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Kjerstad, Wicklander shine in midweek win over Western Illinois

FAYETTEVILLE — The nearly 1,200 fans who braved the elements Tuesday night almost saw a couple of baseball rarities, but had to settle for a normal shutout victory.

Heston Kjerstad finished a double shy of the cycle and a tough play up the middle was ruled an infield single instead of an error for Western Illinois’ lone hit in its 8-0 loss to Arkansas at Baum-Walker Stadium.

“Everyone was telling me, ‘Just get a double,’” Kjerstad joked in postgame interviews. “And then all the pitchers were giving me a little hitting advice to help me out.”

After getting five innings of one-hit ball from Patrick Wicklander, relievers Kole Ramage, Jacob Kostyshock, Kevin Kopps and Matt Cronin each threw a hitless inning. They were complemented by an offense led by the top of its lineup, as Casey Martin and Kjerstad combined to go 6 for 8 with three RBIs and five runs.

“Patrick Wicklander got us off to a good start…then just kind of ran through some guys that basically got their Tuesday bullpen in,” head coach Dave Van Horn said. “It was nice to see the offense kind of kick it into gear a little bit and seems like Martin and Kjerstad are starting to heat up a little bit, feeling a little better about themselves.”

Although it never got a big inning, Arkansas scored a run or two in all but the second and third innings and was never really in danger because of Western Illinois’ anemic offense. The Fighting Leathernecks came into the game hitting .184 as a team and actually lowered it 11 points to .173.

The Razorbacks will go for the midweek sweep at 3 p.m. Wednesday if weather permits. Van Horn said their forecasts show the rain moving out of the area in the afternoon. However, there is a wind advisory for Washington County, with gusts expected between 40-50 miles per hour.

“We would rather play in cold than wind,” Van Horn said. “It’s kind of like golfers. You don’t like playing in the wind. Whenever the ball is not big enough to get through that wind, it just pushes it all over the place.

Playing Wednesday would allow them to give redshirt sophomore right-hander Marshall - formerly known as Angus - Denton (0-0, 2.45 ERA) the first start of his career. He’ll face Western Illinois sophomore right-hander Justin Foy (0-2, 6.91 ERA).

Wicklander’s Outing

It was almost deja vu for Wicklander as he turned in almost an identical pitching line as he did last week against Charlotte. He gave up one hit and struck out eight in five innings, but did cut down his walks from three to one.

Van Horn said they had him on a pitch count of 70-75 to save his arm for use out of the bullpen against Missouri in the SEC-opening series this weekend and he ended up throwing 76 pitches, 50 of which were strikes.

“He just pounded the zone, had a few counts of 3-2 and I think he walked just one hitter, but for the most part, just threw a lot of strikes,” Van Horn said. “A lot of fastballs and started mixing up a few changeups which were good to see I think in about the third.”

The lone hit Wicklander gave up against Charlotte was a first-inning bunt single, while the lone hit against Western Illinois was the aforementioned fifth-inning play that was considered for an error but was ultimately ruled a hit. Neither ball left the infield.

In between those plays, Wicklander threw 8 2/3 hitless innings. His combined line in the last two starts is no runs on two hits and four walks while striking out 16 batters in 10 innings.

“I’m feeling pretty good, pretty confident going into conference play,” Wicklander said. “Today was a good day to get us ready for conference play this weekend.”

Kjerstad’s Day

Although he missed out Arkansas’ first cycle since Kyle Harris did it against Tennessee in 1994, Kjerstad still had a great day at the plate. He went 4 for 4 with a two-run home run and three runs scored.

“It was good to see him get a couple of singles and see him smiling, bouncing around the dugout as that batting average climbs because he felt like he was struggling,” Van Horn said. “We felt like he was starting to get a little bit better the last week or so, and he’s starting to get some things to go his way.”

The performance included Kjerstad’s first career triple on a ball he crushed to the center field wall into the wind. His home run also sliced through the wind and landed in the left field bullpen, showcasing the opposite-field power he displayed as a freshman.

It has been a dramatic turnaround from the way he started the season. Coming out of the USC series, his batting average bottomed out at .214. Over the last seven games, though, he is hitting .500/.545/.767 and has raised his batting average all the way up to .348, which is second on the team.

The Ball Will Find You

There is a saying in baseball that the ball will find you, whether you’re struggling with errors, a late-game defensive replacement or - in Trevor Ezell’s case - coming off an injury.

For the first time with the Razorbacks, the graduate transfer played his natural position of second base and had four balls hit his way. The reason he had been at first base is because his shoulder has not fully recovered from offseason surgery, but Van Horn wanted to give him a shot in one of the final non-conference games before SEC play.

“I just wanted him to be able to play over there a little bit just in case we got in a bind and had to make some changes in a game on the road or whatever,” Van Horn said. “I thought he handled it pretty well.”

In the second inning, he had to range to his right to field a grounder by Alex Dorethy and throw across his body. It was the precise play that the coaches were concerned about, but he made it. Later in the same inning, he had to charge a grounder by Nolan Ard, but he lost the ball on the transfer and was charged with an error.

In the fifth inning, he didn’t look comfortable at all on a throw after an easy play, as his throw was in the dirt. The very next batter hit another ball up the middle, he ranged to his right and fielded it, but his throw was wide. It was the play ruled an infield single.

“He tried to get the ball out of his glove and didn’t get control of it,” Van Horn said. “As I said, if it was three or four hits, nobody would care about it, but since there were no other hits you question it a little bit.”

Ezell did make up for it, though, by picking a throw from Casey Opitz and getting a tag down to catch the runner trying to steal second.

Other Tidbits

~Bad weather throughout the day, coupled with the opponent and late start on a midweek, likely kept a lot of fans at home Tuesday night. The paid attendance was 6,926, while the “tickets scanned” number was 1,177.

~Freshman Curtis Washington Jr. has come off the bench in nine games now and is starting to develop a reputation as a great pinch hitter. His single through the left side against Western Illinois improved him to 5 for 8 (.625) on the season.

~For the eighth time in nine games, Arkansas pitchers combined for double-digit strikeouts, finishing with 14. The only time the Razorbacks failed to reach 10 strikeouts during that stretch was Game 2 of the Louisiana Tech series, when they had nine. They did it just twice in the first six games of the season.

~With Ezell moving to second, Jordan McFarland got the start at first base and went 1 for 3 with a hard-hit line drive single and sacrifice fly. Van Horn said he liked what he saw from him and will likely give him the start at designated hitter Wednesday to continue showing

~Western Illinois is without two veteran players for the series as outfielders Steve McShane and Justin Fitzpatrick traveled to Evanston, Ill., to participate in Northwestern’s Pro Day because they are also all-conference performers at running back and defensive back, respectively. Both of them played in the 2016 series in Fayetteville, will Fitzpatrick going 1 for 9 and McShane laying down a bunt and plowing over then-Arkansas first baseman Cullen Gassaway on the base path.

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