Three bold predictions for Arkansas baseball's 2023 season

Christina Long, Fort Smith Times Record
·2 min read
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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas baseball's 2023 season begins this weekend at the College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, Texas.

The No. 6 Razorbacks open the campaign against No. 24 Texas on Friday (7 p.m. CT).

Arkansas is coming off its 11th College World Series appearance, where the Razorbacks finished third. Arkansas lost seven of its nine regular starters in the batting order, but Coach Dave Van Horn brought in a top-ranked recruiting class and called the pitching staff his deepest ever.

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2022 record: 46-21, 18-12 SEC

2022 SEC West finish: Second

Top returning hitters: Peyton Stovall, INF, So. (.295, 6 HR, 31 RBI); Brady Slavens, INF, Sr. (.255, 16 HR, 58 RBI); Jace Bohrofen, OF, Jr. (.228, 1 HR, 17 RBI)

Top returning pitchers: Hagen Smith, LHP, So. (7-2, 4.66 ERA, 90 SO); Will McEntire, RHP, Jr. (2-2, 2.59 ERA, 49 SO); Brady Tygart, RHP, So. (3-4, 3.82 ERA, 51 SO)

Top newcomer: Jared Wegner, OF, Grad (transfer from Creighton)

Arkansas will lead the SEC in team ERA

Last season, Arkansas ranked No. 3 in the SEC in team ERA (4.07). Arkansas retained four big names from that staff: sophomore lefthander Hagen Smith, sophomore righty Brady Tygart, redshirt junior righthander Will McEntire and senior lefty Zack Morris. The SEC has some loaded pitching staffs this season, particularly Tennessee, but Arkansas seems to have the talent to keep up.

Arkansas' fielding percentage will be near the bottom of the SEC

Arkansas has set program records in team fielding percentage in each of the last two seasons, including .982 in 2022. That hot streak could come to an end this year. Arkansas might not suddenly become a bad fielding team. But maintaining record-setting success is hard to do, especially for a team that lost all but two regular hitters.

The Razorbacks' fielding percentage will sit around .975. Based on 2022 numbers, that would be 11th in the league, but it would actually be one of Arkansas' highest fielding percentages as a program. Before the Razorbacks set a new record in 2021, the program's best was .976 in 2017.

Razorbacks will have lowest SEC West finish since 2016

Arkansas hasn't finished below second place in the SEC West since 2016 when the Razorbacks were last. Arkansas has won at least 18 games every year since that 2016 season.

This year, that will be much harder to do. Five of the Razorbacks' 10 conference opponents are ranked inside the preseason top 10. They play three of those five on the road. The Razorbacks won't fall like they did in 2016, but I'm predicting they finish in third place in the West behind LSU and Texas A&M.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Three bold predictions for Arkansas baseball's 2023 season