Trio of Razorbacks with Draft Potential Help Avert Opening Day Woes

Helfrick, Gaeckle, Iredale shine to eek out win No. 1 for the Hogs against Washington State

Arkansas Razorbacks catcher Ryder Helfrick talking with home plate umpire in game against the Washington State Cougars / Andy Hodges-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Opening day is all about overreacting. For about 20 minutes, in the first game of Arkansas' double header against Washington State, the offensive woes from the previous two seasons seemed to be rearing its ugly head again.

Arkansas came within three outs of starting the season 0-1 for the second time in 4 years. Catcher Ryder Helfrick air-mailed a throw over the first baseman's head allowing the go-ahead run to score in the top of the 10th.

"It was kind of a tweener ball," coach Dave Van Horn said. "Needed to have a little more feel on that, maybe. Just take a little bit off of that, but it was a good play [just to keep it fair]."

The Razorbacks pulled it out of the fire, thanks to stellar starting pitching and late-inning heroics from three Razorbacks who all share something in common — they very easily had the talent to go the MLB Draft before ever putting on a Razorback uniform.

Gabe Gaeckle and Ryder Helfrick were both Perfect Game Top 100 prospects for the class of 2023 out of California. Both could have easily foregone their commitment to the Hogs and gotten a jumpstart on their pro careers.

Arkansas Razorbacks pitcher Gabe Gaeckle delivers a pitch against the Washington State Cougars at Baum-Walker Stadium on opening day in Fayetteville, / Andy Hodges-Hogs on SI Images

"I've said this since high school," Helfrick said in the preseason . "He [Gaeckle] shouldn't have even made it campus. His stuff was so good, I've told everybody that."

Instead Gaeckle chose to come to Arkansas and is now the Friday starter. He justified his role on opening day, pitching five shutout innnings on just 78 pitches with seven strikeouts.

"It was great," Gaeckle said about his first start. "Two wins on the day, so that's always a positive. My curveball is pretty beneficial for me today. Seemed like they weren't seeing it that well, so I was able to steal some strikes with it."

Third baseman Brent Iredale was in a similar place coming out of New Mexico Junior College. He was widely considered one of the top JUCO hitters out of this year's class and on some pre-Draft boards.

Instead all three played key roles in the season-opening wins in Hog uniforms. After allowing the go-ahead run to score in the top of the inning, Helfrick reddemed himself by starting the two-run rally that ended up winning the game. He drew a nine-pitch walk to lead off the inning and set the table.

"For him to come up to start that inning [and] not go out of the zone chasing," coach Dave Van Horn said. [He wasn't] trying to hit a home run to make up for it. "Just getting on base. Doing his job,"

Walkin' it off on Opening Day 🙌 pic.twitter.com/OpeGKhHGlV

— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) February 14, 2025

"'I'm just trying to make contact [with two strikes]," Iredale said. "I was able to get down and get that changeup or whatever it was."

Five batters later, with the bases loaded, Iredale did the same thing, just doing his job, hitting the game winning sac fly.

Attack the zone ✅ pic.twitter.com/Mgt6uARuAo

— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) February 15, 2025

Three Hogs, who all three could have skipped Fayetteville on their baseball journeys at various points, all decided to come to Baum-Walker and play for Arkansas and all three came together to piece together an opening day win, the first of what they hope is a the elusive championship season.

If the Razorbacks hadn't won the first game, the season wouldn't have been declared a disaster. There are still over 50 more games to play and the Hogs won the second game of the doubleheader with more conviction, 14-2 in seven innings. However, given the way the last two seasons have ended, it would have brought back a familiar feeling of uneasiness about the offense.

Arkansas returns to action 1 p.m. Saturday against Washington State. The game will be streamed on ESPN+. Fans can also listen to the game on the Razorbacks Sports Network on ESPN Arkansas 99.5 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.

HOGS FEED:

• Razorbacks NIL failures embarrassment compared to others in SEC

• Razorbacks' sweep opening day thumping Washington State

• Get to know under the radar 2027 lineman Colby Castling

• Razorbacks tie school record in blowout loss to Ole Miss

• How many wins does Pittman need to avoid uproar from Razorback fans?

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