Arkansas 2025 pitching staff gets big boost with the return of Will McEntire

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

FAYETTEVILLE – There will be a lot of new faces on the mound for the Arkansas baseball program next season, but also one very familiar face.E

Razorback veteran right handed hurler Will McEntire, who is 16-5 and has appeared in 65 career Razorback games, announced Wednesday that he will use his sixth season of eligibility at Arkansas.

“Not done being a Hog,” McEntire said via his social media account X, previously known as Twitter.

McEntire was a freshman during the abbreviated 2020 Covid season, redshirted in 2021 and has pitched for the Razorbacks during the 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons.

He was 5-0 with a 4.83 ERA in a team-high 30 appearances covering 54 innings this past season for Arkansas.

McEntire has started 20 of the 65 games he has appeared in and has fanned 204 batters while walking 70 in 197 2/3 innings.

The highlight of his career so far came in the 2022 College World Series in Omaha in an 11-1 win over Auburn in which he started and pitched seven innings while allowing thee hits and one run.

He was also brilliant in a complete game win over Louisiana Tech in 2023 in which he did not allow any earned runs in nine innings.

Arkansas is expected to lose its weekend starting pitching rotation of Hagen Smith, Brady Tygart and Mason Molina to the 2024 MLB Draft, which begins Sunday night at 6 p.m.

The Razorbacks are likely to move closer Gabe Gaeckle into a starting role next season and have added transfer portal starters in Zach Root (East Carolina) and Landon Beidelshies (Ohio State).

Ben Bybee, Dylan Carter, Parker Coil, Hunter Deitz, Cooper Dossett, Jaewoo Cho, Colin Fisher, Christian Foutch, Tucker Holland, Tate McGuire, Diego Ramos, Jack Smith and Gage Wood are returning pitchers currently listed on the roster.

The Razorbacks have also signed 10 high school pitchers.