FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas veterans Luke Bonfield and Carson Shaddy weren't interested in waiting for Senior Day to show off for the Baum Stadium crowd.
The duo, which has started 169 and 165 games, respectively, was integral to the Razorbacks' 9-3 win over Texas A&M on Friday night.
Bonfield, the designated hitter, went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored from the clean-up position, and the second baseman Shaddy went 1-for-3 with a walk and 3 RBI from the No. 6 hole.
Shaddy's three-run home run in the first inning extended the Razorbacks' lead to 4-0. It followed an RBI single by Dominic Fletcher to score Bonfield, who singled in his first two plate appearances.
"(Bonfield) sees a lot of pitches," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. "He had full counts and he just battled. I thought he had a tremendous approach. Obviously Shaddy's swing gave us a four-run lead at the time and gave us the chance to relax a little bit."
Shaddy's home run came on the first pitch he saw from Texas A&M starter Mitchell Kilkenny, who allowed seven runs after entering with an SEC-best ERA of 2.20. Shaddy began jumping up and down - almost skipping - as he rounded third base and headed toward home plate.
"It's my senior weekend and I had a lot of emotion going through," said Shaddy, a fifth-year player from Fayetteville. "To hit that home run, it kind of all came out right there. I didn't really mean to do it...it just kind of flowed out. I couldn't help it."
The duo came through again during the Razorbacks' five-run fifth inning that broke open a lead the Aggies had trimmed to 4-3. Bonfield led off the fifth with a walk against Kilkenny, who missed low on a 3-2 pitch, and Shaddy walked two batters later to load the bases with no outs.
Shaddy has a team-high batting average of .360. Bonfield improved his average to .302 and upped his on-base percentage to .443.
"Those are two of the older guys that we hope will lead us down the stretch," Van Horn said.
Shaddy, Bonfield and infielder Jared Gates will go through the senior ceremonies Saturday beginning at approximately 12:30 p.m. Shaddy has graduated with a degree in agriculture business, while Bonfield and Gates are a semester away from graduating with respective degrees in recreation sports management and business.