Diamond Hogs nab former top-40 recruit from portal
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Dave Van Horn has landed another transfer, this time nabbing a former top-40 recruit from the portal.
Oklahoma outfielder Jace Bohrofen announced Saturday that he would continue his career at Arkansas after spending just one season with the Sooners. He entered the portal late last month, just ahead of the deadline to automatically receive immediate eligibility for 2022.
This is the second portal addition of the offseason for the Razorbacks, who landed Kent State catcher Michael Turner last month.
As a true freshman, Bohrofen hit .252/.347/.408 with two home runs and 18 RBIs, earning a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. He appeared in 35 of Oklahoma’s 55 games with 29 starts - 20 in right field and nine at designated hitter.
Although those numbers don’t jump off the page, Bohrofen is off to a hot start in the Cape Cod League, the top collegiate summer baseball league. Through 14 games with the Falmouth Commodores, he’s hitting .340/.468/.745 with four home runs and 15 RBIs - all with a wooden bat. He also has more free passes (13; 9 walks, 4 HBP) than strikeouts (9) and is 4 of 5 on stolen base attempts.
That is much closer to what was expected of him coming out of Westmoore High in Oklahoma City, where he was a two-time ABCA/Rawlings first-team All-American and the 2019 Perfect Game Oklahoma Player of the Year.
Bohrofen was also selected for the 2019 Under Armour All-America Game and Perfect Game All-American Classic, which he played in alongside current Razorbacks Robert Moore and Cayden Wallace. Perfect Game ranked him No. 33 overall in the Class of 2020.
Despite being MLB Pipeline’s No. 93 overall prospect in the 2020 MLB Draft, Bohrofen went undrafted because of signability concerns. Instead, he honored his commitment to Oklahoma, where he played with his brother, Braxton. Their father, Brent, also played for the Sooners from 1988-91.
A starting quarterback in high school who has been clocked under 6.6 seconds in the 60-yard dash, Bohrofen has the athleticism to potentially replace Christian Franklin in center field at Arkansas or he could stick in right field if Wallace shifts over to center, which Van Horn said is a possibility.
It will be a crowded outfield for the Razorbacks next year, as they will likely return Zack Gregory and Braydon Webb, who split time in left field most of 2021, while adding JUCO transfer Landrey Wilkerson and other high school signees to the mix in addition to Bohrofen and Wallace.
