Stovall, starting pitchers stand out in first scrimmage of preseason

Arkansas second baseman Peyton Stovall bats during a scrimmage against the Texas Rangers instructional league team on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ baseball team opened the preseason with a seven-inning scrimmage Friday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium. 

The Red team — a lineup consisting of players who are projected to start or who are believed to be ahead in position battles — won 12-2. 

“For the first day out, it didn’t feel like the first day of spring practice to me,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “It felt like it was kind of continued on from the fall.”

Second baseman Peyton Stovall was the offensive star of the day with a 3-for-4 performance that included 2 home runs and 5 RBI. Stovall scored three runs, including in the sixth inning when he drew a full-count walk and stole a base. 

Stovall’s first home run was an opposite-field solo shot to the seats in left field after he got ahead in the count against freshman left-hander Parker Coil in the third inning. 

In his next at-bat in the fifth inning, Stovall pulled a three-run home run against freshman right-hander Ben Bybee. The ball bounced off the Hunt Baseball Development Center beyond the right-field bullpen. 

His final at-bat was a hard-hit RBI single off the left-field wall in the seventh inning against sophomore right-hander Jake Faherty. Stovall was also steady defensively and began a second base-to-shortstop-to-first base double play in the bottom of the seventh. 

“He had a good day,” Van Horn said. “He turned a good double play there in the last inning. He’s relaxed. He hit three balls hard today — had a couple of home runs and a single that should have been a double.” 

More from WholeHogSports: Unofficial stats from Friday's scrimmage

The Red team hit four home runs. Jace Bohrofen’s solo home run against Coil in the fourth inning had an exit velocity of 109 mph and clanged off the top of the video scoreboard in right-center field. 

Bohrofen's homer was into the teeth of a wind that gusted to left field throughout the scrimmage. 

“That was a pretty good poke against the wind,” Van Horn said of Bohrofen’s hit that was measured 425 feet. 

In the at-bat following Stovall’s homer in the fifth inning, Caleb Cali blasted a wind-aided 442-foot home run against Bybee onto the berm beyond the wall in left-center field. 

Tavian Josenberger played well in the leadoff role with a 3-for-4 outing that included a double and a well-executed hit-and-run. The center field transfer from Kansas scored twice, including in the sixth when Brady Slavens plated two with a single. Slavens scored on a Jared Wegner sacrifice fly to cap a five-run inning. 

“I thought Josenberger had a really good day,” Van Horn said. “Stovall had a good day. There were some balls hit hard, but the wind blowing in from right knocked a couple of balls down that might have got out of the park. 

“Overall, we did a good job. We had one hit-and-run that was successful and stole a couple of bases, so it was good to see.” 

Friday’s starting pitchers, left-handers Hagen Smith and Hunter Hollan, were dominant for two innings apiece. Hollan, who pitched for the Gray team, struck out five, while Smith struck out four without allowing a base runner. 

The only hit allowed by Hollan came in the first at-bat of the scrimmage when a fly ball off the bat of Josenberger landed in front of Kendall Diggs in right field. Hollan responded by striking out Stovall, Cali and Slavens to strand Josenberger, who stole second base. 

Hollan hit Wegner with a pitch to lead off the second inning. Wegner stole second base, but was stranded after Hollan struck out Bohrofen and Hudson Polk looking at fastballs, and John Bolton grounded out. 

“The two starting pitchers threw the ball extremely well,” Van Horn said. “They were pounding the zone with three, four pitches. It was exciting to see that.” 

Smith was quick and efficient in his two scoreless innings. They were so good that he was sent back to the bullpen after the second inning to complete his scheduled work.

“Hagen and Hunter are two really good dudes for us. They're going to be guys that are going to pitch a lot of innings for us,” Stovall said. “They pitched the way that they're supposed to.”

Pitching was up and down behind the starters. Coil allowed two solo home runs, but only one other hit in two innings. 

Junior right-hander Cody Adcock struggled in his first inning out of the bullpen when he allowed a single, walked two batters and committed an error that contributed to two unearned runs. Adcock bounced back with two quick outs the following inning, but was replaced — likely due to pitch count — after issuing his third walk. 

Sophomore right-hander Austin Ledbetter stranded two base runners after taking over for Adcock in the fourth inning, and worked around a Jayson Jones double in the fifth. 

Left-hander Nick Griffin, pitching for the Gray team, allowed 5 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks while recording his only out on a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Bybee allowed 4 runs and 4 hits, and hit 2 batters in his only inning of work. 

Some of Arkansas’ best pitching of the day came from back-end candidates Faherty, Gage Wood and Josh Hyneman. Faherty struck out Bohrofen and Polk to strand runners in scoring position after taking over for Griffin in the sixth inning. He pitched until Stovall’s two-out RBI single in the seventh. 

“He’s getting better every outing,” Van Horn said of Faherty, who throws an upper-90s fastball. “He’s got to do the little things. He’s got to do a good job holding runners and managing the game, because his stuff is as good as anybody’s.” 

Hyneman, a freshman right-hander pitching for the Red team, displayed a good fastball as he worked a 1-2-3 frame in the bottom of the sixth. The inning ended when Slavens, the first baseman, made a good backhanded stop on a ball to his right and threw to Hyneman covering the base. 

Wood, another freshman right-hander, struck out Cali to strand Stovall in scoring position in the top of the seventh. He pitched for the other team in the bottom of the inning and allowed two singles, but was backed up by his defense. The double play began by Stovall erased the first base runner, and the scrimmage ended when Polk, the catcher, threw out Isaac Webb trying to steal third base. 

“I think for the most part today, more good than bad,” Van Horn said. “You know, some of the young guys got hit around a little bit, but the veteran pitchers did a really good job.

“From the third inning on the hitting was outstanding with more of the starting team. And, really, the pitching I thought was really good.” 

Arkansas had 39 players on the roster Friday. Infielder Tyson Fourkiller, a transfer from Connors (Okla.) State College, left the program earlier in the week, according to a team spokesman. 

The Razorbacks are scheduled to scrimmage again Saturday at 12:30 p.m. All practices are open to the public free of charge.