College Baseball: NO. 8 ARKANSAS 4, LOUISIANA-MONROE 0

Towering inferno: Razorbacks' red-hot Kjerstad hits mammoth HR

Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad rounds third base after hitting a home run during a game against Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, in Fayetteville.
Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad rounds third base after hitting a home run during a game against Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Razorbacks left fielder Heston Kjerstad took a 2-0 fastball from Louisiana-Monroe pitcher Richard Hebert and knocked it over the 25-foot high scoreboard at Baum Stadium.

"I knew I squared it up -- hit it pretty good -- and off the bat I could tell it was going out," said Kjerstad, a freshman from Amarillo, Texas. "But then I watched it, and I surprised myself a little bit on how far it went once I saw it clear the scoreboard.

"I would have to say I think that one was the farthest I've ever hit a ball."

According to a radar tracking system used by the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville baseball program, Kjerstad's eighth home run traveled 430 feet.

His blast led off the bottom of the second inning and was the first run in what turned into a 4-0 victory for the No. 8 Razorbacks on Wednesday before an announced crowd of 2,056.

"Right when it left the bat, my comment was, 'That's not coming back,' " Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "That was just so obvious on the field when it left. The sound. He got extension. It just really exploded off the bat."

The left-handed hitting Kjerstad nearly had a home run in the Razorbacks' 10-9 victory over the Warhawks on Tuesday night, but his towering shot down the right-field line was ruled foul.

"I thought it was fair," Kjerstad said. "But obviously my answer is going to be biased to myself."

Kjerstad, who also had a single in the third inning Wednesday, extended his hitting streak to 14 games. During the streak he's batting .439 (25 of 57) with 6 home runs, 5 doubles and 14 RBI.

"I really wouldn't call it a tear because of what I've seen him do," Van Horn said. "He's just a good hitter, and if you make a mistake or leave it in the zone a little bit, he usually doesn't miss it. He hits it hard somewhere.

"Sometimes, maybe you go on a little bit of a streak like that, you have to have a little bit of luck, but there is just a lot of skill involved there."

Kjerstad is batting .400 on the season (44 of 110) with 9 doubles and 31 RBI.

"I guess I've just been seeing the ball really well and getting a lot of hits," Kjerstad said.

Caleb Bolden and Cody Scroggins combined on a shutout for the Razorbacks.

Bolden, a freshman right-hander from Texarkana, Texas, scattered 7 hits -- including 6 singles and a double -- over 7 innings and threw 94 pitches. He had five strikeouts without a walk.

"We were hoping to get four, maybe five [innings] out of him, and then kind of go from there," Van Horn said. "But he got it rolling."

Bolden helped save the bullpen for Arkansas' series this weekend against No. 15 Auburn after the Razorbacks used five pitchers in Tuesday night's 10-inning game.

"When you're playing a Wednesday game and you're within 48 hours almost of playing a conference series, it's nice to have a guy go out and give you some quality innings," Van Horn said. "You don't have to go out and throw five or six guys and then have to make a decision -- do you want to recycle somebody on the weekend?

"It takes a lot of pressure off the coaching staff and our pitching staff."

Bolden (3-0) pitched for the first time since allowing 3 earned runs in one inning of the Razorbacks' 17-2 loss at Florida on March 24 when he had 2 walks and gave up 1 hit.

"It felt really good, especially getting out there after Florida," Bolden said. "Rebounding like that."

Kjerstad's home run and an RBI groundout by Grant Koch gave Arkansas a 2-0 lead in the second. The Razorbacks made it 4-0 in the sixth when Dominic Fletcher scored on a wild pitch after hitting a single, and Evan Lee had an RBI single.

Arkansas didn't commit an error after having four Tuesday.

"We played really good defense, which is something that we needed," Van Horn said. "On the offensive end, we did just enough."

The Razorbacks, with 35 errors, have spent more time working on defense in recent practices.

"As Coach Van Horn has been telling us lately, defense will win games," Kjerstad said. "It's always nice for our pitchers here when we're able to make big plays for them."

The Razorbacks turned doubles plays in the sixth and seventh innings.

"For Caleb, our infielders made some great double plays to get him out of a few jams," Kjerstad said. "I'm not a pitcher, but I bet it feels pretty good to know when a ball is put in play that your defense is going to make a play and get the out."

Up next

NO. 8 ARKANSAS

VS. NO. 15 AUBURN

WHEN 6:30 p.m. Friday WHERE Baum Stadium, Fayetteville. RECORDS Arkansas 21-9, 5-4 SEC; Auburn 23-7, 4-5 SERIES Auburn leads 46-41 STARTING PITCHERS Auburn: RHP Casey Mize (6-0, 2.11 ERA); Arkansas: Blaine Knight (5-0, 2.01 ERA) RADIO Razorback Sports Network TELEVISION None INTERNET SEC Network-Plus SHORT HOPS Arkansas improved to 16-2 at Baum Stadium this season with its two-game sweep of Louisiana-Monroe. … Razorbacks freshman outfielder Heston Kjerstad extended his hitting streak to 14 games Wednesday with a home run in the second inning. … Arkansas freshman Caleb Bolden threw 61 strikes on his 94 pitches. … Cody Scroggins, who missed last season while recovering from elbow surgery, pitched two shutout innings for the Razorbacks in relief of Bolden. … It was the Razorbacks’ second shutout victory of the season along with a 1-0 victory over Arizona on Feb. 21 in San Diego.

THE WEEK AHEAD

TODAY Off

FRIDAY vs Auburn*, 6:30 p.m.

SATURDAY vs Auburn*, 6 p.m.

SUNDAY vs Auburn*, 4 p.m.

MONDAY Off

TUESDAY vs Grambling State+, 6:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY Off *SEC game +At Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock

Sports on 04/05/2018

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