Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy gave Razorback fans a glimpse of his potential as a sophomore in 2024, and now the former Freshman All-American seems ready to take the next step towards becoming one of the Southeastern Conference's top hitters this spring.
A former transfer from Sacramento State, Aloy started all 60 games at shortstop for Arkansas last season and he slashed .270/.355/.485 while leading the team with 14 home runs and 56 RBIs. The Wailuku, Hawai'i, native hit nine doubles and had 15 multi-hit games, plus he had a hitting streak of 14 games and a team-best 31-game reached base streak.
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The numbers look great and they were good enough for Second Team All-SEC honors, but Aloy also ranked second on the team with 55 strikeouts and his .270 batting average was second-worst of the seven players who appeared in at least 45 games.
After batting with a .376 average and hitting 15 doubles, five triples and 14 homers as a freshman at Sacramento State, Aloy saw much-better pitching in the SEC a year ago. Head coach Dave Van Horn said Sept. 3 that Aloy arrived at Arkansas and had an open stance and a big leg kick when batting.
"This is a guy that hit .350 at Sac State, didn’t see the pitching he saw here, obviously, from the day he walked in here to the time the season was over, facing all the SEC arms and then some really good ones out of league play," head coach Dave Van Horn said. "We were talking about just calming it down a little bit and man did he make an adjustment this summer, from leg kick to you won’t see a whole lot going on there."
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The adjustment paid off, as Aloy struck fire for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in the Cape Cod Baseball League over the summer. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound infielder slashed .309/.352/.642 across 21 games with three doubles, eight home runs and 24 RBIs. He still struggled with strikeouts, though, as he had 19 of them compared to three walks in the summer.
"I watched his batting practice up there the first day, up in the Cape, and I got him off to the side," Van Horn said Sept. 3. "I even videoed it and sent it back and said to the other coaches, ‘Look what’s going on here. He’s made an adjustment.’ And at the time, he was hitting over .300 and hitting home runs. I talked to him after BP and I said, ‘I love what you’re doing.’ He just stayed through the middle, hit line drive after line drive, hit some balls out of the park dead center, maybe left-center, right-center.
"Then in the game, his first at bat he singles up the middle, then he lined out to short. It was just taking BP to the game and not trying to do too much. Same guy showed up here. Last fall, he was trying to see if he could hit them up there by the picnic benches in BP when they had free rounds. Now it’s seeing if you can ping pong the middle and maybe hit one off the batter’s eye and go the other way. It’s called hitting and it’s been a great thing so far."
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According to stats compiled by local media, Aloy logged eight hits in 31 plate appearances in the fall. Four of those hits were home runs, and he ranked second on the team with 13 RBIs, but he did have 13 strikeouts compared to three walks in the fall.
Aloy had two hits, including a 110 mile per hour double, in the Oct. 11 exhibition against Oklahoma State at Baum-Walker Stadium. He also had a solo home run in the Oct. 4 annual Fall Classic intrasquad scrimmage.
D1Baseball has Aloy listed as their 22nd best available college prospect for the 2025 MLB Draft.
The Razorbacks will open their season Friday, Feb. 14, against Washington State at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.
