Off the heels of Arkansas' SEC series sweep on the road against Vanderbilt, it's easy to disregard Razorback fans' exuberance. Arkansas fans have felt this way before.
Remember 2018? 2021? 2023?
More often than not, Arkansas baseball is usually one of the nation's best teams in the regular season. The postseason brings varied results — sometimes losses at home in Arkansas' own regional, sometimes a trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
The constant in all of these aforementioned seasons? No rings. Zilch, zero, nada.
Fans, players and coaches have heard it, talked about it and read about it for years. For all of Arkansas' regular season success, the lack of a championship looms over Northwest Arkansas like an unshakeable storm cloud.
But this year — and remember to not shoot the messenger — something feels different.
Is this Arkansas baseball year's?
This year's Arkansas squad boasts both elite hitting and elite pitching. It's a team of players who do nothing but their job - a job that usually entails hitting bombs and playing elite defense.
Nine Hogs have at least four home runs, led by Wehiwa Aloy's 10. His brother, Kuhio, joins him near the top of the list with eight, while Charles Davalan has nine.
Arkansas' pitching has been incredible as well, with starter Zach Root (4-1, 3.23 ERA, 39.0 IP) leading the way. The highest ERA of any Arkansas pitcher with at least 10 innings of work this season is Gabe Gaeckle's mark of 5.93 - but even when one pitcher is off over the course of a game or a series, others tend to pick up the slack.
Arkansas is off to a start that should inspire the yearly bout of overconfidence that usually comes back to bite fans in the end - but this year, that confidence may be warranted. Arkansas still needs to peak at the right time, but the Hogs seem to be a squad made out of the fabric to do just that.
A smashin' success in Nashville pic.twitter.com/d65VLLDPqP
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) March 30, 2025
Time will tell whether or not Van Horn can finally accomplish the mission he's been trying to accomplish in Fayetteville for over two decades, but the 2025 Razorbacks seem to be the team that can finally break thorugh and deliver a College World Series to the Natural State.