How to watch Texas baseball vs. Arkansas: TV/stream, game time

The day has finally arrived for Texas baseball and head coach David Pierce to open up the 2023 regular season. Texas will open up the 2023 regular season at a neutral site at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX, on Feb. 17 against the No. 8 Arkansas Razorbacks out of the SEC West as part of the 2023 College Baseball Showdown.

Head coach David Pierce and the Longhorns come into the 2023 campaign as an unranked squad. Almost all of the major preseason college baseball polls (including D1 Baseball) had Texas on the outside looking in for their first rankings of 2023.

Pierce and the Longhorns finished up the 2022 season with a record of 47-22 (14-10 Big 12) after making their 38th College World Series appearance in program history. Texas will now be looking for a record 39th College World Series trip this year.

Meanwhile, Arkansas also had a solid run last season as it fell just short of the Ole Miss Rebels to win the National Championship. Arkansas was a couple of games away from facing the Oklahoma Sooners for the title in last year’s College World Series in Omaha.

Arkansas finished up last season with a record of 46-21 (18-12 SEC) following a deep postseason run.

Here’s a look at the TV/streaming information and game time as Texas gets set to open up the 2023 season in the College Baseball Showdown on Feb. 17 against Arkansas at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX.

How to watch Texas baseball vs. Arkansas

TV/Stream: FloBaseball.tv/FloSports app

Radio/Audio Stream: 104.9 FM The Horn/1260 AM

Game time: 7 p.m. CT

Live stats: Sidearm Stats

The regular season opener for the Longhorns will be streamed live through FloBaseball on Feb. 17. FloSports says that “if you have Apple TV, Roku, or Fire TV, you can watch from the FloSports app.” The live stats for this game will be available through Sidearm Stats, which is linked above.

Texas vs. Arkansas preview

This will be the first time since the 2021 regular season that Texas has faced Arkansas on the diamond. Arkansas got the best of Texas the last time that these two teams squared off in 2021, which also happened to come in the State Farm College Baseball Showdown to open up that season.

Texas and Arkansas have also met on the diamond four times since the 2019 season. Those four meetings were split by the Longhorns and Razorbacks in the last four years.

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Texas will give the start in the opener to junior left-handed pitcher Lucas Gordon. Last season, Gordon got 16 starts, made 18 total appearances, and pitched 85.2 innings on the mound. He posted a record of 7-2, with a 3.05 earned run average, 77 strikeouts, and a .224 batting average against.

This will be Gordon’s first career start against the Razorbacks.

Arkansas will give the start on Feb. 17 to sophomore left-handed pitcher Hagen Smith after it was announced earlier in the week that right-handed pitcher Jaxon Wiggins would miss the entirety of the 2023 season. Wiggins had an unfortunate string of season-ending injuries in the last couple of years.

Moreover, Smith made 15 starts and appeared in 20 games last season, which resulted in him getting 77.1 innings on the mound. In the process, Smith posted a record of 7-2, with a 4.66 ERA, 90 strikeouts, and just a .191 batting average against.

Smith’s final start of the season was a strong one, though. He held Ole Miss to just one earned run in five innings on the mound to nab the win in a key College World Series showdown. So, Smith should have some confidence heading into his first start of the 2023 season.

This will be a huge test for the Longhorns to open up the regular season. Arkansas brings back a loaded lineup that will be expected to lead the way this season, especially after the injury news that was dealt to Wiggins earlier in the week. Meanwhile, Texas will have a plethora of new faces in the starting lineup amid an offseason of roster turnover in 2022-23.