2/2/2023 baseball Edit

Arkansas Baseball 2023 Lineup Projection: No. 2 - Peyton Stovall

Sophomore 2B Peyton Stovall is primed to have a big season for the Diamond Hogs. (Arkansas Athletics)

Mason Choate • HawgBeat

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We are 15 days away from Arkansas baseball, and HawgBeat is continuing its lineup preview series for the 2023 Diamond Hogs.

The Razorbacks will return just two starters from last year's lineup, so fans will soon become familiar with all of the new faces.

With scrimmage coverage, weekly notebooks, position previews, the Diamond Hawgs Podcast and more, HawgBeat provides the best Arkansas baseball coverage around.

We continue things with the two-hole, which sophomore Peyton Stovall is projected to fill...

#10 - Peyton Stovall - 2B

So. | L/R | 5-11 | 195

Haughton, La. / Haughton HS

2022: 52 games, .295/.373/.425, 8 2B, 6 HR, 31 RBI, 19 BB/39 K, 1 SB

All signs point to Stovall having a breakout season in his sophomore campaign with Arkansas. After finishing the 2022 season on a hot streak, this year's Diamond Hogs squad voted Stovall a team captain.

During the 2022 postseason, Stovall slashed a team-best .429/.451/.571 with two home runs and 13 RBIs in 11 games. That slash compared to his .218/.322/.346 in SEC play just shows how much he improved late in the season.

Ahead of the June 21 game against Auburn at the College World Series, head coach Dave Van Horn moved Stovall from the eight-hole to the two-hole and it worked to perfection. He recorded a season-high five hits, including a double, and drove in three runs. He became the first player with five hits in a College World Series game since North Carolina's Dustin Ackley in 2009.

Though his finish to the postseason was great, Stovall had a lull towards the back end of the regular season, and he missed two conference series. Van Horn said Stovall was just putting too much pressure on himself.

"You see a kid that really, the first three-quarters of the season, he was just tight," Van Horn said. "Trying to impress everybody, just trying to live up to the hype, and finally we talked with him, he just said, ‘Heck with it,’ then he let it go, and then you saw how good he was. He was probably our best hitter down the stretch."

Stovall said that he met with Van Horn during that two-week stretch to talk about the pressure he was putting on himself. He said he realized that it was just a game and he's at his best when he has fun and plays care-free.

"I told him I was going to continue to work as hard as I could," Stovall said. "He said that he continued to believe in me and was still going to give me plenty of opportunities. Fortunately for me, I was able to have success down the road. I think a huge part of that played into that meeting I had with Coach Van Horn."

This season, Stovall is primed to have a great sophomore campaign. The former No. 1 shortstop prospect in the state of Louisiana will make a move from first base, where he played last year, to second base, which is a much more familiar position for him.

"I’ve played second base pretty much for as long as I can remember," Stovall said. "I’ve always either played short or second. But second I’m more comfortable at. I started three years there in high school. So I’m definitely comfortable there."

Even though he's in just his second year, Stovall is a veteran on this year's Razorback squad. He and Brady Slavens are the only two returning starters from last year's College World Series team, which is a big reason why he was voted as a captain, alongside LHP Zack Morris and OF Jace Bohrofen.

"I think being a sophomore and being young, I just felt blessed and accomplished," Stovall said. "I think ultimately, guys are going to look towards us, because we’ve been here. We have so many new guys. So we’re all honored to be able to hold that title."

Stovall blasted a pair of homers to both sides of the field out of the two-hole in Friday's scrimmage at Baum-Walker Stadium. He finished his outing with three hits in four at-bats, five RBIs, three runs, a walk and a strikeout. He also added a stolen base in the seventh inning.

With just over two weeks until the start of the season, Stovall has plenty of time to get more at-bats in against a very strong Arkansas pitching staff.

"We're doing some live at-bats today, and we've got some dudes that we've got to face," Stovall said Jan. 20. "It's going to be tough, and it should be tough because that means it's going to be tough for other batters and teams."

The Diamond Hogs will get started with their season Feb. 17 against the Texas Longhorns at the College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.