FAYETTEVILLE — The opportunities have been few and far between, but Curtis Washington Jr. has made them count during his freshman season.

A leadoff home run in the seventh inning highlighted the West Memphis native’s 3-for-6 performance in Arkansas’ 19-2 win over Northwestern State on Tuesday. It was his first long ball and came in just the fourth start of his young career.

“Man, when it left the bat, I was just praying it went over and when it did, it was a relief,” Washington said with a smile. “I just enjoyed the moment running around the bases.”

Washington now has 10 hits in 25 at bats, which gives him a team-high .400 batting average even though he doesn’t have nearly enough plate appearances to qualify for SEC and NCAA hitting lists.

Instead, he’s become a midweek starter - giving usual left fielder and fellow freshman Christian Franklin some rest - and a valuable bench player for the Razorbacks.

“He plays the game hard and hits the ball all over the field,” head coach Dave Van Horn said. “He’s still a developing player. We see him every day and we know what he’s good at and what he really needs to work on.”

Despite the limited at bats, Washington has hit the ball hard. Including one Tuesday, two of his 10 hits have been doubles. He also has one triple and one home run to go along with six walks. That means Washington has an impressive .400/.531/.680 slash line.

“He’s found himself in some really good hitter’s counts, 3-1, 2-0,” Van Horn said. “I think tonight, his first pitch in one of his at-bats, he jumped a pitch pretty good. Good for him.”

With that approach, even the opportunities he gets to swing at strikes are limited, so Washington tries to capitalize on them.

“I normally don’t get too many good pitches to hit, so when it comes, I try to put a good swing on it,” Washington said. “It’s felt pretty good so far.”

The main reason Washington’s reps are limited is because Arkansas is loaded in the outfield.

Franklin has been an excellent defender in left while also delivering some clutch hits, Dominic Fletcher is a veteran in center and reining SEC All-Defensive Team selection, and Heston Kjerstad in right was a preseason All-American.

Still, Washington has become a versatile utility guy for the Razorbacks, capable of being a pinch runner, pinch hitter or defensive replacement for any of the three outfield spots. He has even played some third base and could fill in there if needed.

“We’ve played him on some Tuesday nights and he seems to take a walk, get a hit and score some runs,” Van Horn said. “He knows his role, and he’s done a great job with it.”

SUBSCRIBE to HawgBeat and get access to exclusive prospect interviews, the best recruiting network in the industry, inside scoops on recruiting and team news, videos, podcasts and much more.

Join the discussion on THE TROUGH, the Arkansas Rivals premium message board for thousands of Hog fans.