Nolan Souza's Increased Confidence Vaults Him to Big Role For Razorbacks

Hawaiian infielder adds key tool over winter break to earn playing time with top-ranked Hogs

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Throughout fall ball, second baseman Nolan Souza looked to be on track for a prototypical freshman year without much playing time. Despite being ranked the No. 56 overall prospect in the class of 2023 by Perfect Game, Souza hit just .159 in 44 fall ball at-bats, according to unofficial stats kept by the media. Perhaps most alarming, he struck out 24 times and drew just one walk. 

"He came back in January and it just seemed a little bit different to me," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. "He’s still a freshman. He still asks a lot of questions and really polite. Really polite kid, love him. But you could just tell there was a little more confidence in there." 

Fast forward to the regular season where Souza leads the team in batting average (.423), on-base percentage (.559) and second on the team in homers (3). The massive improvement has been keyed by better plate discipline. The Honolulu native has drawn seven walks in 10 appearances and has only struck out five times. 

"I’ve worked on that [plate discipline] a lot," Souza said. "That’s something that I’ve struggled with in the preseason and something that really stood out to me is something that I needed to work on both when that fall ended. It’s been one of the main things that I’ve been focusing on." 

With increased plate discipline has also come increased power. To go along with his three homers, he has two doubles and a team-leading .846 slugging percentage. Souza cranked just the Razorbacks' second two-homer game by a single player of the season in the 8-0 win over Mizzou to open SEC play. Souza had never hit multiple homers in a game before in his life. 

"His batting practice was good," Van Horn said. "[He was] driving the ball the other way, the ball was just jumping off his bat. And then we put him in the game. As a coach you just kind of go, ‘Wow. This guy might be a gamer.’ He’s not scared." 

Souza and the rest of the Razorbacks look to pick up its first SEC series win of the year in game two of the series against Missouri Saturday 2 p.m. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+. 

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