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Two key pieces of Arkansas’ national runner-up team will reunite in the Orioles’ system, where they’ll also join forces with a couple of players who denied them a national title in 2018.

Heston Kjerstad is the latest member of that bunch, as Baltimore took the Razorbacks' star outfielder with the second overall pick in the MLB Draft on Wednesday.

That made him the second highest drafted player in UA history - behind only Jeff King, who went No. 1 overall in 1986 - and among the first people to congratulate him was former teammate Blaine Knight, a third-round pick by the Orioles two years ago.

“He was pumped and I’m pumped, too, to be back on a team with Blaine,” Kjerstad said on a Zoom videoconference about an hour after he was drafted. “We got along great while I was at Arkansas and we’re both talking about playing on the same team again soon and how we’re both looking forward to it.”

It is also the second straight year Baltimore has used its first-round pick on a top college bat. Last summer, it took catcher Adley Rutschman with the first overall pick. He was the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy winner in 2019, but Arkansas fans likely remember him for earning Most Outstanding Player honors after going 8 for 13 in the College World Series Finals a year earlier.

Before taking Knight with their third pick in 2018, the Orioles drafted Oregon State shortstop Cadyn Grenier - who hit the infamous uncaught foul popup before driving in the game-tying run in Game 2 of the CWS Finals - near the end of the first round.

The most recent of those picks - Rutschman and Kjerstad - were made by Mike Elias, who Baltimore hired as its general manager following the 2018 season. Tasked with a massive rebuild of a once-proud franchise, he has targeted a pair of college sluggers who combined for 65 home runs and 303 RBIs in 335 career games while hitting .348 for two premier programs as his centerpieces.

“I think with a guy like Mike Elias at GM, he really knows what he’s doing,” Kjerstad said. “I did a little bit of research on how he turned around the Astros and how he was a big part of all those draft picks, (like) Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman. I think he’s doing the same thing with the Orioles.”

Although Rutschman was a clear-cut choice for the top pick last year, Kjerstad going second overall Wednesday night came as somewhat of a surprise.

Most mock drafts slotted Vanderbilt’s Austin Martin as the most likely pick for Baltimore, with the Pittsburgh Pirates at No. 7 seemingly the most likely landing spot for Kjerstad. However, as the draft approached, there started to be rumblings about Martin slipping because of a high asking price.

Sure enough, Kjerstad went to the Orioles and Martin fell all the way to the Toronto Blue Jays at No. 5. For a guy who has carried a chip on his shoulder since coming to Arkansas as the No. 426 overall recruit in the Class of 2017 and a 36th-round pick out of high school, that should be plenty motivation as he begins his professional career.

“I always have something to prove every time I go out there on the field,” Kjerstad said. “I’m just going to keep playing baseball how I always have… People can just sit back and watch and I’ll keep doing my thing and I’m pretty sure I’ll slowly change a lot of minds and they’ll realize why my name was called so early if they don’t understand now.”

Despite most draft experts being shocked by the pick, Kjerstad said he wasn’t particularly surprised. His family has known Orioles area scout Ken Guthrie for a while and he also felt good about his Zoom meeting with Elias during the pre-draft process.

“They showed quite a bit of interest and they said I was still in consideration for their No. 2 pick going into the draft today,” Kjerstad said. “I wasn’t really trying to get my hopes up for any pick.

“I was just waiting for the phone to ring and see what happened. Sure enough, after the Detroit Tigers turned in their pick, the phone ran and it was the Orioles and they wanted to pick me with the second pick. Man, I couldn’t say ‘yes’ quick enough to that.”

Another reason the Orioles picked Kjerstad is he reportedly might be willing to take a little less than slot value for his signing bonus. The No. 2 overall pick calls for a $7,789,900 bonus.

Saving money was the purpose of shortening this summer’s MLB Draft to five rounds in the first place and, with a 2020 season of any kind still up in the air, some teams are trying to save even more with the players they do pick.

The signing deadline, which is usually in mid-July, was pushed back to give teams extra time to do physicals and work around other complications created by the coronavirus pandemic. Kjerstad and the Orioles have until Aug. 1 to get a deal done. If they fail to do so, he could still return to college as a fourth-year junior, but that is extremely unlikely.

“We’ll just see how it goes,” Kjerstad said when asked if he believed the contract process would go smoothly. “I’m sure it may be impacted a little bit with everything that’s going on through all this virus stuff. I’m excited to get started on this journey.”

Also because of the pandemic, Kjerstad’s immediate future is still uncertain. Since returning home when the season was canceled, he’s been working out with weights in his parents’ garage and getting batting practice in with his dad, like he did while in high school.

There could be more of that in the days ahead, as speculation is rampant about the minor league season not happening this summer, but he is optimistic that he’ll have a chance to get out of Amarillo, Texas.

“I’m hoping I’ll be able to get out to the Orioles’ facilities, whether it’s spring training or wherever, and start getting after it, working out with the team or working out with their trainers, and hopefully playing again soon,” Kjerstad said. “I’m really getting the itch to get some live at bats and play a game again, for sure.”

As he embarks on his professional career, Kjerstad took a moment Wednesday night to reflect on his time in Fayetteville. Always with a smile on his face, he was wearing an Orioles hat, but sported an Arkansas polo for the occasion.

Although he is likely one of the best hitters to ever play for the Razorbacks, Kjerstad said he hopes his legacy is being a part of the first back-to-back College World Series teams in school history. He also thanked head coach Dave Van Horn.

“He took a chance on me when I was just a high schooler, gave me an offer, a scholarship to come play at his great program and I’ll always be thankful for that,” Kjerstad said. “While I was there, he took such good care of me, whether it was help me reach new levels or help me with whatever I needed.

“He was always there and he was a father figure there for me. There’s no other college coach in the country I would ever want to play for than Dave Van Horn.”

Day 2 of the 2020 MLB Draft, which consists of the final 123 picks in Rounds 2-5, is set to begin at 4 p.m. CT on ESPN2 and the MLB Network. Fellow Razorbacks Casey Martin and Casey Opitz are expected to hear their names called, as are a handful of signees.