![\"Razorbacks](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01jnkzrtgdrs8hzp90sm.jpg\" "\\"Razorbacks")
<\/p>\nThe travel bags are unpacked and Arkansas is finally back where they belong in Baum-Walker Stadium this weekend.<\/p>\n
After four games under the roof at Globe Life Field in Arlington, the No. 8 Razorbacks are coming home to open the 2026 home schedule against Xavier.<\/p>\n
A 3-1 start in Texas isn\u2019t perfect, but it\u2019s solid, especially after giving up just 13 runs in four games.<\/p>\n
Now things will look the same for awhile. They will play 18 games in town before playing on the road again March 20.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s something about that first home opener for the coaches, fans and players.<\/p>\n
Everybody can dig into what’s going to be a long season. That’s probably how Hogs coach Dave Van Horn feels.<\/p>\n
Arkansas didn\u2019t overwhelm folks offensively in Arlington, but the pitching staff did its job. Thirteen runs allowed over four games is a solid start. It gives you a chance every night.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s been Van Horn\u2019s goal for years. His simply theory to pitch it well, catch it clean, and let the bats warm up as the weather does has usually worked out.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Arkansas Razorbacks designated hitter Kuhio Aloy during game with the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Andy Hodges-Hogs on SI Images<\/p>\n
The Aloy Question<\/p>\n
One storyline that traveled back from Texas involves right fielder Kuhio Aloy.<\/p>\n
The All-American designated hitter from last season came out of the 5-4 loss to TCU with hamstring tightness and hasn\u2019t played since.<\/p>\n
He missed the wins over Texas Tech and Tarleton State, though he made an impression before that.<\/p>\n
Aloy went 3-for-8 against Oklahoma State and TCU with a home run and three RBIs. His final swing in Arlington was a 445-foot shot into the second deck in left field.<\/p>\n
It was the kind of drive that will interrupt a conversation in the middle of a sentence.<\/p>\n
Van Horn gave an update Thursday that sounded cautiously optimistic.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe went full go in a practice yesterday and I feel like by tomorrow he should be 90% at a minimum,\u201d Van Horn said. \u201cHe wanted to play on Monday and we had him doing a lot of stuff in the hotel and treatment, and that\u2019s why I got him out of there so quick is that I didn\u2019t want this to be a monthlong thing if he hurt again trying to outrun something.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems like he\u2019s doing well. He was running about 70% pretty good on Monday, so it\u2019s gotten better. We\u2019ll look at it again today big time and see what we think, but I feel like he\u2019ll be ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the balancing act in the early season. You want your best bat in the lineup. You also don\u2019t want February to cost you April.<\/p>\n
Depth Getting Its Turn<\/p>\n
In Aloy\u2019s absence, freshman Christian Turner and redshirt senior transfer Zack Stewart picked up the defensive slack.<\/p>\n
Turner saw most of the innings in right field and went 1-for-6 at the plate with two walks and two runs scored. Van Horn appreciated what he saw.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw Turner make a couple of really nice plays, ran to the ball well, got a couple of nice [at-bats],\u201d he said. \u201cIt was just solid defense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stewart started the 3-1 win over Tarleton State but was lifted for Brendan Kleiman once the Texans brought in a left-handed reliever. That\u2019s the chess match you get early in the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of felt bad that I basically pulled Stewart out after his one at-bat against the right-hander, then they brought the lefty up,\u201d Van Horn said. \u201cThe game felt like to me\u2026we had a 3-0 lead and we just weren\u2019t doing much offensively. I went a [right-handed] hitter and then he didn\u2019t do well that at-bat against the lefty they brought in.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t flashy. It was situational baseball. In the SEC in February that still matters.<\/p>\n
A Veteran Visitor from the Big East<\/p>\n
Xavier rolls into Fayetteville at 2-2, fresh off a road series win against East Carolina and a midweek loss to No. 15 Louisville. Coach Billy O\u2019Connor, now in his ninth season, has built a club that leans on experience.<\/p>\n
Van Horn took notice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking at their lineup on the offensive end,\u201d he said. \u201cI think they\u2019re starting one freshman who had a really good weekend offensively, but it\u2019s mostly sophomores, juniors and seniors. A couple seniors, a few juniors, a couple sophomores. So these are kids that were in the program last year and he liked what he saw and felt like, \u2018Hey, these guys got experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to go play some Power 5 schools on the road early. Get ready for league play\u2019. Give them credit for that.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look at the pitching, I think it\u2019s a junior and a couple sophomores, and those two sophomores were freshmen last year, obviously. They pitched a lot. So, here they come.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, this is a team that, I\u2019m sure that they plan on being in a regional at the end of the year and this is a big series for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s about as much praise as you\u2019ll hear in mid-February.<\/p>\n
Junior right-hander Ryan Piech is set to start Friday. He allowed just two hits in four scoreless innings against East Carolina in his first outing this season.<\/p>\n
Last year, he logged 59\u2154 innings over 14 starts with a 4.37 ERA.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just pitches,\u201d Van Horn said. \u201cNothing like it\u2019s overpowering, just good stuff, and been around a little bit. I think he\u2019s a junior. Don\u2019t want to say a whole lot because they can watch this. And he did well the first time out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arkansas will counter with the same trio it used in Arlington of Gabe Gaeckle, Hunter Dietz and Colin Fisher. It’s a group that helped hold opponents to those 13 runs over four games.<\/p>\n
BIG-time upgrade at Baum-Walker \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n
Thanks to a generous gift from the Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation, JM\u2019s HogVision is a 19.25-foot-tall by 55-foot-wide board, providing 1,059 sq ft of digital space for HD video, instant replays, graphics, in-game stats and info. pic.twitter.com\/cD0aASXYCa<\/a><\/p>\n