Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
HOGS NEARING single-season home run mark.
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks are attacking their single season home run record much like they attacked the Oral Roberts bullpen in Friday’s 10-2 victory in the opener of the NCAA Fayetteville Regional at Baum Stadium.
The Razorbacks hit four home runs against the Golden Eagles, two by freshman Heston Kjerstad and three in the final three innings against tiring starter Justin McGregor and relievers Brady Womacks and Grant Townsend.
The Razorbacks increased their home run count to 88, second-most in school history behind the 92 hit in 64 games in 2010. They broke a tie with the 1999 team, which hit 84 home runs, on Kjerstad’s first home run of the day in the third inning.
Carson Shaddy added a solo homer in the sixth inning and Jax Biggers put a two-run shot over the right-field fence in the sixth. Kjerstad hit his second tworun homer in the eighth.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville averaged 1.44 home runs per game in its record-breaking season and is averaging 1.52 this season.
The Razorbacks have hit 55 of their home runs in 33 games at Baum Stadium and 33 home runs in their 25 games away from campus.
The Hogs hit nine home runs in the early game in the 2010 Fayetteville Regional when they beat Grambling State 19-7.
Another 40
Arkansas improved to 40-18 with Friday’s victory to hit the 40-victory plateau for the 21st time in school history, all since former coach Norm DeBriyn’s 10th team in 1979 finished 49-15.
Coach Dave Van Horn has guided the Razorbacks to nine 40-win seasons in his 16 years at the helm, including back-to-back 40s five times.
Arkansas was 51-15 in 1985 and 51-16 in 1987 for the school record for most victories in a season.
Smashing success
Arkansas shortstop Jax Biggers is 5 for 10 — including 2 for 4 on Friday — while wearing a splint and lots of tape to protect a fractured left index finger.
“I kind of kidded with him the other day, ‘If I’d known you were going to swing the bat this good we would have smashed your finger a long time ago,’ ” Coach Dave Van Horn said. “He’s swinging the bat now like he did last year.”
Biggers, who hit .332 last season, has raised his average to .294 with his recent hot streak after sitting out for two weeks.
“I think he just needed a little time mentally to get away and be off to the side and realize, ‘It’s not as hard as I’m making it out to be in my mind,’ ” Van Horn said. “Just doing a good job I think of trying to shoot the ball through the middle.
“His swing seemed a little shorter to me, and him hitting a home run today into a light breeze, I wasn’t expecting that at all. It’s been good to see that. It’s been pretty impressive to me.”
HR string
Riley Keizor’s solo home runs in the fifth and seventh innings marked the seventh consecutive game Arkansas right-hander Blaine Knight has allowed a home run.
They were the 15th and 16th home runs allowed by Knight this season. He has given up 10 home runs during the seven-game span.
Knight has allowed one three-run homer in the streak, a pair of two-run shots and seven solo home runs in his last seven starts and 11 with nobody on base for the year.
DBU-UA ties
Arkansas pitching coach Wes Johnson and volunteer coach Craig Parry helped influence two teams at this week’s NCAA regional at Baum Stadium.
Johnson and Parry were assistant coaches at Dallas Baptist and helped recruit or coach many of the players on the Patriots’ roster.
Dallas Baptist, the runner up to Missouri State in the Missouri Valley Conference, made the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive year, a run that began when Johnson (2012-2015) and Parry (20142016) were on staff.
“We had a lot of talent and guys developed,” Parry said. “Obviously they’ve continued that success.”
DBU is looking to advance to its first super regional since 2011 this weekend. The Patriots have come close multiple times in the past six years.
In 2012, DBU lost two consecutive games to Baylor after entering a Sunday game in the winner’s bracket. Baylor went on to lose to Arkansas in the super regional the following week.
DBU hosted a regional for the first time in 2015 but failed to advance when it lost to Virginia Commonwealth at the end of a long weekend that was oft-delayed because of record rainfall in North Texas.
Dodge ball
A heady hip shake by Dominic Fletcher led to an Arkansas run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Oral Roberts third baseman Cal Hernandez fielded a sharp grounder from Grant Koch behind the bag with two outs and spied Fletcher heading to third on a non-force play, while pinch runner Hunter Wilson headed home. Hernandez stood in front of the base with the ball in his glove, but Fletcher juked to his right. When Hernandez lunged unsuccessfully to apply the tag, Fletcher dove safely into the bag just ahead of the defender’s second tag try.
The missed tag allowed Wilson, who had entered after Luke Bonfield’s single and a single by Fletcher, to score the Razorbacks’ seventh run.
Moments later, both players came up ailing on a pickoff throw by catcher Riley Keizor, Hernandez with a slight limp and Fletcher shaking his right hand after they collided on head-first slides to the bag.
Streak snapped
Arkansas second baseman Carson Shaddy’s sixth-inning home run snapped an 0-for-16 skid for the senior, dating back to the May 19 finale at Georgia.
Shaddy went 0 for 12 at the SEC Tournament and had drawn one walk on Friday before he drove a 2-2 pitch from Justin McGregor over the wall in left-center field.
Beating the heat
Razorbacks starter Blaine Knight threw 104 pitches, the sixth game he’s had more than 100 this season.
Knight matched his career-high of eight innings despite the afternoon heat with a high of 93 degrees under sunny skies.
“Heat-wise it was just stay hydrated and try to keep out of the sun as much as possible in between innings,” Knight said.
Knight said he didn’t have particularly good command of his fastball.
“Slider for the most part is what was working really for me,” he said. “My fastball location was pretty shaky, so I was just trying to keep it over the plate.”
ORU Coach Ryan Folmar didn’t see anything shaky about Knight’s fastball — or any of his pitches.
“He’s good,” Folmar said. “You don’t go 10-0 in [in the SEC] and on the year and not do a lot of things well,” Folmar said. “He commanded the fastball well on both sides, two different breaking balls for strikes, a change-up for strikes. He’s athletic, he’s competitive, he’s got enough fastball. I mean he’s good. He’s really good.”
Knight’s other games this season with more than 100 pitches were against Auburn (113), Florida (107), Texas A&M (105), LSU (104) and Alabama (101).
Heat, please
Southern Mississippi third baseman Luke Reynolds, a first-team All-America selection by Collegiate Baseball and the Conference USA Player of the Year, was asked what kind of scouting report he would give on himself.
“Throw me fastballs,” Reynolds said, chuckling. “And throw me strikes. I don’t know. I just go in there and compete.
“I’m going to do anything to help the team win. I don’t try to do too much. Yeah, I guess you can throw me fastballs if you want. That’d be great.”