FAYETTEVILLE — There is a theory about Midwest hitters.
Because they don't see as much advanced pitching in their region in high school, many take time to adapt to the college game.
"There is a belief that arms from the North, you kind of like those because they haven't thrown as many bullets," said Nate Thompson, Arkansas' first-year hitting coach. "But hitters from the North, they have some catching up to do as far as seeing the baseball."
Take Arkansas' two most dynamic hitters of the past five years, for example.
Andrew Benintendi, who grew up in Cincinnati, batted .276 and hit one home run as a freshman. A year later he had arguably the best season ever at the plate for an Arkansas hitter, finishing with a .376 average, 20 home runs, 13 doubles, 2 triples and 57 RBI. He was named the consensus national player of the year in 2015 and chosen with the seventh pick of the MLB Draft.
Chad Spanberger was highly recruited out of Granite City, Ill., but struggled to take his awesome batting practice power shows to the game as a freshman and sophomore, combining to hit .239 those years. Spanberger had a breakout season as a junior last season, batting .305 with 20 home runs, 13 doubles and 67 RBI.
Jordan McFarland grew up not far from Spanberger in Illinois, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. McFarland, from Waterloo, had great high school credentials but a similar freshman learning curve, batting .271 with 10 RBI in 29 games last year.
"Coming from Illinois, baseball is obviously not the same as it is down here. It's a lot better down here," McFarland said prior to the season. "Chad and I played in the same area, and you might see one guy who is over 85 mph the entire high school season if you're lucky. It's a disadvantage, but when you get here you have to put the work in, and it's up to you whether you'll be successful.
"Being around this talent level is helping me day-by-day."
In addition to the increased velocity, McFarland said he struggled with off-speed pitches and "the speed of the game, in general."
McFarland didn't play much summer baseball and gained 15 pounds in the off-season. He was a hitter who Thompson noted in the preseason for his "loud at-bats," but he had a bit of a slow start this year in mostly pinch-hit opportunities, recording three hits in his first 13 at-bats.
He has heated up in recent weeks, however, taking advantage of a starting opportunity created when first baseman Jared Gates was injured during the Razorbacks' series finale against Kent State.
McFarland enters Arkansas' series against Florida with an eight-game hit streak, the Razorbacks' longest. He is batting .400 during that stretch with 11 RBI, 2 home runs, 2 doubles and 3 walks, giving Arkansas a consistent presence from the right side in a lineup that has several left-handed hitters.
"He's seeing the ball better and he's seeing the ball a lot," said Thompson, referencing the importance of having live at-bats. "Anybody who has played this game knows that hitting is such a confidence thing. If you're feeling good and you're going up there confidently and you're seeing the ball good, man, it's a good thing. I think that's what is happening with him; he's had a few good results and he is just letting it rip. That's the type of hitter he needs to be. He's a strong, powerful guy, so he needs to play big, powerful and fearless.
"I think the first handful of at-bats (this season) he was a little rushed. Now he's starting to kind of feel that confidence. It's really good to see."
McFarland began his hit streak as a bright spot when there were few in the Razorbacks' March 10 loss to Kent State, recording two hits while starting in place of Gates in the second game of a doubleheader. After Gates injured his hamstring stretching for a ball at first base the next day, McFarland came to the plate in the fifth inning with runners on second and third, two outs and the Razorbacks trailing 4-2.
He never swung in four pitches and watched a 1-2 fastball on the outside edge that was called for strike three. Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn called the at-bat "passive" and lectured McFarland about it when he came back to the dugout.
"Dave was very honest with him and kind of let him have it," Thompson said. "Sometimes that's what it takes to get a guy to go, 'You know what, I'm not going to hold back. I'm going to let it play and let it rip, and see where the chips fall.'"
Arkansas had taken the lead by the next time McFarland came to the plate that afternoon and he hit a solo home run in the seventh to extend the lead to 6-4. When he came to the plate in the eighth, the bases were loaded and he was more aggressive, belting a 91 mph fastball over the wall in center field to cap the scoring in an 11-4 win.
Two days later against Texas, McFarland had another key moment with the bases loaded and two outs. He lined a 3-2 pitch past the Texas third baseman for a double, scoring three and opening the floodgates for a seven-run third inning.
Those at-bats were the turning point in McFarland's production with runners on base. Prior to the grand slam he was 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and 1-for-9 with runners on base.
Since Van Horn's pep talk, McFarland is 7-for-14 with runners on base, including 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Compare those .500 averages to .350 and .312, respectively, for the rest of the team during the same span.
"In the at-bats he had to that point in the year, it seemed like when there was nobody on base, he was clear-eyed and confident, and would put a good swing out there and drive the ball and get a hit," Thompson said. "When he had runners on, I don't know if he was tight or tensing himself up, but he wasn't putting anything out there."
McFarland added key RBI hits in the second game against Texas last Wednesday and in the first game against Kentucky last Friday. He drew a walk and scored in his first plate appearance of last Saturday's finale with Kentucky, part of a seven-run first inning.
"I think he’s really confident," Van Horn said. "He’s a guy that we’ve been just waiting for him. When are you going to take your batting practice to the game?
"Even the inning (against Texas) we scored seven runs, he led that inning off with a walk. That’s how things get rolling."
McFarland has floated around in the Arkansas lineup, batting anywhere from cleanup to eighth in the past week. He has batted sixth for the past four games.
"This is what I want, to battle myself mentally on who to play," Van Horn said. "Usually the players tell you who to play by the way they play.
"He's doing what we thought he would do as a sophomore. As a freshman, you never know what is going to happen but you can see what is in guys when you recruit them, and he's supposed to be a guy, and out on the recruiting trail he was a guy that everyone wanted.
"I'm excited for Jordan. He works hard."