Arkansas baseball notebook: Mark Brissey shows improved stuff in fall scrimmaging

FAYETTEVILLE — Of the 11 Arkansas baseball pitchers who threw during last Friday night’s Diamond Classic, sophomore right-hander Mark Brissey showed arguably the most dominant stuff.

Brissey’s fastball averaged 97.3 mph during his 16-pitch start. He used that pitch to strike out Christian Turner looking at 98, Dawson Bryce looking at 96 and Nolan Souza swinging at 96 after Souza went ahead 3-1 in the count.

Brissey worked around a 1-out double by Carter Rutenbar in the first inning. He threw 10 of 16 pitches for strikes and stranded Rutenbar at third base after he advanced on a 1-out wild pitch.

“He was throwing harder than he’s probably been throwing,” Arkansas pitching coach Matt Hobbs said. “He hit 99 on TrackMan, so that’s different, but as far as performance, that’s what he’s been doing.”

Brissey has retired 6 of 7 batters he has faced through 2 innings of fall scrimmaging. He has thrown 15 of 25 pitches for strikes.

Similar to his childhood friend and fellow Batesville native Gage Wood, Brissey is having some success with a high-riding fastball.

“I’m throwing it hard now, which might make it move a little bit different,” Brissey said. “But it’s the same grip, same everything from last season.”

In Brissey, Arkansas has a potential weekend starter — whether the upcoming season or another year down the road — with a five-pitch arsenal that includes a cutter, sinker, slider and changeup. Brissey has shown growth in recent months, beginning with a scoreless inning against Kansas at the NCAA Lawrence Regional in the Razorbacks’ last game.

From there, Brissey went to the Cape Cod Baseball League in Massachusetts to pitch for the Wareham Gatemen. He had a 5.60 ERA in 17 2/3 innings over 9 appearances with 3 starts during the summer. He struck out 25 and walked 15, with the walk numbers inflated by a couple of bad outings that bookended the summer.

Take away those outings and Brissey’s summer numbers were encouraging: 2.45 ERA, 21 strikeouts and 7 walks in 14 2/3 innings.

“Mark Brissey, I think, got better over the summer,” Hobbs said.

Brissey said he is a “way better” pitcher than when he last pitched in a game for the Razorbacks.

“The mental game is what has helped me the most,” Brissey said. “Just being out here for a year doing it and just getting better, knowing what I’m going into helped me a lot, and the mental game is just way better this year.”

Brissey had some success in nonconference play, but he took his freshman lumps in his SEC outings. In 5 conference relief appearances, Brissey allowed 10 earned runs in 3 2/3 innings for a 24.55 ERA. He issued more walks (5) than he had strikeouts (3), and SEC batters had a .476 average against him.

“This is kind of the move you hope those guys make after their freshman year,” Hobbs said. “[Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn] says it all the time, the highest jump guys make is between their freshman and their sophomore year when they go out and play summer ball like Mark did, and we’re starting to see kind of what we thought he could be someday. I didn’t think he’d be throwing 99 mph in September, but he’s been really good.”

Brissey is not the only Arkansas pitcher who has lit up the radar gun this fall. It seems most pitchers the Razorbacks bring to the mound are throwing mid-90s or higher.

“I haven’t seen anything like this since I’ve been here with guys throwing this hard, this early,” Hobbs said.

Hobbs said he thinks some pitchers might have more in the tank this fall than they’ve shown already. He pointed to right-hander Holden Hering as an example.

“I don’t know that’s his ceiling at 98,” Hobbs said. “I think there might be a little more in there, too, maybe.”

Arkansas pitcher Holden Hering throws during a scrimmage Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, in Fayetteville. (Hank Layton/WholeHogSports)

Brissey said he thinks higher velocities can be attributed to time several pitchers spent with strength and conditioning coach Hunter Bell over the summer.

“We've been lifting with Coach Bell day in day out for about two months,” Brissey said. “I think all of us would credit him for the velocity increases from pretty much everybody on the whole staff.”

Strong fastballs have contributed to Arkansas’ pitching staff performing well thus far. Van Horn said pitchers are ahead of hitters, “and it always is” this time of year.

Zeb Allen, a transfer outfielder from Central Arkansas, said in addition to velocity, pitchers are throwing good stuff.

“You’ve got to bring your A-game every day,” Allen said. “It’s really good for us hitters as well, because we’re able to see that really good pitching day in and day out, and being able to kind of stay locked in. It’s good for us and good for them. I think we’re both really, really good.”

Speaking after the Diamond Classic last Friday, Hobbs said he was pleased with how his staff threw over 10 combined innings with the exception of “one half of one inning.” Neither team scored until the top of the fifth when left-hander Ridge Harvey hit the first two batters with pitches that eventually led to a pair of sacrifice flies.

“I thought for the most part we threw the ball over the plate, showed some really good stuff and a lot of things to get excited about,” Hobbs said.

Allen has shown a knack this fall for legging out an extra base.

He tripled for the second time in a scrimmage last Friday when he hit a ball to the wall in right field against Peyton Lee in the bottom of the fifth inning. Allen came home on Turner’s RBI single to tie the game 2-2, and Allen’s team won when Bryce’s RBI hit scored Max Holland to walk off with the team’s third run of the inning.

Arkansas outfielder Zeb Allen triples during a scrimmage Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, in Fayetteville. (Hank Layton/WholeHogSports)

Allen’s triple looked like a double off the bat, but he made a hard turn at first base and ran hard through second without hesitation.

“He plays hard and he runs hard,” Van Horn said. “We’ve got guys who can run like him, but he runs hard out of the box. He hit a little nubber back to the mound [earlier in the game] and he made it close, and then he turned a double into a triple. … He got to third base with less than two outs, and that is what I’m looking for.”

Four scrimmages into the fall, Allen is 5 for 10 with 4 runs and 2 RBI. He also has a stolen base in his only attempt.

“I think I’m just really excited to be up here and to being in Fayetteville,” Allen said. “I think I’m seeing the ball really well and just capitalizing on some pitches that I’m seeing good. It’s been really nice so far.”

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Matt Jones is the managing editor of WholeHogSports.com and hosts the WholeHogSports Daily Podcast. He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, and voter for the Heisman Trophy. He has a bachelor's and master's degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas.