FAYETTEVILLE -- No. 5 Arkansas will open its baseball season Friday as Washington State comes to Fayetteville.

Dave Van Horn feels the schedule is a challenging one for the Razorbacks this season.

"I think like pretty much everybody in our clubhouse, just excited to get this season underway and see what this team can do," Van Horn said. "I think the schedule is extremely challenging. There’s really not too many games on there where you’re just going, ‘yeah, we’ll win that one’. We’re going to have to earn them all. I think the guys know that and are excited about that. You know, when you start a new season, you push the one from the year before behind you. You know, it was a great year last year. It just didn’t finish the way we wanted it. Another opportunity.

"A lot of new players. Probably a little bit of a period where we have to continue to bond, but I feel good about where we’re at as a team. I guess in modern-day, Division I baseball at this level, there’s always going to be so many roster changes. You just never know how it’s going to go. If it follows any indication, the team seems to be close. Probably about as close as we could hope at this time with so many new games. Just really looking forward to getting it going."

Weather is already wreaking havoc with the baseball schedule. There will be no game on Sunday. Instead the teams will play a double-header on Friday starting at noon with a 30-45 minute break before Game 2. Saturday's game still at 2 p.m. and then Monday is at noon. All the games can be found on the SEC Network+.

As far as the starting rotation, Van Horn has named his four starters for this series and games they will pitch.

"We’ve actually exchanged with Washington State. We’ll go with (Gabe) Gaeckle game one. Game two will be (Zach) Root. Three will be (Gage) Wood, and four will be (Landon) Beidelschies."

Wood, the former Batesville standout, worked both out of the bullpen last season and starter. Van Horn was asked what went into the decision to start Wood in third game and then Beidelschies in the fourth?

"I think, there wasn’t a whole lot to making that decision, honestly," Van Horn said. "It was just, we have four games this weekend. The difference between three and four, it’s more of we want to go right-hander the first game. We want to go lefty, come back with a righty and then a lefty. There’s no science to it, so to speak. You know, Wood’s been really good. We’ve hit him a little bit lately. I think he’s been frustrated, but the stuff’s been good. I think, you know, when you start to see our guys swinging the bats against our own pitching, we get pretty familiar with them. Sometimes that happens a little bit. Excited about those four. You know, there’s a lot of games. Things can change. I’m sure they will some, but I feel good about our bullpen, as well. We feel good about the guys coming off them."

Van Horn was asked about the competition between the four for starts going forward.

"You know, I’ve let Coach (Matt) Hobbs handle that," Van Horn said. "He met with all of our starters, or those four, and talked to them about this weekend. Maybe there was some, ‘why we’re doing this’, in there. He just said it went good, so we didn’t go and get into detail about it. I think our guys are just team guys, and that’s what we’ve been preaching since they walked in the door. Probably before we signed them or committed them, that’s what we’re all about here. When you get two kids showing up that are, one’s pitching No. 1 in the rotation and one’s pitching No. 2 behind a first-rounder that was draft eligible, I think that shows a little bit about their character, that they are team guys. They knew that we had Gaeckle coming back and he was projected to be pretty good here. They still came. I feel good about where we’re at there mentally."

Kendall Diggs battled through an injury-ridden season in 2024. He returned this season and Van Horn was asked about his health now?

"Well, what you do to judge that is evaluate, obviously, is use your eyes," Van Horn said. "But at the same time, you can look at some technology and look at his bat speed, what his numbers were and where they are now. They weren’t up the first couple of weeks, but now it’s starting to get there. I think it’s showing up a little bit in his exit velocity in BP, how it’s coming off the barrel. He mis-hit a ball the other day — not mis-hit, he got out in front on a pitch and hooked it down the right field line for a home run. Hit some balls the other way. Obviously when the guy isn’t running or played in game speed, you can simulate it as best you can, but you know the first week out, he kinda lightly tweaks a hammy, but it seems to be okay now. So we didn’t run him real hard in the scrimmages. I think he’s going to be better than ever. I think he’s got some people around him that are going to make each other better because if he doesn’t get it done, then that guy can get it done. There’s more pieces to our offense than we had last year."

Van Horn was asked about the value of having Diggs and former Bryant standout Will McEntire in the program for so long?

"Obviously having guys in your program that have been here for a few years is very valuable with the new guys coming in, whether they’re freshmen or transfers, just to maybe reflect on what’s gone on and seasons gone by," Van Horn said. "They’ve been here. Those guys have been to Omaha. They’ve been eliminated in their own regional twice. They’ve had the highest of highs, and lowest of lows. They’ve both struggled. 

"Mac struggled after being… first comes in here and we don’t even really acknowledge him and then a few conversations we give him the ball and next thing you know, he’s going on Tuesday’s the rest of the year. Next thing you know, he’s pitching his tail off in Omaha. You just never know how it’s going to go.

"Kendall has been in and out of the lineup and full-time starter since he was a freshman. Has the injury, batting average drops .150 points and we keep playing him. If he hadn't gotten hurt, he wouldn’t be here. He would’ve been drafted — probably could’ve been anyway if he would’ve signed for not much. They would’ve healed him up and he’d be at spring training, but he decided to come back.

"Having those two in our locker room is big. Again, I keep calling it modern day Division I baseball. Having some guys that have been in your program for a couple, three years, I think it’s just big for the rest of the team."

Arkansas will head to Arlington, Texas, next weekend for three games.