Gaeckleout does himself in CWS round-one, earns Razorbacker of the Week

There was no shortage of stellar pitching displayed in the opening-round marquee matchup of the 2025 College World Series between Southeastern Conference heavyweights Arkansas and LSU, but none shinned brighter than Razorback sophomore right hander Gabe Gaeckle.

Gabe Gaeckle earn Razorbacker of the week

Gaeckle came on early in relief of starter Zach Root and literally pitched himself out of his shoes at one point en route to a career-best six innings of 10-strikeout, one-run and three-hit work to earn Razorbacker of the Week nod in an eventual 4-1 loss.

"He threw 90 pitches and he struck out 10 guys," Razorback head coach Dave Van Horn said afterwards on Saturday. "Our team struck out 16. I thought the pitchers did a good job. They were moving it around a little bit. (Cole) Gibler made a mistake 0-2. It was supposed to be down in the dirt and he probably gets a strike out, and Gaeckle doesn’t give up any runs because that was his run out there. "

In the second time in just over a month, Root and LSU No. 1 starter Kade Anderson squared off between the two SEC rivals, who came into the eight-team CWS field as neck-and-neck favorites. Root's promising start was derailed in the second inning by close calls ruled outside of the strike zone. That led to a pair of critical walks and a hit batter which LSU turned into a 3-0 lead with two outs in the top of the second.

Gaeckle, who was named preseason SEC pitcher of the year but faltered in a starting role midway through the SEC regular season, then came on to go toe-to-toe with Anderson (11-1) over the next seven innings. Anderson, who is projected to be among the first pitchers taken in the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft, finished with seven strikeouts over seven innings while giving up one run on a solo homer to Razorback first baseman Reece Robinett in the sixth inning in an eventual 4-1 LSU win.

"(Gaeckle) pitched great. He did everything we were hoping he would do," Van Horn said. "That’s hold down a really good lineup and give us a chance to chip away and get back in but their staff didn’t let us."

No. 6 overall seeded LSU, which moves on to take on No. 16 seeded UCLA in the winners bracket tonight at 6 p.m., also got an inning of relief work from Chase Shores and Casan Evans to close out the game. Arkansas, which faces Murray State in an elimination game at 1 p.m. today, got additional relief from Gibler and Christian Fouch in the final two innings.

Van Horn praised Root, who has been stellar down the stretch for the Razorbacks and on into the postseason. However the coach said with so much on the line against the seven-time CWS champion Tigers he felt confident in giving the ball back to Gaeckle in that situation.

The faith in Gaeckle might have been rewarded except for the Tiger's equally formidable pitching depth.

"The feeling was we still have seven innings to go," Van Horn said. "Actually it was eight because it was the top of the second. We still had eight at bats to go so the thinking was we were still in it. At 3-0, the thinking was it was not a problem because we can score real quick. Maybe not (Saturday) with the way they pitched and the way the wind was blowing but it can happen. 

"We were just trying to chip away. Now when you get into the fifth and sixth inning and it’s still 3-0 and you start to get a little concerned. But then Reece hits a home run and it’s still nobody out. That would have been big. We had another inning where we got the leadoff man on. He gets to second on a wild pitch and we don’t score him. (Justin) Thomas hit a ball that you couldn’t hit any harder to center field but that’s the breaks of the game. The mood was confident but it’s one game. We’ve put ourselves in a hole that we’ve got to dig ourselves out of."

For his part, Gaeckle said he will be ready if called upon again — whether it's as a starter or reliever.

"I think it’s the same mentality — just go out there and pitch," Gaeckle said. "I just wanted to go out there and eat up some innings because we’ve got to save some guys because we have a lot of games ahead of us. It’s the same mentality and we will be back here in a few days. It was a little quicker turn around but you just have to be ready whenever.