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FAYETTEVILLE — Through the first two weekends of the season, Arkansas’ bats not only struggled to live up to lofty expectations, but they were among the worst in the SEC.
The Razorbacks managed to score a total of only 22 runs over six games, but nearly matched that in Wednesday’s 15-3 win over Omaha at Baum-Walker Stadium.
With the exception of catcher Michael Turner, several of the new faces on the roster were not stuffing the stat sheet as anticipated.
“I don’t know if we had scored more than one or two runs in one inning this year,” head coach Dave Van Horn said.
That streak came to an end in Arkansas’ first midweek game of the season, as the offense exploded for five and seven runs in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively.
“It was good to see our team really kind of bounce around and get after it tonight,” Van Horn said. “We had a lot of discussions the last couple days just about playing harder and just the way we go about things. Man, they took it to heart today.”
The team was able to turn over a new leaf with the help of Turner, as well as graduate transfer Chris Lanzilli and freshman Peyton Stovall.
Entering the bottom of the fourth inning, the Razorbacks trailed 2-1. That deficit was quickly erased after a Brady Slavens moonshot, defensive error and based-loaded walk brought three runs across the plate.
The cherry on top came immediately after, when Lanzilli smoked a double down the left field line to put two more runs on the scoreboard. It was Arkansas’ first hit with the bases loaded this season after starting 0 for 11.
“When Lanzilli doubled into the corner and put us up four, that was like maybe the first big game-separator we’ve had this year.” Van Horn said.
For the veteran Lanzilli, his 2-for-4, three-RBI performance was not a surprise to the coaching staff, even though he had just one RBI through the first six games. He was also hitting just .200, but that isn’t necessarily indicative of how he’s been swinging the bat.
“As far as Lanzilli goes, he’s had some pretty good days for us,” Van Horn said. “I think Lanzilli’s hit the ball pretty hard.”
The next inning, Turner and Stovall each piled a two-run homer onto the onslaught with the former being a 106 mph laser smashed off the windows of the Hunt Development Center and the latter a majestic 398-foot blast over the left-center wall.
Turner was unruffled after his 3-for-3 performance. He remained humble when asked about his no-doubt home run compared to others he’s hit in his career.
“That was up there,” Turner said. “I’m getting pretty old to be a college guy, so I’d like to say I have a few of those, but that one’s up there with them.”
The heralded prospect Stovall, on the other hand, performed in a way many had expected, but not witnessed to this point in the season. Not only did he flash his power, but he had a more deliberate approach in the box during Wednesday’s contest right out of the gate, which helped set the tone for the whole offense.
Although the at bat ultimately ended with a strikeout, the freshman fouled off seven pitches in a 10-pitch at bat, including six straight before a swing and miss.
“I think we wore (their starter) down a little bit and it all started with Peyton Stovall, the first hitter of the game,” Van Horn said. “What did he see, 10, 11, 12 pitches? That was big.”
It seems Stovall’s nerves were quelled in conversations with Van Horn leading up to the midweek game.
After being benched in the final game at the Round Rock Classic with a .136 batting average, he was back in the lineup — and still hitting leadoff — against Omaha.
“He’s young and worrying about all the other things instead of just playing the game,” Van Horn said. “I told him he was starting today and he was batting leadoff and ‘You’re our guy.’”
Whether or not the Razorbacks continue this trend of offensive prowess is to be seen, but tonight was certainly a step in the right direction.
“We feel like we have that type of team,” Van Horn said.
They’ll attempt to keep swinging the hot bats this weekend with a three-game series against Southeastern Louisiana. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT and will be streamed on SEC Network-Plus.
