The Arkansas baseball program will host a talented infielder from the Pac-12 this week, as HawgBeat can confirm that Arizona State second baseman Ethan Mendoza will be in Fayetteville on Tuesday.
A 5-foot-10, 175-pound soon-to-be sophomore, Mendoza slashed .315/.367/.443 with an OPS of .810. He racked up 35 runs, 64 hits, 11 doubles, three triples, three home runs and 24 RBIs through 53 games and 203 at-bats.
Hailing from Bedford, Texas, the Southlake Carroll product struck out just 22 times and walked in 13 plate appearances, good for a 9.9% K rate according to D1Baseball.
Defensively, Mendoza saw the majority of his time at second base but also made a handful of appearances at shortstop. He racked up 68 putouts, 86 assists and nine errors for a .945 fielding percentage.
Mendoza's season-high hit total came in his second-ever collegiate outing, when he finished a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate against Santa Clara on Feb. 18.
Out of high school, Mendoza was tabbed as a top-500 overall prospect in the class of 2023 according to Perfect Game and the 46th-best out of Texas. Before his debut year with the Sun Devils, Mendoza participated in the 2023 MLB Draft League where he hit for a .396 batting average in 13 games.
Arkansas already has commitments from the Division II batting average leader in outfielder Carson Boles, as well as pledges from TCU outfielder Logan Maxwell, FGCU outfielder Charles Davalan, Milwaukee outfielder Carson Hansen, Fresno State outfielder Rocco Peppi, BYU designated hitter Kuhio Aloy, Georgia State shortstop Maximus Martin, Ohio State LHP Landon Beidelschies and Oregon State RHP Aiden Jimenez.
Head coach Dave Van Horn and the Razorbacks still have needs around the diamond, so be sure to follow along at The Trough premium message board for updates on all the offseason action.
