A new season in baseball has started: the postseason. Arkansas came out very strong in the Fayetteville regional. You could easily tell the difference between Arkansas and the other 3 teams. This was a good start, considering the past 2 years’ performance in the regionals.

As a team, Arkansas batted .320 with 10 HR to go along with it. They struck out only 13.7% of the plate appearances, compared to being above 20% in the regular season. There was really no dominant pitcher for Creighton nor North Dakota State. Cam Kozeal led the way on Friday, with Wehiwa Aloy on Saturday vs Creighton, and Logan Maxwell on Sunday’s final game. Ryder Helfrick was steadily good throughout the whole weekend, which has been a trend for the past month.

One thing that I noticed is that, while the hitters fall behind in the count a lot, they are very disciplined. Meaning that they do not immediately chase a pitch that results in a K. Multiple times I can remember a hitter being behind and working a count to full. Even Kuhio Aloy, who has struggled and had some bad luck lately, was not resulting in 3-pitch strikeouts each time.

On the other side, you have to applaud the pitching on Saturday and Sunday. Zach Root was great on Saturday, especially when he knew there was room to work with from the offense. Gage Wood (13 strikeouts over 6 innings) and Gabe Gaeckle (7 strikeouts over 3 innings) gave Creighton the business they had not seen before. Outside of a hit-by-pitch and subsequent homerun, Gage Wood was the best I have ever seen him. About the only performance I can remember better is Hagen Smith vs Oregon State in 2024.

Some things I am thinking about, at least to watch for, on the pitching side is the 3rd starter situation and bullpen usage. Aiden Jimenez is just not the same pitcher right now. I think he should be used for a couple innings out of the bullpen. In the bullpen, we have a few guys who now have not had work in at least 2 weeks, by the time the Supers start. Christian Foutch, Cole Gibler, and Dylan Carter did not get any appearances this weekend, so it will be interesting to see how they come out when used in the supers.

After the results of the regionals, Arkansas is looking like a top 3 choice for the NC. However, they arguably have the most challenging “lower seed” team to play against: Tennessee. I find it odd that the committee paired Arkansas and Tennessee, considering they played each other in Fayetteville less than a month ago. Arkansas will need to win 2 out of 3 again, but hopefully, the regional gave them some extra confidence.

Diamond Hawgs of the Week

Zach Root, Gage Wood, and Gabe Gaeckle – stated above, very impressive performances, can they continue this into Tennessee (which went badly for them first time around)

Ryder Helfrick – This is at least the 2nd time I have had him here. He hit .545, with 3 HR and 4 RBI over the weekend, consistent the entire time

Super Regional Prediction (vs Tennessee)

I think this series will get to game 3. I am predicting Arkansas to win the Marcus Phillips game and lose the Liam Doyle game. Tennessee has been awful in game 3’s, and this trend continues with an Arkansas W and trip to Omaha.

References

Kaijo, C. (2025). Arkansas wins Fayetteville Regional over Creighton (M. Jones, Ed.) [Review of Arkansas wins Fayetteville Regional over Creighton]. https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2025/jun/01/live-updates-arkansas-creighton/

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