Courtesy of Oliver Grigg
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Four Razorbacks, including Ryder Helfrick, Camden Kozeal, Hunter Dietz, and Ethan McElvain, have been named to the South All-Region First Team by the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings.
All-region teams are selected by members of the ABCA, with the process overseen by the ABCA NCAA Div. I All-America and Coach of the Year Committee. First team all-region selections are eligible for the 2026 ABCA/Rawlings All-America teams, which will be announced on Friday, June 12, prior to the start of the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
Helfrick, the Razorbacks’ SEC All-Defensive catcher, graded out as college baseball’s best defender this season, leading the nation in defensive runs saved (27.00), framing runs saved (24.49), and defensive wins above replacement (1.99). A semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy, Helfrick slashed .283/.417/.562 with 18 home runs and 53 RBI while leading the Hogs in walks with 55, fourth on the program’s single-season top 10 list, across 62 games.
Kozeal slashed a team-best .318/.410/.653 with 20 home runs and 71 RBI in 62 games during the season. The Razorback shortstop led the team in nearly every major offensive category: batting average (.318), runs scored (59), base hits (78), doubles (18), triples (2), home runs (20), RBI (71), total bases (160) and slugging percentage (.653). With his 20 homers, he finished tied with Chad Spanberger, Andrew Benintendi and Rodney Nye for fourth most in a season by a Razorback.
Dietz blossomed into Arkansas’ ace and one of the top pitchers in all of college baseball after injury-plagued seasons as a true freshman and redshirt freshman in 2024 and 2025, respectively. The left-hander, who is also a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy, finished the campaign with a 7-4 record, 3.57 ERA and a team-leading 131 strikeouts, including an SEC-best 47 strikeouts looking, in 85.2 innings over 16 starts on the mound for the Hogs.
The Trinity, Fla., native, who earned All-SEC honors from the league’s 16 head coaches, turned in an SEC-leading nine quality starts and was the first SEC pitcher to eclipse the 100-strikeout mark for the year. With his 131 strikeouts, Dietz finished in sole possession of fourth on the program’s single-season top 10 list for strikeouts by a pitcher.
McElvain, meanwhile, was a force in the Razorback bullpen during the season, posting a 6-0 record with a 1.03 ERA and six saves in 35.0 innings in 19 relief appearances. The left-hander, who earned All-SEC honors from the league’s 16 head coaches and was also named one of 14 finalists for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award, tallied 52 strikeouts while limiting opposing hitters to a .163 average and allowing just four runs on 21 hits and 10 walks.
He struck out a season-high seven batters across three scoreless frames in relief at Kentucky on May 15 before tossing a season-long 4.1 innings of shutout ball with six strikeouts vs. Auburn on May 23 in the SEC Tournament. McElvain’s final appearance of the year came in a start against Kansas on May 31 in the NCAA Lawrence Regional, allowing four runs in 3.1 innings of work to finish the campaign with a 6-0 record, 1.88 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 38.1 innings on the mound.
