FAYETTEVILLE — Devlin Granberg didn't leave Baum Stadium with a regional championship, but he did go home with a consolation prize.
The senior outfielder from Dallas Baptist was named most outstanding player of the NCAA Fayetteville Regional on Sunday after he went 12-for-18 with 8 RBI in four games. Arkansas defeated Dallas Baptist 4-3 in the regional championship.
Granberg was named First-Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball newspaper last week. He finished the season with the nation's second-highest batting average, .443, and led the NCAA with 112 hits.
Granberg was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored in the loss to Arkansas. He also had a home run taken away when Heston Kjerstad made a leaping catch at the wall in left field.
"We pitched him in, we pitched him out, we tried to get him to chase up, tried to get him to chase down and then sometimes you have to throw it over the plate and hopes he hits it at somebody," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said.
Granberg, who has never been drafted, is rated the No. 251 prospect in this week's MLB Draft by Baseball America.
"He reminds me of a right-handed Wade Boggs," Van Horn said. "He just is always talking to the umpire after every pitch. 'Was that a strike? Was that a ball?'
"He's like a professional hitter. I think he's going to hit with a wood bat; I think he's going to hit his way to the big leagues."
Arkansas led all teams with six players on the all-regional team - pitcher Kacey Murphy, first baseman Jared Gates, second baseman Carson Shaddy, third baseman Casey Martin and outfielders Dominic Fletcher and Kjerstad.
Granberg and shortstop Jimmy Glowenke represented DBU; pitcher Nick Sandlin and designated hitter Daniel Keating represented Southern Miss; and catcher Riley Keizor represented Oral Roberts on the all-regional team.