Razorback report: Stovall comes up clutch late

Arkansas first baseman Peyton Stovall hits an RBI single during the eighth inning of a game against Illinois-Chicago on Thursday, March 10, 2022, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas freshman Peyton Stovall made up for a base-running blunder with a pair of RBI hits late during the Razorbacks’ 5-4 comeback win over Illinois-Chicago on Thursday in the final game of a doubleheader. 

Stovall had an RBI hit to plate Arkansas’ first run in the sixth inning, then had the game-tying hit during a four-run eighth. Stovall scored the game-winning run in the eighth when Michael Turner singled with two outs. 

Stovall’s hits came after he slowed down while running to first base, which allowed UIC to turn a double play with the bases loaded to end the fourth inning. 

UIC pitcher Tyler Ingram fielded the grounder off the bat of Stovall and threw to the plate for a force out of the lead runner. Catcher Cole Conn threw to first base to complete the double play. 

Stovall, who came off the bench for the pinch-hit at-bat in the fourth, said he did not anticipate a throw would come his way and pulled up.

“That’s 100% my responsibility and I should have been running through the bag,” Stovall said. “So I just knew my time was going to come and I had people like Michael in the dugout. He told me, it was like, ‘You are going to get another at-bat and it’s going to be a big one.’ So I was just going to try to make the most of my next at-bat.”

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Stovall’s two-out single in the sixth scored Zack Gregory from second base to cut the Flames’ lead to 3-1. 

Gregory doubled to plate a run in the eighth to cut the UIC lead to 4-2, and while Stovall was at-bat, Jalen Battles scored on a wild pitch from reliever Tanner Shears to make the score 4-3. 

Stovall drove a 3-2 pitch into right-center field to score Gregory. Stovall scored when Turner blooped a single over the second baseman’s head. 

“You could tell he was very emotional about it,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “He ran down the line kind of pumping his fist.” 

The final game of the doubleheader was Stovall’s second two-hit performance this season, which has been rocky for him at the plate. His three hits Thursday — including one in the first game of the doubleheader — raised his batting average to .225. 

“He just needs to know he can hit and go hit,” Van Horn said. “Hopefully all that’s over with now and he knows he can do it and just go play.”

On Wednesday, Stovall said he thought he was turning the corner after his early season slump. 

"I'm starting to see the ball better and I'm starting to feel like my old, normal self," Stovall said. "Slowing the game down is really big for me. I think Coach Van Horn has done a good job shoving his confidence into me, and I think that's played a big role in me picking things up." 

Wallace leads off 

For the first time in his career, sophomore third baseman Cayden Wallace led off during Thursday’s two games. 

Wallace went 3 for 5 with 3 runs and 3 RBI in the first game, and 1 for 4 and walked once in the second game. 

Prior to the game, Van Horn said he wanted to try something new with the lineup and credited Wallace’s running ability. 

“We just thought we’d try it, shake it up a little bit,” Van Horn said. “That doesn’t mean it’ll last. It might go all year; you never know.”

Wallace raised his batting average to a team-high .362 on Thursday. He also hit his first home run of the season, a three-run shot to left field during the eighth inning of the first game. 

Bohrofen injured

Sophomore Jace Bohrofen injured a shoulder when he ran into the outfield wall while catching a fly ball before the first game of the doubleheader.

Bohrofen was initially listed as the starter in left field, but was scratched just before game time and replaced by Gregory. Van Horn did not say which shoulder Bohrofen injured. 

“Hopefully he’ll be all right,” Van Horn said. “I don’t know if he’ll play the rest of this weekend, but hopefully he’ll be back next week.”

Bohrofen broke out of an early season slump last weekend when he had six hits in his final 11 at-bats of the Southeastern Louisiana series. He hit two doubles and a three-run triple.

Noland strong

Arkansas pitcher Connor Noland turned in another career outing against a Midwest team Thursday. 

Noland struck out 11 in 6 2/3 innings to lead the Razorbacks to a 12-4 victory in the first game of the doubleheader. Noland allowed 4 hits, 3 of which came during the Flames’ 3-run seventh when he was lifted after a 100-pitch count. He walked two batters. 

It was the eighth time Noland has pitched against a team from the Midwest during his four-year career. In those games he has allowed 7 runs in 35 2/3 innings, struck out 51 and walked 8. 

Noland’s three highest strikeout totals have come against Midwest teams, including twice this season. He struck out 10 Indiana hitters in a six-inning start at the Round Rock Classic on Feb. 25. 

Noland’s 11 strikeouts Thursday tied his career high set two years ago when he struck out 11 in 6 2/3 innings in the season opener against Eastern Illinois. 

Turner, the catcher, called Noland’s performance “phenomenal.” 

“He went out there, got ahead of hitters early on,” Turner said, “and I think whenever our guys do that they have a lot of success throughout the game." 

Double talk

Thursday’s doubleheader was Arkansas’ third in 12 days. 

The Razorbacks played twice Feb. 27 in Round Rock, Texas, when they lost to Stanford in the first game and defeated Louisiana-Lafayette in the second game. Arkansas swept two games against Southeastern Louisiana last Saturday. 

Noland said most of the players on the team are used to the long days. The Razorbacks played doubleheaders on four consecutive weekends last season. 

“It seemed like every weekend we played a double,” Noland said prior to the games. “I think you just know what you’re getting into. You’re going to be at the ball field all day and you have to be locked in from Pitch 1 to the last pitch of the second game.”

Arkansas’ players arrived at Baum-Walker Stadium by 8 a.m. for the noon game. The final out of the day was recorded at 7:02 p.m. 

“They feed us a good pregame meal," Stovall said Wednesday. "We go through our hitter meetings and pregame (batting practice) and stretch and all that."

Stovall said nutrition is an important piece to preparing for a doubleheader. He said players snack on fruit throughout the day to “keep our belly somewhat content.” 

“If you don’t eat, you feel a little lethargic,” Stovall said. “That definitely helps when we have doubleheaders.

“Ultimately you have to focus on one pitch, one at-bat, one inning and go from there….When you’re locked in every inning, every pitch, the game slows down and you’re more prone to have a good day when you are locked in like that.”

Noland said doubleheaders can be most difficult on relief pitchers. 

“As a reliever I think it’s more stressful because you never know when your number is going to be called, so you’re sitting there in the bullpen all day like, ‘When is my opportunity?’” Noland said. “So just bringing the mindset of whenever it comes, you have to be ready and take advantage of that.”