Fisher, Gaeckle on College Baseball Foundation National Pitcher of the Year Award Watch List

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Arkansas’ Colin Fisher and Gabe Gaeckle have been named to the watch list for the College Baseball Foundation’s National Pitcher of the Year Award. The Razorback duo is two of 141 pitchers from 26 different conferences included on the watch list, which reflects the top mound performers to this point of the 2026 season.

Through four starts, Gaeckle owns a 2-1 record with a 2.61 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 20.2 innings of work on the mound. The right-hander has allowed seven runs (six earned) on 21 hits and six walks while holding opponents to a .263 average.

Gaeckle logged his first quality start in the series opener against Stetson on March 6, firing a career long-matching six shutout frames with six strikeouts. He struck out a season-high nine batters over 4.1 innings in his Opening Day start against Oklahoma State on Feb. 13 in Arlington, Texas, at Globe Life Field in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown.

Fisher, meanwhile, has blossomed in his Sunday starter role, boasting a 2-1 record with a 1.17 ERA and 30 strikeouts in a team-leading 23.0 innings on the mound across his first four outings of the season. He has allowed just five runs (three earned) on 13 hits and only three walks while limiting opposing hitters to a miniscule .159 batting average against.

The left-hander began his campaign with 22.0 consecutive scoreless innings pitched, the second-longest scoreless streak to start a season by a Razorback pitcher in the Dave Van Horn era. Fisher, who has two quality starts this year, fanned a career-high 11 batters while allowing just one hit over a career-long eight shutout innings against Xavier on Feb. 22.

The College Baseball Foundation’s National Pitcher of the Year Award was first handed out in 2009. Arkansas (2) is one of three programs, along with LSU (2) and Oregon State (2), to claim multiple award winners since its inception.

For more information on the National Pitcher of the Year Award, visit www.collegebaseballhall.org.

National Pitcher of the Year Award winners
2009: Stephen Strasburg, RHP, San Diego State
2010: Alex Wimmers, RHP, Ohio State
2011: Trevor Bauer, UCLA, RHP
2012: Mark Appel, RHP, Stanford
2013: Jonathan Gray, RHP, Oklahoma
2014: Aaron Nola, RHP, LSU
2015: Carson Fulmer, RHP, Vanderbilt
2016: Eric Lauer, LHP, Kent State
2017: Steven Gingery, LHP, Texas Tech
2018: Luke Heimlich, LHP, Oregon State
2019: Ethan Small, LHP, Mississippi State
2020: N/A
2021: Kevin Kopps, RHP, Arkansas
2022: Cooper Hjerpe, LHP, Oregon State
2023: Paul Skenes, RHP, LSU
2024: Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas
2025: Jake Knapp, RHP, North Carolina

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