Kendall Diggs overcomes offensive struggles with 4-RBI performance
Arkansas junior right fielder Kendall Diggs overcame his offensive struggles with a clutch hitting performance in the Razorbacks' 10-3 win over No. 8 Kentucky at Kentucky Proud Park on Friday.
The 6-foot, 210-pound native of Olathe, Kansas, came into the ballgame hitting just .241 with 27 RBIs and 41 strikeouts. Those numbers are a far cry from his sophomore campaign, when he slashed .299/.436/.547 with 12 home runs and 63 RBIs.
After seeing his name slowly moved down the batting order in recent weeks, Diggs finally came through when it mattered most with his 2-for-4 day and 4-RBI performance at the plate against the Wildcats.
"I think he’s done a good job," head coach Dave Van Horn said after the game. "I mean, it’s been tough on him. He had the injury and a lot of soreness and he battled back and had a pretty good weekend at South Carolina. Midweek didn’t go great, but tonight did.
"We needed him tonight. That’s the way I look at it, just throw all the other stuff out the window and let’s just move forward. All that really matters is what’s in front of us anyway. I think he’s been really mature about it and done a great job."
With two runners on and one out in the top of the sixth, Diggs laced a right-field double to break the 1-1 tie with two RBIs. The lights weren't bright for Diggs, who had really good practices leading into the series.
“I had some good meetings with coach Thompson," Diggs said after the game. "I was talking with my parents. At the end of the day, it’s taking a deep breath and going back to my roots. For me, it was the biggest thing. Just taking a deep breath and believing in myself. I felt really good. I had two knocks today. In every at-bat, I felt a lot better. Hoping to build on it.”
That wasn't Diggs' final clutch moment of the game, though, as he smashed a shift-beating single with the bases loaded in the very next frame to hand the Hogs a comfortable 6-1 lead over Kentucky.
"Obviously, the big hit, the dugout lit up after that," Van Horn said. "It put us up two, and then we got the flare base hit that put us up three. Hagen goes out and has that really good sixth inning. We knew he was done. He knew he was done, I think. The confidence rolled over into the seventh. Three good at-bats, and we were rolling again."
Following his performance, Diggs offered fans a glimpse of hope for his potential return to form and raised his season slash line to .245/.356/.436 with 31 RBIs.
"It felt really good man," Diggs said. "The past couple of weeks have been tough for me at the plate as far as just producing knowing what I‘m capable of. It was really good to come through for the guys and just going to keep going."
Up next, Diggs and the No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks (40-7, 17-5 SEC) will face off against No. 8 Kentucky for a potential series win on Saturday in Lexington, Kentucky. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. CT and it will stream on SEC Network+.