UA class the best in college baseball, analyst says

The University of Arkansas baseball freshman class is the best in college baseball, according to D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers.

“I think the biggest thing for me when you look at the class overall,” Rogers said, “I think there’s a lot of balance.”

The Hogs’ class was followed by UCLA, North Car- olina, Texas A&M and North Carolina State to round out the top five.

Rogers said he is high on left-handed pitcher Hunter Dietz, who D1Baseball rated as the No. 6 overall prospect for the 2023 class.

Dietz, 6-6 and 230 pounds, of Trinity (Fla.) Calvary Christian, chose Arkansas over Ole Miss while being recruited by about 20 other programs. Dietz is expected to miss playing time early in the season after he underwent an elbow procedure last fall.

“I think we look at Hunter Dietz … we’ll see how healthy he is in a few weeks, but he’s a kid that can help them right off the bat,” Rogers

said. “He’s a guy that can be a weekend starter in the SEC. I don’t like to throw in a lofty expectation on somebody, but he has the stuff to do that.”

Right-handed pitcher Gabe Gaeckle, 5-11 and 180, of Aptos, Calif., was committed to UCLA before flipping to Arkansas over Texas A&M and other programs. D1Baseball rated him the No. 26 overall prospect nationally.

“He’s a guy we’re really excited about,” Rogers said.

Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn’s teams usually have an outstanding catcher. Rogers said he sees Ryder Helfrick, 6-1 and 205, of Discovery Bay (Calif.) Clayton Valley Charter as someone who can carry on that tradition.

“I kind of feel like they always have a really good catcher and Ryder Helfrick can certainly be that next guy,” Rogers said.

D1Baseball rated Helfrick as the No. 49 overall recruit for the 2023 class.

Rogers also said he likes left-handed pitcher Adam Hachman, 6-5 and 245, of Wentzville (Mo.) Timberland; infielder Nolan Souza, 6-3 and 220, of Honolulu Punahou School; left-handed pitcher Tucker Holland, 6-6 and 235, of The Burlington School in Fayetteville, N.C.; and right-handed pitcher Tate McGuire, 6-3 and 210, of Liberty (Mo.) North.

Hachman was rated the No. 35 prospect nationally, Souza as the No. 44 recruit, Holland was No. 104 and McGuire came in as the No. 123 overall prospect.

“I think the biggest thing for me is the number of guys that can help them right off the bat,” Rogers said. “Arkansas is one of the teams that always has a couple of freshmen that can really help them. But if you look at [Dietz and Gaeckle], those are guys that could theoretically be weekend starters right off the bat if they needed to be. Now I don’t think they’re going to need to be, but they’re talented enough to do that.

“You throw in a seasoned backstop like [Helfrick], I just think they have guys that can help you right off the bat. There are obviously some other guys that help them down the road. I think the biggest thing for me is they have a nice group of kids who can really help them early on in their careers, which isn’t always the case.”

Rogers also said thinks Dietz and Gaeckle are equipped with the tools to play at a high level as freshmen.

“I think these kids here have pretty refined stuff,” Rogers said.