The last time Logan Maxwell played a real game at Baum-Walker Stadium, he was helping the TCU Horned Frogs win the Fayetteville Regional in June 2023.

Two years later, Maxwell will be sporting Razorback red instead of purple this spring. The 5-foot-10, 195-pound outfielder from Lima, Ohio, signed with Arkansas over the offseason out of the transfer portal after spending three seasons with the Horned Frogs.

Maxwell started 46 games and recorded a career-best .335 batting average as a junior last season at TCU. He also set career-bests with 12 doubles, two triples, three home runs, 25 RBI, 30 walks (just 23 strikeouts) and 10 stolen bases.

Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said in the fall that Maxwell can “flat-out hit.”

“Put on about, I don’t know, 12, 15 pounds since he’s been here,” Van Horn said Jan. 15. “Getting strong. Hitting for a lot more power, but he still is just a really good hitter. You watch our batting practice, he squares up almost everything that comes his way.”

During the Oct. 4 annual Fall Classic at Baum-Walker Stadium, Maxwell went 2-for-2 at the plate with three runs scored, one RBI and a stolen base. According to stats compiled by local media, Maxwell hit for a .313 average in the fall with 10 hits, two doubles, one home run, three RBI and eight runs scored across 32 at bats.

Maxwell appeared in 38 games and started 33 as a sophomore for TCU in 2023, when he hit for a .300 average with six doubles and two home runs. He posted a 1.000 fielding percentage over the past two seasons primarily in left field.

In two of the three preseason intrasquad scrimmages so far (HawgBeat didn’t attend Saturday), Maxwell played in left field Sunday and right field Friday, while batting third and second, respectively, in the lineup that featured the projected starters.

Maxwell and Florida Gulf Coast transfer Charles Davalan are pretty set in stone as starters in the outfield, with the third spot still up in the air. JUCO transfer Justin Thomas Jr. has a solid shot to play early, plus Kendall Diggs is back from injury, although Diggs has been at first base and designated hitter to start preseason scrimmages.

“I already know (Diggs) can play outfield,” Van Horn said Friday. “Maybe figuring it out. I want to get an offensive first baseman, but at the same time, try to get another outfielder in the outfield. Thomas, maybe. The other two have pretty much won their spots in the fall, but anything can happen. Just trying to be more athletic.”

Arkansas will open its season Friday, Feb. 14, against Washington State at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.

For those interested, Maxwell had two at bats against Arkansas in the 2023 Fayetteville Regional and he failed to record a hit in either.

Going into the 2025 baseball season, there are several questions about the Arkansas Razorbacks‘ starting rotation. Those are important questions to answer, but head coach Dave Van Horn knows that he has several options to choose from.

While Van Horn didn’t want to commit to anyone ahead of the season, he did share some options that Arkansas has and broadly explained where the rotation stands.

“We’re going to let them prove it to us a little more,” Dave Van Horn said. “We saw a lot of good things in the fall and then off-season. I think just because we’ve been around Gabe Gaeckle so much, had him here, we feel like that he will definitely be a starter. [Zach] Root looks like a starter. Gage Wood. [Landon] Beidelschies. Those are all possibilities, and there are some other guys in there now.”

Gaeckle, who Van Horn shared will be a starter, is a right-handed sophomore who appeared in 22 games out of the bullpen last season. He had a 2.32 ERA in 42.2 innings pitched, striking out 57 while only walking 19 batters. Then, Root, another pitcher in a good position to start, is a left-handed junior who transferred in from ECU. Last season, he made 13 appearances and 12 starts, pitching 68.1 innings with a 3.56 ERA. He did that while striking out 76 batters and walking another 21.

As for Gage Wood and Landon Beidelschies, they both started games last season. In Wood’s case, it was three starts in 22 appearances with a 4.46 ERA. Then, Beidelschies comes as a transfer from Ohio State where he started 15 games with a 4.15 ERA.

“But the first weekend, we play four games, which I think is a good thing for this team, and then head down to Texas. If you look at our schedule, there aren’t a lot of games where you can go, ‘Okay, we’re going to experiment with that freshman out there.’ Although, in some cases with freshmen, it’s not an experiment. They’re pretty darn good. I mean, yeah, kind of tip-toeing around the question, but I mentioned four guys at the top and they’ll battle for those jobs to start out.”

Beyond those four pitchers, Arkansas has other options. Ben Bybee, Will McEntire, Cole Gibler, Tag Andrews, and Aidan Jimenez could all potentially start games for the Razorbacks. Regardless, it gives Dave Van Horn options in the rotation and the bullpen.

Typically, teams rely on three starters for the three-game weekend series that they play during each of those games. Another starter can be turned to for a weekday game. So, Dave Van Horn will want to be confident in that rotation by Friday, February 14th when they open the season at home against Washington State.