Former Arkansas baseball standout Cayden Wallace laced an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night to extend his team-high 8-game hitting streak for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.
The hit spurred a three-run rally for the Naturals, who still fell to the Tulsa Drillers, 7-4.
Wallace is hitting just .224 in 12 games, since being promoted to the Naturals, the Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. But he has continue to be consistent with the bat since returning to Northwest Arkansas as a professional.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound third baseman from Greenbrier, spent his two-year Razorback career just 13 miles down the road from his new home, Springdale’s Arvest Ballpark.
Since being drafted in the second round of the 2022 draft, Wallace has hit .264 in 541 career minor league at-bats, with 12 home runs, 87 runs batted in, and 24 stolen bases. He was batting .261, with 10 homers, 64 RBIs and 10 stolen bases for Single-A Quad Cities, before getting promoted on Aug. 8.
He signed with the Royals for $1.7 million after being the 49th overall player drafted.
“I was so excited to be back,” Wallace said after arriving in Springdale. “Just seeing all the fans gave me chill bumps. It was really cool, and I’m just really thankful for the fans and just how supportive the Arkansas fans are and how amazing they’ve treated me over the last few years.
“When I got drafted, I was super excited because I knew there was a chance at some point in the future I was going to be back here, and the major leagues is definitely the goal, but one of my goals was to get here.”
Wallace currently ranks No. 4 on MLB Pipeline’s ranking of the Royals’ top 30 prospects. He is only the second Razorback to ever play for the Naturals since they were established in Springdale in 2008, following only Brett Eibner in 2013.
The Naturals will continue their current 12-game homestand Wednesday night against the Drillers at 7:05 p.m., and will remain at home through Sept. 3.