Wehiwa Aloy nabs SEC Player of the Week second time this season for No. 3 Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE – For the second time this season, Arkansas infielder Wehiwa Aloy is the SEC Player of the Week.

The Razorback shortstop, who previously earned player of the week honors from the conference on Feb. 24, recorded five multi-hit games and three multi-RBI performances during the squad’s perfect 5-0 week against ULM and Portland, slashing a team-leading .632/.667/1.136 with 10 runs scored, four doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI.

Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn notes Aloy has blossomed after playing in the Cape Cod Summer League.

“I mean, he had a good summer. He was only there for a month, tore it up,” Van Horn said. Really just kind of came back and he seemed like he was confident, wasn’t swinging at pitches out of the zone like the fall before. I mean, we talked to him about it and worked with him all last spring. He’s the one that has got to do it. Once you start doing it, it’s maturing, it’s development, you know.

Aloy racked up an SEC-leading 12 hits and totaled 25 bases during Arkansas’ undefeated five-game stretch, belting a pair of two-run home runs, his first career multi-homer game, in the series opener against Portland on March 7 and logging consecutive four-RBI efforts in each of the first two games of the weekend series sweep of the Pilots on March 7-9.

“…He’s just developed and he’s 20, 21 years old now,” Van Horn saod. “It’s his third year now at this level and I just think it’s all about working hard and wanting to get better and development. He’s done a great job.”

Behind Aloy’s hot hitting, Arkansas is off to a 15-1 overall start, marking its best 16-game start to a season since 2006, and rides a season-long 11-game winning streak into Tuesday’s 6 p.m. midweek matchup against visiting in-state opponent UCA.

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Arkansas was ranked No. 2 in Monday’s The Athletic college baseball poll on Monday No. 3 in the D1, Baseball America and the USA Today Coaches rankings.

Perfect Game remained the outlier with the Razorbacks ranked No. 8.

Photo by John D. James