Souza's confidence, self-trust playing big role in hot start
The Arkansas baseball program has had its fair share of freshmen phenoms in the last few years. Players like Heston Kjerstad, Casey Martin, Dominic Fletcher and even Hagen Smith are recent examples of the Razorbacks' ability to turn talented prospects into collegiate All-Americans, and head coach Dave Van Horn might have his next in Nolan Souza.
A former Perfect Game top-100 shortstop and Hawaii native, Souza has torn up opposing pitching through 20 games of the 2023-24 campaign. In 56 at-bats, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound left-hander has racked up 20 hits, three doubles, six home runs and 18 RBIs en route to a team-leading .357 batting average.
Souza's hot start has him on pace to be the next great Arkansas freshman, but he wasn't expected to be this advanced so quickly according to Van Horn.
"You could see it every now and again in the fall, but you just thought, maybe it’s a little far off," Van Horn said on Saturday. "Maybe it’s going to be his sophomore year. He’ll get better this year. Then after the holidays we thought, ‘This guy’s really made a move.’ Sometimes the move is more mental.
"He was excited about the season, and he went back home for the holidays and stayed in great shape and came back in here and he looked like he was going to get an opportunity to play some. We just didn’t know where. And then the first time we put him in a game, he looked like a polished hitter. I mean, he looked great. We thought, ‘Hey, this guy is going to help us,’ so we kept going and obviously he’s turned into a starter. So good for him."
For context, Souza hit just .143 with 15 strikeouts and only three walks in 28 at-bats during Arkansas' fall ball session. Instead of folding at the first sign of adversity, Souza used it as an opportunity to reset mentally before the spring.
"I knew there had to be a change after the way my fall went," Souza said after the game. "I felt like sometimes at the plate, I just wasn’t as confident in what kind of hitter I was. Coming back, I talked to coach [Nate Thompson] and coach [Bobby Wernes]. They told me, ‘you’ve just got to know that you’re a good hitter and you need to trust yourself out there.’ Just listening to what they have to say and taking that in the game is what I think has brought me some success."
In Arkansas' three-game sweep over SEC West foe Ole Miss last weekend, Souza combined to hit 6-for-11 (.545) at the plate and only struck out once. With howling winds coming into Baum-Walker Stadium during Saturday's contest, Souza flexed his muscles and pummeled two home runs with a game-high 5 RBIs in the 7-4 victory.
Forced into the designated hitter role due to a logjam in the infield, some fans have clamored for the potential MLB hopeful to receive some playing time in the outfield. The likeliest spot that Souza could see time at is in left field, a position that no one on the roster has grabbed by the horns up to this point.
"He works extremely hard in practice and pregame, working on his defense in the infield," Van Horn said. "We’ve even had him working in the outfield a little bit, taking fly balls. That’s really new for him.
"I have no problem putting him in the field if somebody needs a day off, or if somebody gets injured or if we want to put him in the outfield, you know, if we need to get another bat in there because maybe somebody is not hitting. We’re halfway through. We’ve got a lot more to go."
Whether or not Souza sees time defensively for the Razorbacks is a key question in need of answering, but don't let that distract from the roaring start the freshman has produced. Though he isn't making plays in the field just yet, Souza is more than making up for it with his freshman All-American pace and game-winning mentality for the Diamond Hogs.
Souza and the No. 1 ranked Razorbacks (27-3, 11-1 SEC) will take the field again at Baum-Walker Stadium on Tuesday against San Jose State (11-19, 6-8 Mountain West). First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.