Arkansas announces starter for opening game against North Dakota State

Originally posted on Arkansas Razorbacks on SI
By Daniel Shi | Last updated May 29, 2025 4:05 PM ET

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn announced who would start for the Razorbacks in the first game of the regional against North Dakota State.

Arkansas will start righty Aiden Jimenez for just his second start of the year. The Oregon State transfer has mostly been used as a bullpen piece, coming on in relief in 17 of his 18 appearances.

HIs one start came in his most recent outing against Tennessee 13 days ago against the Tennessee Volunteers. He did not pitch in Hoover the SEC Tournament because the Hogs lost in its first game of a single elimination tournament to Ole Miss.

In the start against Tennessee, he allowed four runs on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings of work, a game that the Razorbacks came back and won 8-6.

Van Horn said that Jimenez would have likely gotten another start if the Razorbacks made a deeper run in Hoover.

His only other start came at Oregon State in 2023 in a mid-week game against Portland in which he allowed five runs in two innings.

"He’s the guy we’ve given the ball to when the game’s on the line everywhere," Van Horn said. "[Whether it's] the sixth [or] seventh inning,"

Despite his lack of success as a starter in a limited sample size, Van Horn chalked it down to the prowess of the Tennessee lineup more than anything else.

Jimenez has hit a rare roadblock down the stretch, allowing seven of his 13 earned runs on the year in his last three appearances. both as a starter and out of the bullpen. His season ERA has jumped from 1.76 to 3.38 over that stretch.

Arkansas has always seen Jimenez's stuff more as a starter and is slowly implement their plan to transition him away from being a reliever after his recovery from Tommy John surgery.

"We were hoping that all along," Van Horn said about Jimenez as a starter. "We didn’t think he would progress this far with the arm surgery he had last year. It’s been 15-16 months now, somewhere in there. We hope that he comes back next year because he’s draft-eligible. If he does, we feel like he’ll be a starter for us."

Van Horn remained tight-lipped about potential starting plans for the rest of the weekend.

"If we have a good lead or we’re way down then we’ll do what we need to do," Van Horn said. "I don’t plan on that. I plan on it being a really good game and a lot of decisions will have to be made. All hands on deck. That’s what we told them."

Arkansas will face North Dakota State in the opening game 2 p.m. Friday. Creighton will face Kansas in the No. 2/No.3 matchup in the nightcap at 7 p.m. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.

"Bottom line it’s a fact," Van Horn said about his confidence this year. "This team’s a lot better than last year’s team or the year before. We’re better."