Baseball observations: Fletcher's bunt skill, letting players make the calls, Goodheart's streak and more

FAYETTEVILLE — With his team trailing 2-0 and facing a 3-1 count to lead off the sixth inning, Dominic Fletcher took just about everyone at Hammons Field by surprise Tuesday night.

Fletcher, the Arkansas junior center fielder, laid down a bunt on the grass inside the third-base foul line. Missouri State third baseman Joey Polak was playing the percentages and had positioned himself behind the infield dirt for an opposite-field grounder, so Fletcher easily was safe to give the Razorbacks a leadoff runner.

Arkansas went on to score three runs that inning and three more the next en route to an 8-2 win.

"It just kind of gets an inning going and creates a little something," Arkansas hitting coach Nate Thompson said. "Our offense this year has kind of fed off once we get something started, we can keep it rolling. We want to get one of those guys on base as early as we can each inning."

Fletcher had noticed Polak falling back on a 2-0 pitch in an earlier at-bat, and figured he might do it again if he got ahead in another count. Third basemen typically play Fletcher close, near the infield grass, but Polak was falling back nearly to the grass in the outfield.

Fletcher's bunt single was his own call, but he had conferred with Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn in the dugout.

"On 3-1 he started backpedaling and I said, 'Hey, if they're going to give me a free hit, I'll take it,'" Fletcher said.

The sixth inning at Missouri State wasn't the first time Fletcher had shown the ability to reach on a bunt single. He had done it several times throughout his career, including the previous week at Texas.

Fletcher has a gift for what he does, no different than the gift he possesses as a brilliant defender in center field. The ability to quickly transition the bat from the shoulder to a bunt position, place the ball along the ground and leg out a single can't always be coached. It takes a certain level of skill and athleticism.

"He's got a knack for it," Thompson said. "He's got a real feel for the ability to get the ball down where he needs to and use it as a tool to get on base and create an inning. He did a handful of times last year and he's just very skillful with the bat. We work on it and I give him credit for it."

Fletcher said he's more comfortable bunting for a hit than sacrifice bunting because he can't go through his normal batting rhythm on a sac bunt. He has three bunt singles this year, but no sacrifice bunts. In the second game at Texas last week, Fletcher was asked to sac bunt and fell behind 0-2, then looked at strike three on the next pitch.

Overall, though, Arkansas has been a fairly solid bunting team this season, which fits nicely with its new small-ball identity. The Razorbacks have 18 successful sacrifice bunts this season and seven bunt singles.

Bunting was something Arkansas hitters worked on extensively in the offseason. Players had what they called "bunt school" in which they would come to the practice facility on their own and get extra work at the craft.

"We knew this year was going to be more of a speed-type team, so that (bunting) was going to need to be a weapon for us," said Thompson, who noted that 5-10 minutes per day can make a significant difference.

"A lot of bunt stuff just comes down to fundamentals. You have to want to do it and take it seriously and know it's important....When we've asked them to do it, they've - for the most part - taken care of business."

Trusting the players

When you watch Arkansas' pitchers throw this season, there is a good chance the pitch selection didn't come from the dugout.

First-year pitching coach Matt Hobbs is letting his catchers, sophomore Casey Opitz and redshirt senior Zack Plunkett, call the majority of the pitches when they are behind the plate.

"Sometimes he has a pitch he really wants to call and he'll give it to me," Opitz said, "but he gives me a lot of freedom back there.

"He wants the catcher to make the call because the catcher is in the game. He can't see the little things like when a batter is moving up in the box or diving over the plate. He can't see those little things like we can behind the plate."

In the past two weeks, Hobbs has been able to communicate with catchers via the one-way headsets that are allowed in Southeastern Conference games. Hobbs said the headsets don't change how he communicates with his catchers, other than to suggest pitch patterns or to give some situational advice.

"If you have a really good plan going in, then the catcher should have the information of who does what, offensively," Hobbs said.

It isn't just the catchers who have a lot of freedom working with Hobbs. Pitchers have the ability to shake off a call they don't like in favor of a pitch they believe in.

"What I think is the right pitch from a 45-degree angle, sitting away from where the catcher is sitting, isn't necessarily the right pitch," Hobbs said. "The wrong pitch in my eyes, if it's thrown with 100 percent conviction by the pitcher, might turn it into the right pitch."

Minus a few games, Arkansas has pitched well this season. The Razorbacks have a 3.20 team ERA and their 4.07 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks sixth nationally.

Seeing the ball

By now you likely know the story that Matt Goodheart needed new corrective contact lenses to help him see at night.

Goodheart, a sophomore designated hitter, has looked like a different player since he made the switch prior to the SEC-opening series against Missouri two weeks ago and has pretty much locked down the every day DH position, although he has been held out of the lineup a couple of times. Since the change in contacts, the Razorbacks are 6-0 when Goodheart starts and 0-2 when he is benched.

That likely has something to do with his plate production - 12-for-25 with 5 RBI, 5 runs and 4 walks since the beginning of the Missouri series. Compare that to 7-for-29 with 4 RBI, 3 runs and 2 walks prior to the start of conference play.

Perhaps most notable has been Goodheart's drastic drop in strikeouts. In his first 29 at-bats, he struck out nine times. He has three strikeouts in his last 25 at-bats.

Goodheart has raised his batting average to .352, becoming the type of hitter the Razorbacks expected when they signed him from junior college last year. As a freshman at San Jacinto in Texas, Goodheart batted better than .400 as a leadoff hitter.

"He's always been a good hitter," Arkansas hitting coach Nate Thompson said. "It's just, can you get a little bit of success going? I feel like he's doing a good job and has calmed some stuff down, and is more balanced right now."

Goodheart had his eyes checked at the suggestion of his parents. Goodheart's father, Steve, was a long-time, successful college head coach. In 23 seasons at Southern Arkansas University, Steve Goodheart won 764 games and took his team to the NAIA World Series three times.

"My parents said, 'Maybe you can't tell, but maybe there's a little difference'" in the eyesight, Goodheart said. "I took their word on it, got an eye exam and made a little change.

"My dad had seen it (in his former players). He had an older form of LASIK, and even the older form he thought made a huge difference. He's a huge advocate for getting the most out of your vision."

Goodheart said his most recent eye exam was about a year ago. He has worn contacts since elementary school and understood how integral they were to his hitting.

"This is a sport that demands really good eyesight," he said.

Thompson can sympathize. As a college player at Dallas Baptist, Thompson would sometimes struggle with his vision because of issues related to blood sugar.

"It's a really helpless feeling standing at the plate and feeling like you can't see," Thompson said. "I remember having depth perception problems at times, going, 'I don't know if I can hit right now.' It's just a terrible feeling."

Thompson's neon towel

If you've been to a game this season - or even if you've just watched on TV - you've likely seen Arkansas assistant coach Nate Thompson holding or waving a bright, neon green towel while the Razorbacks are in the field.

Thompson waves the towel to get the attention of the fielders, then positions them based on individual data for each batter, such as a spray chart.

"With the caliber and size of the crowds we play with, I ran into problems a few times last year with getting the attention of the outfielders," Thompson said. "We would have to lock eyes at the exact same time and I'd be trying to move them. It's not a problem when you have an empty stadium, but when you have 10,000 or 11,000, you can't hear anybody and they can't hear you, and you need to get their attention.

"I was just thinking during the offseason what I could do to make this easier for the guys and it's not me having to scream at the top of my lungs. I just told them, 'I'm going to have a neon towel, and if you see the neon towel, that means you need to see me until I move you.' If I put the towel away, then everybody is good.

"Sometimes I put the towel out and I'm thinking, 'OK, come on, come on, see me. OK, now I've got your attention; let's go.'"

Thompson said he kicked around the idea of waving different colored towels or even holding up placards, but didn't want to overthink the problem. Plus, he liked the method he had developed to maneuver the fielders.

"I like the system I have with the hand signals," Thompson said. "I just needed a way to get on the same page at the same moment."

Economic impact

Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek offered some interesting figures during a speech to the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce earlier this month at Walton Arts Center.

Yurachek said that during the 2018 NCAA regional and super regional in Fayetteville, roughly 52,000 tickets were sold, including 24,000 to people outside of the Northwest Arkansas region. The estimated economic impact on the local economy during the two weekends was $3.6 million, a figure that takes into account spending at businesses such as restaurants, shops and hotels, but that does not include the purchases of tickets or in-stadium merchandise and concessions.

In 2018, Yurachek said Arkansas' baseball team had an estimated $10.1 million economic impact on the region - a perfect storm of factors that included good weather for big weekend series, notable midweek games against high-profile non-conference teams and the ability to host the first two weekends of the NCAA Tournament.

"People ask, 'Why in the world would you invest $25 million into a baseball clubhouse?'" Yurachek said. "Well, that's why. If we can invest $25 million into a baseball clubhouse one time and we can continue to have natural growth in our baseball program, think of the impact that can have over the long term for this community."

Yurachek's figures were based on a greater University of Arkansas economic impact report. The report found the Razorbacks' three most-profitable programs - football, men's basketball and baseball - had an estimated impact of $35 million from the start of the 2017-18 basketball season through the conclusion of the 2018 baseball season.

Most researchers are skeptical of economic impact studies because they sometimes fail to take into consideration a number of factors, such as whether fans would have spent their money on the local economy regardless of whether there was a game. UA researchers surveyed fans in stadium parking lots and based their findings on the average amount of spending by fans who said they were attending from outside the region.

Time will tell what impact the baseball team has on the local economy in 2019, but early indications are that it might not be as strong, primarily because of poor weather. Arkansas already has lost three days with home games because of the weather and is looking at another rainy weekend for its big series against Ole Miss that begins Friday.

Hitter of the Week

The season is still young and Arkansas has yet to hit the meat of its schedule, but it's safe to say the Razorbacks have exceeded expectations to this point with their 21-4 record, the second-best 25-game start under coach Dave Van Horn.

Undoubtedly, one of the reasons for the success has been the offensive performance from the bottom of the lineup, which was a big question mark entering the season, but has carried the team at times when veteran hitters have struggled.

Entering the Ole Miss series, Arkansas' hottest hitter is in the eight hole, redshirt freshman Jacob Nesbit. Against Missouri State on Tuesday, Nesbit extended his hit streak to 15 games and his on-base streak to 22 games by delivering a two-run, game-tying single in the sixth inning.

During the Razorbacks' six-game road swing at Texas, Alabama and Missouri State, Nesbit went 9-for-24 with 9 RBI. He leads the team with a .337 batting average.

"I didn't expect him to go out and tear it up offensively," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. "What I expected was basically what he's done, which is to play really good defense and battle at the plate. But he's got a lot of really big hits for us, laid down some nice bunts, sacrifice, hit and run.

"He's just been really consistent and that's been a big plus for us."

Pitcher of the Week

Matt Cronin was dominant in three appearances during the road trip. The junior left-handed closer needed 22 pitches to retire all six batters he faced.

Having not pitched in a week, Cronin was brought in for the ninth inning of Arkansas' 10-2, series-clinching win at Alabama. He struck out two.

The situation wasn't quite as comfortable, but still wasn't stressful two days later at Missouri State. After freshman Elijah Trest loaded the bases with no outs in the inning, Cronin quickly warmed up and induced a popup and a game-ending double play.

Cronin is the only Arkansas pitcher that has not allowed an earned run this season, having accomplished the feat in 11 innings over 10 appearances. He has six saves this season.

The only knock on Cronin, if there is one, has been his walk total (5), but he has had good command in his most recent outings. Hitters are batting just .086 against him and he has 18 strikeouts.

Hit of the Week

Casey Martin has been in a weeks-long funk at the plate, but he has had the home run to kickstart the offense in both of Arkansas' Game 3 rubber matches. The Razorbacks are 2-0 in those games with wins of 11-0 over Louisiana Tech and 10-2 over Alabama.

Martin's leadoff home run at Alabama seemed especially important given Arkansas' struggles the day before when the Razorbacks were shutout. Taking a less aggressive approach than the one that has resulted in a team-high 26 strikeouts, Martin squared to bunt on the first pitch of the game, then sat on a second-pitch fastball that he crushed to left field. It was his fifth home run, which is tied for the team lead.

The hit clearly energized the Arkansas dugout and the rout was on from there. The Razorbacks had 14 hits that day, including two by Martin, who has a .243 batting average, the second lowest on the team among regular starters.

Honorable mention here goes to Heston Kjerstad for his 10-pitch at-bat that resulted in a solo home run during the first inning of the Friday game at Alabama. Much like Martin's homer two days later, Kjerstad's homer sparked a big offensive night in a 12-3 win.

Gem of the Week

Christian Franklin made two great diving catches at Alabama, but the first one stands out because of the degree of difficulty.

The left-handed hitting Drew Williamson drove a ball in the opposite direction toward the wall in left-center field. Running to his glove side but tracking the ball over his shoulder, Franklin had no choice but to leap to make the catch.

He made the jump from the outfield grass, but landed on the warning track with his head just inches from the wall. To compound the degree of difficulty, the play came just as the sun was setting behind Sewell-Thomas Stadium, a scenario that can create visibility problems for outfielders.

"Those are tough and kind of scary, too, when you don't know how close you are to the fence," center fielder Dominic Fletcher said. "I'm just glad he caught it and glad he was OK.

"That's probably the main reason he started out there in the first place, because we all know he can run around and make plays. I have a lot of faith in him over there. It's fun to watch."

Things I Like

• The Longhorn Network gets a bad rap in many circles, but it produced two quality broadcasts for Arkansas' series at Texas. Having not watched an LHN production beforehand, I was curious to see how heavily tilted the broadcast would be toward the home team, and was pleased to hear balanced commentary.

• Alabama spent $42 million to renovate Sewell-Thomas Stadium four years ago and now the Crimson Tide have a ballpark that holds its own in the baseball-crazy SEC. There wasn't a bad seat in the park, which resembles what you might find in the minor leagues. One quality I especially liked was the tight protective netting that ran the length of each foul line. With so many balls batted out of play and so many distractions, it's a feature that is bound to be replicated at many more parks in the coming years.

Closing thoughts

The next week is an intriguing one. Ole Miss has had Arkansas' number for several years - the Razorbacks have won just two of the past eight series and lost three straight - and the following game against Arkansas-Little Rock isn't your typical midweek game.

Still, a 3-1 record seems like a reasonable expectation for the Razorbacks, especially at home. Arkansas enters the Ole Miss series with a 14-series win streak at Baum-Walker Stadium and a 15-1 record at home this year.

The Rebels should test Arkansas' hitters more than any team they've seen this season, with the exception of maybe Missouri, which created matchup problems with its trio of left-handed starters. Ole Miss' Friday starter, Will Ethridge, has pitched well in the past against Arkansas and brings a 0.91 ERA into the matchup.

It will be interesting to see how the Rebels' other starters - both freshmen - handle the expected big crowds. Saturday left hander Doug Nikhazy was great with 7 2/3 scoreless innings and Sunday right hander Gunnar Hoglund struggled with his command last week at Missouri, where they pitched in front of 803 and 880 people, respectively.

That's a far cry from even a half-full park in Fayetteville.

Arkansas has reliably had good starts on Friday and Sunday from Isaiah Campbell and Cody Scroggins, and not had to stress the bullpen in spite of Connor Noland's shorter Game 2 outings.

Noland has run into trouble early the past two weeks. He was able to pitch around a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the first inning against Missouri, but couldn't overcome command problems in the second inning at Alabama.

Coaches were pleased with his one-inning relief appearance Tuesday at Missouri State and gave him the starting nod over left hander Patrick Wicklander, who could be used in long relief if any of the Arkansas starters falter this weekend.

It's clichè, but the series should come down to pitching. These teams are two of the SEC's best at the plate and have difference makers up and down the lineup who can change a game in a hurry. Which staff can hold the other team down the most?

Arkansas has two of its big three hitters back on track with Heston Kjerstad and Dominic Fletcher swinging the bats well. The question now is how long it will take Casey Martin to break through, and how long the Razorbacks will leave him in the leadoff spot if he doesn't break through soon.