On opening day, the Cougars baseball team traveled to Arkansas for a doubleheader against the No. 5 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks, and lost a heartbreaking game one by a score of 3-2 in the bottom of the tenth inning.
The game, which began at noon, was the home opener for the Razorbacks, who bring a strong squad into 2025. Gabe Gaeckle was the starting pitcher for the Razorbacks, while Griffin Smith was on the mound for the Cougs. Gaeckle, a sophomore, was drafted in the 20th round of last year’s draft, but chose to return to Arkansas after being named an All-American in his freshman year.
Smith, a junior, made his first start as a Cougar. The six-foot, two-inch right-hander transferred last summer to Wazzu from Rock Valley Community College in Illinois.
Razorbacks pitching coach Matt Hobbs had praised Gaeckle in the preseason. In an interview with Hogs+ he said Gaeckle had ace potential.
“I will say Gabe is talented enough to become one of those guys,” said Hobbs. “It will just be how he handles adversity. We all face it at some point in baseball.”
Gaeckle did not face much adversity in game one, however; he was effective, striking out seven and allowing just one hit. Smith matched him, allowing three hits and striking out four. Neither starter allowed a run, and both went a full five innings.
Offensively, the Cougars got their first look at the lineup in 2025. Junior Max Hartman led off and played left field, and fellow returner Logan Johnstone hit third, playing right field. Sandwiched between them was junior transfer Gavin Roy at shortstop, making his first start as a Coug and batting second.
Another transfer, Ricco Longo, hit cleanup and served as the designated hitter. Transfer first baseman Ryan Skjonsby hit fifth and played first base, and freshman Ollie Obenour hit sixth and was the second baseman.
Batting seventh was senior catcher, and the final returner for the Cougs, Will Cresswell. Rounding out the order were two more newcomers, freshman Kyler Northrop at third base and transfer sophomore Cole Watterson in center field.
“We didn’t have a lot of information on Washington State, they got a lot of transfers,” Gaeckle said in the postgame press conference.
The Cougars got on the board first, courtesy of Johnstone, who hammered a solo home run in the top of the sixth.
However, the Razorbacks struck back in the bottom of the sixth, with a sacrifice fly to tie the game.
The game stayed tied into extra innings when the freshman Obenour reached base and was able to take advantage of multiple Razorbacks errors to score and take a 2-1 lead for the Cougars.
Unfortunately, the bottom of the tenth did not go as planned for the Cougars. Sophomore transfer Trevor Stowe came on for the save opportunity and immediately walked the first three batters. A wild pitch allowed the game-tying run to score, and with one out in the inning, Brent Iredale hit a walk-off sacrifice fly. He spoke about his heroics in the postgame press conference.
“With the wind, I was sort of trying to pull the ball,” said Iredale. “With two strikes I’m just trying to make contact, and I was able to get down and get that change up.”
Although the Cougs lost in heartbreaking fashion, they proved they could compete against one of the best teams in the country, and got exciting results from their new ace.
