First pitch in the Hogs’ season opener against the Longhorns is set for 7 p.m. Friday.
The Razorbacks will square off with the Horned Frogs at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, before concluding their season-opening weekend against the Cowboys at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19. All three games will stream on FloSports.
You can listen to Brett Dolan online at HitThatLine.com or on ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain-Home.
Arkansas enters the 2023 campaign on the heels of the program’s 11th trip to the College World Series and its third in the last four postseasons. The Razorbacks posted a 46-21 overall record in 2022, cementing themselves as the only team in the country with at least 45 wins in each of the last five full seasons.
Schedule
Friday, Feb. 17
No. 8 Arkansas vs. Texas – 7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 18
No. 8 Arkansas vs. No. 15 TCU – 7 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 19
No. 9 Oklahoma State vs. No. 8 Arkansas – 2:30 p.m.
On the Mound
Friday
Arkansas LHP Hagen Smith (2022: 7-2, 4.66 ERA) vs. Texas LHP Lucas Gordon (2022: 7-2, 3.05 ERA)
Saturday
Arkansas RHP Will McEntire (2022: 2-2, 2.59 ERA) vs. TCU RHP Cam Brown (2022: 5-2, 4.42 ERA)
Sunday
Arkansas LHP Hunter Hollan (2022: N/A) vs. Oklahoma State TBA
Tune In
Two broadcast crews – Danny Lee (play-by-play) and Pat Combs (analyst) & Ben Wilson (play-by-play) and Mike Hardge (analyst) – will split the call this weekend from Globe Field Life. Fans can catch all the action on FloSports.
You can listen to Brett Dolan online at HitThatLine.com or on ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain-Home.
In the Polls
Arkansas is ranked by all six major college baseball polls to begin the season:
Perfect Game – No. 4
NCBWA – No. 6
USA Today Coaches – No. 6
Collegiate Baseball – No. 7
D1Baseball – No. 8
Baseball America – No. 11
Honored Hogs
Four Razorbacks — pitcher Hagen Smith, infielder Peyton Stovall, pitcher Brady Tygart and outfielder Jared Wegner — enter the 2023 campaign as preseason All-Americans.
Stovall, one of the Razorbacks’ three team captains, heads into the season as a preseason All-American as well as a preseason All-SEC honoree after slashing .295/.373/.425 with six homers and 31 RBI over 52 games as a true freshman in 2022. In the NCAA Tournament, he slashed a team-leading .429/.451/.571 with two homers and 13 RBI over 11 games.
Tygart also heads into the season as a preseason All-American and preseason All-SEC honoree. He emerged as Arkansas’ closer as a true freshman in 2022, going 3-4 with a 3.82 ERA and a team-leading eight saves in 37.2 innings of work.
Tygart, who was named a Freshman All-American and earned a spot on the Freshman All-SEC Team at the year’s end, begins the 2023 season on the preseason watch list for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award.
Smith is a preseason All-American after going 7-2 with a 4.66 ERA in 77.1 innings on the mound as a true freshman in 2022.
Smith, who struck out 90 and limited opposing hitters to a .232 batting average, racked up numerous accolades following his stellar year, including Freshman All-America praise and a spot on the Freshman All-SEC Team.
Wegner, a newcomer to the Razorbacks after transferring to Arkansas from Creighton, is a preseason All-American after slashing an eye-popping .343/.459/.635 with 11 home runs, 53 RBI and 11 stolen bases for the Bluejays in 2022. Over his four-year playing career at Creighton, he slashed .303/.408/.483 with 14 home runs, 80 RBI and 21 stolen bases.
Toughen Up
On paper, Arkansas appears to boast the SEC’s toughest regular-season schedule. The Hogs’ 2023 regular-season slate features 15 teams, including Texas, TCU and Oklahoma, that participated in last year’s NCAA Tournament. The next-closest SEC teams are Missouri and Vanderbilt, who each play 11 opponents that advanced to the postseason in 2022.
Arkansas – 15
Missouri – 11
Vanderbilt – 11
Alabama – 10
Florida – 10
Georgia – 10
Mississippi State – 10
Ole Miss – 10
Texas A&M – 10
LSU – 9
Tennessee – 9
Auburn – 8
Kentucky – 8
South Carolina – 8
Arkansas last finished a season with the country’s toughest schedule in 2021, when its opponents combined for a nation-leading .613 winning percentage.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
