Peyton Holt's move to outfield provides jolt for Arkansas baseball

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A not-so-subtle message from Dave Van Horn changed the fortunes of Peyton Holt's senior season with Arkansas baseball.

In a midweek game against San Joe State on April 9, Van Horn quietly wrote Holt's name down as the Razorbacks (37-7) starting right fielder. Until that point, Holt had exclusively worked with the Arkansas infielders in spring practices and had not discussed a potential position switch.

"I guess that was my sign I probably should work on outfield a little bit," Holt said. "From then on it was just consistently working on outfield. That’s where I’ve been so far."

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Holt has started in the outfield in 11 of No. 2 Arkansas' last 14 games. The Greenwood native has somehow made a flawless transition without any SEC experience playing outfield before this season. He's been reliable, but he's also been a game-changer in the Hogs' season.

With the entire offense floundering in recent weeks, Holt has brought a consistent bat to the lineup. He's hitting .330 on the season and .289 over the last three weeks. He's even brought some power with two home runs during that recent stretch, including a game-winning two-run blast Saturday against Florida that clinched a winning series for the Hogs.

"I was just sitting heater, first pitch," he said. "I don’t know what it was, but it just looked a lot faster than 92-93 so I was just like I got to get all over a fastball. Got it in the right location and didn’t miss it."

And Holt's heroic home run might not have been his most impactful moment. In the inning immediately after, Holt pulled off a miraculous deke play, faking a catch in center field to fool a Florida base runner attempting to score from third on a sacrifice fly. Holt's defensive play saved a run in a 6-5 win and was the No. 1 play on SportsCenter's Top-10.

"There were probably a lot of people that didn’t know what the heck happened," Van Horn said. "And still don’t know what happened, and probably need to go back and watch a replay and have somebody explain it to them. It was just a real head’s up play. A real heady play."

Holt made all of his 19 starts last season in the infield, but he's lost playing time at second base to a healthy Peyton Stovall. At third base, Richmond transfer Jared Sprague-Lott has been too good both at the plate and defensively.

So now, Holt shifts his mindset to the outfield. Van Horn said the senior is taking unlimited reps in practice off live bats to continue and develop his comfort at the position. He prefers center field, but Holt is capable of handling either of the corner spots.

After only starting one of the Hogs' first 12 SEC games, it's hard to imagine Van Horn taking Holt out of the lineup in meaningful games for the remainder of the season.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Peyton Holt's move to outfield provides jolt for Arkansas baseball