Hogs land a top baseball prospect

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• By Richard Davenport
• 12:13AM on August 28th, 2009

Arkansas baseball picked up an oral commitment from one of the nation’s best prospects last week. Third baseman/pitcher Justin O’Connor of Muncie, Ind., Cowan said the Hogs worked hard to get him to Fayetteville.

“They contacted me early during the recruiting process and I heard a lot of good things about them,” O’Connor said. “We continued to talk during the summer and they came and watched me a couple of times.”

O’Connor excelled at the plate with a .561 average, 19 home runs and 61 RBIs while showing off a blazing fastball for a 0.30 ERA. In 46.2 innings, he recorded 101 strikeouts.

He took visits to Arkansas, North Carolina and Florida State.

“I took a visit out there and I loved all their facilities,” said O’Connor of the Hogs. “The coaches were great. I felt comfortable with everything. They’re up and coming and they’re in the SEC. The coaches have done a lot of good things with the program and they impressed me a lot. It’s something I want to be a part of.”

O’Connor has seen an increase in his arm strength over the last three years. He hit 96 mph on the radar gun this past season while throwing 92 last fall and 88-89 the year before.

O’Connor could be a long shot to enroll at Arkansas considering he’s a shoe-in to be a first round draft pick in next June’s Major League Draft.

“I haven’t sat down with my family and decided yet,” O’Connor said. “Nothing is for sure, anything can happen between now and June so I’m not real sure.”

Recruiting coordinator Todd Butler led the Hogs’ efforts in pursing O’Connor.

“I like him a lot,” O’Connor said. “I can talk to him real easily. He seems like a great coach.”

Living in Indiana, O’Connor said he was looking for warmer climate for college.

“I didn’t want to go too far South but anywhere warmer” he said. “They start their season earlier than we do up here.”