FAYETTEVILLE -- Last year at Arkansas, Andrew Benintendi reversed the sophomore jinx.
This year, Luke Bonfield seeks to reverse it, too.
Bonfield acknowledges duplicating winning the Golden Spikes Award, college baseball's equivalent to college football's Heisman Trophy that Benintendi earned last year, is a goal too high to set and not suffer disappointment.
"You can't compare anyone to Benintendi because he is a once in a lifetime type guy," Bonfield said.
But their career paths are similar enough where Benintendi last year encouraged Bonfield to believe he can achieve the same feats this year.
The sophomore jinx is an old Major League baseball term describing star rookies slumping their second season.
Benintendi arrived for the 2014 season and Bonfield came in 2015, but expectations for both players went unfulfilled early on.
Benintendi, of Cincinnati, was not only was Ohio's best high school player but deemed the best anywhere.
The ACBA/Rawlings Award named him its National High School Player of the Year.
While fine for most freshmen, Benintendi's 2014 Arkansas season was unspectacular and virtually powerless. He hit .276 with 1 home run and 27 RBI.
Off those 2014 stats it seemed Benintendi would be ignored in the draft last year. But in 2015 as a draft eligible sophomore, things changed. Benintendi hit .376 with 20 home runs and 57 RBI and also stole 24 bases. He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the first round in June.
While not as heralded in high school as Benintendi, Bonfield, a left fielder, arrived in Arkansas from Skillman, N.J. with lofty accolades including Perfect Game All-American.
Entirely imperfect perfectly described Bonfield's freshman year. He hit .171 as a designated hitter who seldom hit.
Razorbacks baseball Coach Dave Van Horn never gave up on him. The coach throughout last season and this preseason extols Bonfield's work ethic and team player attitude.
"No one outworks him," Van Horn said. "He comes early and stays late, almost to the point where we tell him, 'You need to go home.' "
Benintendi didn't give up on him, either. Now the flopping freshman that Benintendi encouraged throughout last year starts this year as Arkansas' sophomore starting left fielder.
"Last year I would do something [poorly] and he [Benintendi] said, 'Forget about it. Move on," Bonfield recalled. "Now having a season and summer ball under my belt it's really, really helped me to know what to do when something is going wrong and knowing the mentality you have to have."
Last summer, Bonfield went to the Cape Cod League and was instructed intensely to improve his defense to replace Joe Serrano as well as to relax and regain the confidence to hit like Van Horn and hitting coach Tony Vitello know he can hit.
The improved defense, Van Horn says he sees.
The confidence, Bonfield says he feels.
"I feel like the jump between my freshman and sophomore year has been huge for me," Bonfield said. "Just being little more confident and relaxed, it's definitely a big thing."
Sports on 02/15/2016