FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – On the heels of an Opening Weekend series sweep at home against Washington State, the fifth-ranked Razorbacks hit the road for the first time this season to make their way down to Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, to compete in the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series presented by Kubota. Arkansas squares off against Kansas State, No. 22 TCU and Michigan during the three-day, three-game tournament at the home of the Texas Rangers.
The action gets started Friday, Feb. 21, with first pitch between the Razorbacks and Wildcats scheduled for 7 p.m. Ben Wilson (play-by-play) and Pat Combs (analyst) have the call all weekend long on FloCollege.
This weekend will mark Arkansas’ fourth appearance (2021, 2023-25) in the Arlington-based tournament. The Hogs are 7-2 all-time at Globe Life Field, including a perfect 3-0 record in 2021 and 2-1 records in both 2023 and 2024.
Opening Weekend Schedule
Friday, Feb. 21
Kansas State vs. #5 Arkansas – 7 p.m. – FloCollege – Listen – Live Stats
Saturday, Feb. 22
#5 Arkansas vs. #22 TCU – 6 p.m. – FloCollege – Listen – Live Stats
Sunday, Feb. 23
Michigan vs. #5 Arkansas – Noon – FloCollege – Listen – Live Stats
On the Mound
Friday, Feb. 21
Kansas State – LHP Jacob Frost (0-0, 3.37 ERA)
Arkansas – RHP Gabe Gaeckle (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Saturday, Feb. 22
Arkansas – LHP Zach Root (1-0, 1.80 ERA)
TCU – RHP Tommy LaPour (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Sunday, Feb. 23
Michigan – TBA
Arkansas – RHP Gage Wood (0-0, 3.60 ERA)
Tune In
Ben Wilson (play-by-play) and Pat Combs (analyst) have the call for the entirety of the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field. All three of the Razorbacks’ tournament games in Arlington will stream on FloCollege.
All three games can also be heard on the Razorback Sports Network from Learfield, including locally in Fayetteville on 92.1 FM or through the Razorback app, with Phil Elson on the call. A full list of radio affiliates is available here.
History Lesson
Arkansas is 30-21 all-time against Kansas State, including a 2-1 record in games played at neutral sites. Under head coach Dave Van Horn, Arkansas is 4-3 overall and 1-0 at neutral sites against the Wildcats.
Arkansas is 48-22 all-time against TCU, including a 2-1 record in games played at neutral sites. Under Van Horn, Arkansas is 4-3 overall and 1-1 at neutral sites against the Horned Frogs, with both neutral site games played at Globe Life Field.
Arkansas is 1-0 all-time against Michigan, including a 1-0 record in games played at neutral sites. The Razorbacks and Wolverines clashed on the diamond for the first time in history in last year’s tournament, resulting in a 4-3 Arkansas win.
Hogs at Globe Life Field
Arkansas, 7-2 all-time in games played at the Globe Life Field, is set to make its fourth appearance in the Arlington-based tournament this weekend. The Razorbacks also competed in tournaments at Globe Life Field in 2021, 2023 and 2024.
The Razorbacks went undefeated in the inaugural State Farm College Baseball Showdown in 2021, sweeping the state of Texas by steamrolling through a loaded tournament field that included Texas Tech, Texas and TCU. Arkansas went 2-1 in the Higginbotham College Baseball Showdown in 2023 with wins against Texas and Oklahoma State.
The Hogs also went 2-1 in last year’s Kubota College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field, downing Oregon State and Michigan along the way. Arkansas’ trip to Arlington was highlighted by ace Hagen Smith’s historic pitching performance against the Beavers (Feb. 23, 2025) in which he tied a single-game program record with 17 strikeouts.
Smith’s 17-strikeout performance also broke a Globe Life Field single-game record. The previous Globe Life Field single-game strikeout record was held by Oklahoma’s Chazz Martinez, who fanned 14 vs. Northwestern State on Feb. 27, 2022.
Smith needed only 18 outs and 78 pitches, including 59 strikes, to tie Arkansas’ single-game strikeout record, which had stood for nearly 17 years. It was held by Jess Todd, who struck out 17 South Carolina batters in 118 pitches over eight innings during Arkansas’ 6-0 win over the Gamecocks on May 24, 2007, in the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala.
Smith, who tossed six scoreless innings while working around just three hits and one walk in the legendary outing, recorded 15 consecutive outs via strikeout to begin the ballgame. 17 of the 18 total outs that Smith recorded came via strikeout, and he racked up 15 of his 17 strikeouts using his slider. Smith fanned Oregon State star Travis Bazzana three times on the night, as the Razorback pitching staff’s 23 total strikeouts in the ballgame broke the program record.
The following night, Arkansas broke its single-game program record for strikeouts for the second game in a row against Oklahoma State (Feb. 24, 2024). In front of a crowd of 16,271, the Razorbacks and Cowboys battled it out for 14 innings, marking the longest game ever played — collegiate or professional — at the home of the Texas Rangers, which opened in 2020. The Arkansas pitching staff, which had racked up 23 strikeouts against Oregon State the night before to break the previous program record of 18, tallied 25 strikeouts against Oklahoma State to eclipse the record.
In total, Razorback pitchers allowed just six earned runs on 19 hits over 31.1 innings of work across three games in the 2024 Kubota College Baseball Series, striking out a program-record 59 in total while walking only 10 across three games.
30 and Counting
Arkansas opened the 2025 season by sweeping Washington State in a four-game set on Opening Weekend to win its 30th consecutive non-conference home weekend series in a streak that dates back to the start of the 2015 campaign.
The Razorbacks have not lost or tied a non-conference regular season weekend series at Baum-Walker Stadium since 2014, when Arkansas lost two-of-three games to South Alabama in its final non-conference home weekend series.
Get the Gack
Arkansas right-hander Gabe Gaeckle will get the start on the mound in the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series opener against Kansas State. The sophomore made his first collegiate start on the bump on Opening Day against Washington State (Feb. 15), firing a career-long five shutout innings with a career-high seven strikeouts in the Razorbacks’ win.
In his Globe Life Field debut last season in the Kubota College Baseball Series, Gaeckle struck out six over 2.2 scoreless innings of relief work against Oklahoma State (Feb. 24, 2024). The Aptos, Calif., native entered the 2025 campaign as one of college baseball’s top pitchers, racking up numerous preseason awards including preseason SEC pitcher of the year honors from Baseball America, consensus preseason All-America status from Baseball America, D1Baseball, NCBWA and Perfect Game and preseason first-team All-SEC recognition from the league’s 16 head coaches.
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie
Arkansas infielder Brent Iredale powered the Razorbacks to an Opening Weekend series win against Washington State, slashing a team-leading .467/.526/.933 with two home runs and nine RBI over four games.
The Sydney, Australia, native, making his Arkansas debut after beginning his collegiate career at New Mexico Junior College, had at least one hit and RBI in all four games, logging two multi-hit games and three multi-RBI performances, including a four-RBI game. Iredale had the game-winning sac fly to lead the Hogs to a 3-2 walk-off win in 10 innings in the season opener before blasting two homers, his first multi-homer game as a Razorback, in game three of the series.
Iredale became the first Razorback with nine RBI in a season-opening series since outfielder Heston Kjerstad accomplished the feat against Eastern Illinois on Opening Weekend in 2020. Kjerstad hit four home runs during Arkansas’ season-opening sweep of Eastern Illinois, homering twice and recording six RBI in the series finale.
Iredale, Kjerstad, Carson Shaddy (9 RBI vs. Bucknell, 2018) and Sam Bates (9 RBI vs. Villanova, 2012) are the only Hogs in the Dave Van Horn era (2003-pres.) with nine RBI in a season-opening series. Only Iredale played four games.
For complete coverage of Arkansas baseball, follow the Hogs on Twitter (@RazorbackBSB), Instagram (@RazorbackBSB) and Facebook (Arkansas Razorback Baseball).
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