Davalan Becoming Anchor in Razorback Line-up

Second-year lead-off hitter doing more than just collect hits for Arkansas

Arkansas Razorbacks Charles Davalan against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. / Andy Hodges-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas' 21-2 start is the team's best start to a season since 1982.

The offense is hitting .328 on the season, 46 points higher than they were at this point last year. The team's average is even higher in a small sample size of SEC play (.366).

At the top of that line-up is outfielder Charles Davalan, who has skyrocketed his average over 90 points since the start of SEC play with a 18-for-30 stretch. His hot streak lifts his average to second on the team (.411), just five points behind designated hitter Kuhio Aloy.

Kid just rakes @DavalanCharles https://t.co/bIbnUIHGiU

— Logan Maxwell (@Logan__maxwell) March 22, 2025

It's not just the hits and production that Davalan is providing for the offense. He's the prototypical lead-off hitter who does a little bit of everything for the Hogs and coach Dave Van Horn the team lacked in 2024.

He's tied for the team lead with four stolen bases and has just six strikeouts on the season. Every other qualified hitter on the team has at least double-digits.

“The light bulb was already on,” Van Horn said. "Maybe it's brighter now than it was, but it was pretty bright all fall. [He] got off to a slow start, [but] sometimes that's just the way it works. Really good hitter, good plate discipline, can go the other way. You think about how many hits he's got opposite field the last five or six games, it's probably 80%.”

All four of Davalan's hits in Arkansas' 12-2 win over South Carolina were either the other way or up the middle.

Davalan knows his role as a lead-off hitter: see pitches, get on base and let the big bats in the order behind him drive him home. Not surprisingly, he leads the team with 36 runs scored, seven more than the next closest on the team (Brent Iredale and Wehiwa Aloy, 29).

"I just think it's to be a tone setter," Davalan said. "My job's pretty easy when I got some really big hitters like Aloy, Maxwell and Iredale behind me, so I just got to go get on base and let them do the job. I've scored a lot of runs recently, but that's pretty much on them."

Arkansas continues the second game of the series against South Carolina 2 p.m. Saturday. The game will be streamed on SEC+.

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