Arkansas Razorbacks Need to Reach Third Game of SEC Tournament, But Now Why You Think

Arkansas needs to get to a third game at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala. this week.

Not because it's essential to landing the Hogs in a regional hosting spot, although it wouldn't hurt the argument since being No. 10 in the country after winning 7-of-10 series in the country's most dominant baseball conference apparently isn't quite enough.

No, the Razorbacks need a third game so head coach Dave Van Horn can experiment on pitchers in a live environment with nothing truly on the line. The Hogs have books of data on Cole Gibler.

There is nothing about him and a scenario Arkansas could face next week that they don't already know. The flexibility of a third game is Van Horn and pitching coach Matt Hobbs get to choose any member of the pitching staff and run him out against a quality team for as long as they want.

It doesn't matter if he has only thrown middle relief for a shade under two innings a pop or worked as a mid-week specialist. They get to put their man through the paces and decide whether he needs to be on the mound to start Game 3 at next week's regional.

Of course, that means figuring out who this mystery man will be. Everyone knows Hunter Dietz is carved into stone as the Day 1 starter, and if he holds to form, No. 32 in your program will hand it off to No. 33, Vanderbilt transfer Ethan McElvain, and that will be that.

When the two combined to lock up current No. 4 Georgia to steal the series opener, 6-3, in mid-April, a week after they ended Alabama's 18-game winning streak in Tuscaloosa, that pair was off the table.

As of last week, former projected team ace Gabe Gaeckle secured enough faith from Van Horn that he appears to be comfortable setting him up as a Day 2 package deal with Parker Coil and Oregon State transfer James DeCremer.

So the question becomes who is left beyond Gibler with whom this staff can experiment. Let's just be honest, the cupboard isn't as deep as initially imagined when the season began.

What is left is a short list of Steele Eaves, Cooper Dossett and Tate McGuire, a trio that does a tremendous job of making Gibler look like a strong candidate for at least SEC Third Team pitcher of the year. To give each a fair shot at making a case, we will go back as far as the final Missouri State game, the furthest back the Hogs face an NCAA Tournament potential team without having the game take place so long ago the data would no longer hold substantial value.

Let's start with Eaves, the trio member who appears to have drawn the most interest from the Hogs' coaching staff as of late and it's easy to see why. He has four games where he didn't give up a single run, which includes a pair of appearances against Oklahoma and an outing against Missouri.

This was a really impressive sequence from Steele Eaves after he inherited base runners from Gabe Gaeckle.

This three-pitch strikeout of Kentucky star Tyler Bell kept the Razorbacks ahead 3-2 through the sixth. pic.twitter.com/QV0v2eA0wE
— Matt Jones (@ByMattJones) May 16, 2026

Since the final week of April he has thrown a combined eight innings, giving up three earned runs across seven games. Obviously, it's not apples to apples, but if he could get anywhere close to only giving up three runs in a prolonged outing, even if it were five or six innings, that would be a huge boost.

Meanwhile, McGuire has been the most prolific of the three. He has pitched 12 innings across that same stretch, which is 50% more production time than Eaves, who happens to be a freshman. The more experienced junior saw his longest trip to the mound take place in a blow out loss against Ole Miss where he helped the Razorbacks salage the bullpen by doing 2 2/3 innings.

Tate. Freaking. McGuire. pic.twitter.com/k2Ee22pFlZ
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) February 15, 2026

The only downside to his portfolio is he has given up nine earned runs off 17 hits, which is already .75 runs per inning without the downside of having a line-up see his stuff a second time.

As for Dossett, he's the biggest mystery of the bunch. While he has a strong mustache game on the mound, not much is known about his actual pitching.

He has only appeared four times for a total of 3.1 innings of work, although he has made the most of his appearances. Against Missouri State and Missouri, Dossett managed to give up no runs and no hits, even when other pitchers were struggling against the Tigers in a 6-1 loss.

Cooper Dossett is a problem, folks! pic.twitter.com/nN8Cm1sD4O
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) February 7, 2026

He pitched an inning each against Oklahoma and Ole Miss, giving up a hit and a run to each. The biggest question with him is how far can he go before his arm starts to tire after having worked so little in game situations throughout the year.

Getting to a Game 3 and seeing whether the freshman Eaves can handle the pressure of starting against a quality team that has something on the line would be worth the investment. Once he's gone as far as he can sustain, that's when there would be value in seeing how long Dossett's arm and focus can hold up before giving way to the more experienced McGuire to close the game.

If all three can't get it done, then it's time to put Gibler through his paces. If Arkansas comes away with confidence in Eaves, that sets up a possible rotation of him starting on the third day, followed by Gibler with McGuire as a potential closer and Dossett available to set him up if needed.

If Van Horn doesn't see what he wants out of Eaves, then hopefully he will have gotten enough information to know who he can trust to follow Gibler for an extended period should he have a shaky start with the season on the line.

Either way, it's valuable information, so Arkansas needs to last until Saturday in the SEC Tournament.

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