No regrets on play at the plate
The only thing worse than Arkansas freshman left fielder Heston Kjerstad being tagged out on Saturday for the game-ending double play on sophomore Dominic Fletcher’s flyout to left field in a 3-2 loss at Georgia could have been demanding he not tag up.
Third base coach Nate Thompson sent Kjerstad on the play and head coach Dave Van Horn endorsed the decision.
Think of the nothing ventured, nothing gained second-guessing had Kjerstad stayed put and the next batter, Jared Gates, had been retired for the same 3-2 result that befell the No. 8 Razorbacks (37-17,
18-12 Southeastern Conference). Gates is not incapable of the big hit. He hit the home run that beat Missouri State in last year’s historic Fayetteville Regional game that lasted until 3 a.m.
But this season, the senior left-handed hitting first baseman hits only .198 overall and
.212 in SEC games. Gates would have faced Georgia lefty reliever Ryan Webb who recorded his third save retiring the left-handed Fletcher on the fly to left fielder Keegan McGovern, whose throw home was either going extend the game or end it. Fletcher is batting .291 for the season and is even better in SEC play, where he hit for a .325 average.
“Kjerstad was sent and I’m fine with it,” Van Horn said. ““You’ve got a left on left matchup and you’ve got a .214 hitter coming up. Fletcher was the bat. That’s the guy who has to get the run in. I don’t blame Kjerstad. You’ve got to give the left fielder credit. He made a throw and if it’s off just a little bit (Kjerstad) beats it.”
The ending cost Arkansas its last chance to win an SEC road series. The Hogs lost two out of three games at No. 1 Florida (4115, 20-10), No. 4 Ole Miss (42-14,
18-12), LSU (33-23, 15-15) and No.
7 Georgia (37-17, 18-12), winning the first game in each series.
The Hogs were also swept at Mississippi State (31-24, 15-15). The results forced Arkansas to settle for a co-championship in the SEC West with Ole Miss rather than win the division outright.
The Razorbacks are seeded fourth in this week’s 2018 SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Ala. The tournament starts with four play-in games on Tuesday with the winners bracketed in a double-elimination format against the four seeded teams on Wednesday.
Ole Miss and Arkansas split the SEC West title, but the Rebels owned the tiebreaker in seeding for the tournament. Georgia was the runner-up in the East behind overall champion Florida.
Arkansas will play the late game Wednesday night, estimated to start at 8 p.m. The game will likely start later give three games precede it.
The Razorbacks’ opponent will be the winner of Tuesday’s late game between South Carolina (32-22, 17-13) and Missouri (34-18, 12-18). All games in the tournament will be televised on the SEC Network (Resort Channel 79) until Sunday’s 2 p.m. championship game, which is scheduled to be shown on ESPN2 (Resort Channel 29).
Arkansas’ 6-13 record on the road undoubtedly creates much message board gnashing of teeth among some restive fans, but, if given one or the other, better to have folks leaving Baum Stadium happy in Fayetteville. They certainly did.
The Razorbacks were 29-3 at Baum and 30-3 in-state. They also won, 7-6, on April 10 against Grambling State (26-26,
14-10 Southwestern Athletic Conference) at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
And they still appear assured to host an NCAA regional at Baum Stadium.
However, they likely have some work to do in Hoover to cinch the national top eight national seed to be an assured Super Regional host should they advance from their regional.