Kjerstad comes up clutch in walk-off win, sweep of Auburn, 5-4

More on Mason Jones' commitment to Arkansas

Offensive observations from Red-White game

REACTION: Takeaways from the Red-White Game

RUNDOWN: Defense stands out over offense

REWIND: White tops Red in the Rock, 27-25

RECAP: White tops Red in the Rock, 27-25

POSTGAME VIDEO: Morris & Players

BOX SCORE: White 27, Red 25

HD VIDEO: Postgame | ARK 5, AUB 4

BOX SCORE: ARK 5, AUB 4

Freshman Heston Kjerstad saved his only hit for the perfect moment, coming up with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to give Arkansas a 5-4 walk-off victory and series sweep over No. 13 Auburn in Baum Stadium on Sunday.

Starter Isaiah Campbell struggled out of the gate, but was relieved by Jake Reindl, who put on a show. The junior righty threw 9 strikeouts and only surrendered 1 earned run on 1 hit in a career-high seven innings on the mound. Arkansas (24-9, 8-4) fell behind 4-0 early but chipped away at the lead, scoring 2 runs in the fourth and seventh to tie the game 4-4. Kjerstad went 1 for 5, but his lone hit saved the day for Arkansas.

Auburn (23-10, 4-8) jumped on Campbell early, scoring 3 runs in the second inning but couldn't muster a single run past the third. Two throwing errors and a two-run homer that was ruined by a baserunning mistake really hurt the Tigers. Auburn has now dropped five straight SEC contests.

Here's how the Hogs snuck away with the sweep on Sunday:

Isaiah Campbell found himself in a bit of trouble in the first inning after giving up two straight singles but escaped without any damage.

Campbell wasn't so fortunate in the top of the second. Auburn hit back to back singles off him again, followed by an RBI double to left field by Josh Anthony to put the Tigers ahead 1-0. The very next at bat, Edouard Julien hit a two-RBI double to right center to make it 3-0 Auburn.

Jake Reindl entered in relief of Cambell and walked Brett Wright to start the top half of the third. In an odd play, Jay Estes hit a two-run home run to left center but passed Wright, who was already on first. By rule, Estes was called out at the nearest base and given an RBI single instead, putting the Tigers ahead 4-0 instead of 5-0.

To start the bottom of the fourth, Eric Cole hit a laser off the base at second. The ball ricocheted into left fied, allowing him to take second for a leadoff double. Casey Martin scored Cole on an RBI double to left, bring Arkansas within 4-1. Dominic Fletcher singled to third and a throwing error on the third baseman brought Martin home, to close the gap to 4-2 Tigers after four.

Auburn brought in Calvin Coker to pitch in the bottom of the seventh and he loaded the bases with one out on a throwing error by the shortstop, a single by Jared Gates and a walk. Cole hit a massive two-out, two-RBI single to left center to tie the game up 4-4. Shaddy then struck out, but Biggers walked to load the bases again. Kjertad struck out, ending the inning.

Jake Reindl dominated on the mound, retiring Auburn's final 18 batters, giving the Razorbacks a chance to win with one run in the bottom of the ninth.

Shaddy opened the bottom of the ninth with a walk and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Kjerstad, who was hitless to that point, recorded his first and biggest hit of the game, knocking through an RBI single to center and scoring Shaddy from second to give Arkansas the 5-4 walk-off win and sweep of Auburn.

Dave Van Horn on Jake Reindl's performance:

"It was huge. He hasn't pitched that well all year. That was last year Jake Reindl...When you think about the three games, we didn't use a lot of pitching...Proud of the guys for hanging in there."

Van Horn on Auburn being called out for passing a baserunner:

"I've seen it before a few times. Usually what happens is the ball is usually hit really high and deep...I don't really know what happened...I thought it was in Heston's glove. It was an unusual play. It was early in the game. They were rolling at the time...We definitely overcame it."

Van Horn on Kjerstad's game-winner:

"We just told him. You're going to get another at bat in this game, the biggest at bat. That's what we always tell our players...He came in there in the ninth and came through."

Van Horn on Tuesday's Grambling game in North Little Rock and pitching plans:

"We'll leave four or five of our pitchers home. We won't take any of the three starters...We'll just stick with our midweek starter...Bolden will probably get the start, he will start...We look forward to going down there every year."

Heston Kjerstad on his walk-off hit and celebration:

"I was just trying to hit something hard like my usual routine...You know, honestly, the water wasn't that cold because my adrenaline was pumping. It was fun for all of us."

Jake Reindl on his performance today:

"First of all, I want to say, it's great to see all of your beautiful faces...it's been a long time. It was great...It was a combination of getting more confidence in my pitches and using that to have more confidence in myself...I went back and watched the film of me throwing the ball against Auburn last year and used some of that."

Eric Cole on winning a close finale after two straight weeks of tough losses in the SEC:

"It's awesome. Winning a game like that in the SEC is never easy which we learned the last two weeks...It really helped us having those last two weeks even though they were losses...down the stretch."

For the second straight start, Isaiah Campbell struggled. In his previous outing against Florida, Campbell was pulled after only one inning, giving up 6 runs on 4 hits. After sitting out the past week to rehab, Campbell only lasted two innings today, surrendering 3 runs on 6 hits.

On the flip side, Jake Reindl was outstanding on the bump for Arkansas. Reindl threw seven spectacular innings (a career-high), striking out nine Tiger batters and only walking two. He only gave up 1 run on 1 hit. Reindl retired Auburn's final 18 batters.

Five continues to be the magic number for Auburn. They're 17-0 when they score 5 runs or more, but including today, the Tigers are 6-10 when failing to do so. Auburn is also now 5-10 when they don't outhit their opponent.

With this victory and Ole Miss' loss to Mississippi State today, Arkansas now has solo possession of first place in the SEC West at 8-4 in conference.

Jake Reindl (Arkansas): 7.0 IP (91 pitches), 1 H, 9 K's, 2 BB, 1 ER

Arkansas' next opponent is Grambling State (16-16, 9-6). The Hogs will face the Tigers on Tuesday, April 10 at 6:30 pm (CDT) at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock (Ark.). Freshman Caleb Bolden is expected to start.