FAYETTEVILLE — Jace Bohrofen did not have a hit as an Arkansas Razorback entering the seventh inning of Friday’s game against Southeastern Louisiana.
Twenty-four hours later, the sophomore outfielder who transferred from Oklahoma was one of the team’s hottest hitters.
Bohrofen finished a bounce-back weekend at the plate with a 3 for 5, 5-RBI performance in the Razorbacks’ 11-1 win over Southeastern Louisiana in the final game of a Saturday doubleheader. Bohrofen hit a three-run triple in the eighth inning and walked off the Lions when he scored on a wild pitch to initiate a run rule.
After a 0-for-17 start to his time in Fayetteville, Bohrofen has an improving average of .214 and an OPS of .647. He had hits in six of his final 11 at-bats against the Lions.
“I was carrying a lot of confidence into today,” Bohrofen said. “This is a mental game and you can’t let it beat you up, because the game wants you to feel sorry for yourself and you can’t let that happen. You’ve just got to stay positive and ride the confidence wave.”
Bohrofen was a top prospect out of high school in Oklahoma City and was a coveted transfer for the Razorbacks last offseason. He spent the preseason hitting behind Cayden Wallace and they were often two of the most productive hitters in their lineup.
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn called Bohrofen’s two doubles a bright spot following Friday’s 7-3 loss, and said Saturday he thinks Bohrofen is beginning to feel comfortable.
“Sometimes once you get that first hit, it breaks loose,” Van Horn said. “He drove in some runs today, got some big hits. He hit the ball hard a couple other times where he didn’t get a hit.
"We need his bat. He’s a good defender in left field or right field, and we definitely need him and he’s starting to catch fire, it looks like.”
Bohrofen said it was easier to celebrate his success Saturday than it was following Friday’s loss.
“Yesterday it was nice, but we had a lot of work to do,” Bohrofen said. “It was just good to see our team come out here and compete and get the job done.”
Starters extended
Van Horn was pleased with the number of innings thrown by his three starting pitchers against Southeastern Louisiana.
Connor Noland pitched into the sixth inning, Hagen Smith pitched seven innings and Jaxon Wiggins pitched into the seventh. Combined, the starters threw 18 2/3 innings and each extended his pitch count into the 90s.
“We wanted them all to get 85 pitches at a minimum, if possible, to start getting them built up to get to around 90-95,” Van Horn said.
“It was really good to see those three guys give us some innings and let us kind of set some things up with some relievers — like an inning here, a batter there or two batters there, two hitters — and they all came through.”
Noland, Smith and Wiggins all threw five scoreless innings to begin their outings. Southeastern Louisiana’s only runs of the series came in the sixth inning.
The Lions scored seven runs in the sixth on Friday, including three against Noland. Their runs Saturday came on a two-run home run by Preston Faulkner in the sixth inning of the first game, and a solo home run by Evan Keller in the sixth inning of the second game.
Series streak
Arkansas won its 16th consecutive regular-season weekend series at home, but the past two series wins have not come easy.
The Razorbacks lost their series openers to Illinois State and Southeastern Louisiana before wins in Games 2 and 3 of both series.
“Obviously, we wanted to win this series,” Van Horn said. “We talked about it between games that this is a big game, we want to win the series, and our guys responded.”
Arkansas catcher Michael Turner said he thinks that development is key for the team.
“It’s going to happen in conference play and it happens to everybody,” Turner said of losing a series opener. “For us to come back and win those two games, I think that’s big for us to keep that momentum moving toward these games coming up (next) weekend.”
The Razorbacks’ last home series loss in the regular season came in 2019 when Ole Miss won two of three games. Arkansas also lost a three-game series at home last June when North Carolina State won the final two games of the NCAA super regional.
Rest needed
The Razorbacks played their fifth and sixth games in seven days Saturday.
Arkansas played twice — once apiece against Stanford and Louisiana-Lafayette — last Sunday at the Round Rock Classic, defeated Nebraska-Omaha on Wednesday and played three games over two days against Southeastern Louisiana.
Now the Razorbacks will have four consecutive days without a game. They aren’t scheduled to play again until Thursday when Illinois-Chicago comes to Fayetteville for the start of a four-game series.
Van Horn said the rest is needed. He said he told the team it might have the next two days off from any organized practice.
“Mentally, they don’t have to be somewhere,” Van Horn said of the break. “This is probably a good time for it.”
Arkansas players said they welcome the downtime.
“I’ll enjoy it, for sure,” Turner said.
Added Bohrofen: “Getting your off days and getting your rest when you need it…definitely playing this many games, you’ve got to take your rest days and make sure you get your body ready for the next one.”
Surprise ending
Most people in Baum-Walker Stadium were surprised when Saturday’s finale ended after Arkansas took an 11-1 lead in the eighth inning.
There was no announcement the teams had agreed to a run rule. Players said they were also caught off guard.
“I got on third and Coach (Nate) Thompson said, ‘He’s been kind of bouncing balls. Just look for a dirt ball right here and if it kicks away just go ahead and score because that will be a run-rule,’” said Bohrofen, who scored the final run on a wild pitch.
Van Horn said he and Southeastern Louisiana coach Matt Riser agreed to the run rule Friday morning when the decision was made to play a Saturday doubleheader. The Lions were scheduled to bus home Saturday night.
“I don’t really like playing a run rule and I don’t think they do either,” Van Horn said, “but with the circumstances, maybe it made sense.”
Van Horn said the abrupt ending kept redshirt freshman left hander Nick Griffin from throwing the ninth inning of the final game.
Old teammates
Some former teammates were in opposing dugouts this weekend.
Smith, the starting pitcher for Arkansas, and Southeastern Louisiana junior left fielder Jake Johnson starred for Bullard High School in Texas, where both pitched. Johnson, who started Friday, was held out of Saturday’s games.
Brady Slavens, the Arkansas right fielder, was a teammate of Southeastern Louisiana pitcher Jay Long, who did not pitch in Fayetteville. JUCO Baseball Blog named Long an honorable mention All-American and Slavens the national player of the year during their shortened season together at Johnson County (Kan.) Community College in 2020.
Swatter’s Club update
The Swatter’s Club will host its first in-person meeting in two years Monday.
Van Horn is scheduled to address the club beginning at noon at Mermaids restaurant in Fayetteville. Doors will open at 11:30 a.m.
The Swatter’s Club was held virtually during the 2021 season and its first meeting of 2022 was also a virtual event.
It will be the second time Van Horn has spoken to a large group at Mermaids this year. He was the featured speaker at the January meeting of the Hawgs Illustrated Sports Club. At the time he said that was his first time to speak to a crowd in person in almost 23 months.