Kjerstad named SEC Freshman of the Year
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas left fielder Heston Kjerstad was named the Southeastern Conference’s Freshman of the Year on Monday, leading seven total Razorbacks named to the All-SEC, All-Freshman and All-Defense teams.
The freshman from Amarillo, Texas, is the first player in program history to receive the award. Kjerstad is the third Razorback to win a major conference award in school history, along with Andrew Benintendi, who won Player of the
Year in 2015, and Nick Schmidt, who won Pitcher of the Year in 2006.
Kjerstad was also named to the AllSEC Second Team and SEC All-Freshman team for the outfield. He is joined by third baseman Casey Martin, of Lonoke, on both teams.
Redshirt senior second baseman Carson Shaddy, of Fayetteville, was the only Razorback named to the All-SEC First Team. Juniors Blaine Knight, a right-handed starter pitcher from Bryant, and right fielder Eric Cole, from Southlake, Texas, were named to the Second Team. Junior catcher Grant Koch and sophomore center fielder Dominic Fletcher are members of the SEC All-Defense team.
No. 8 Arkansas (37-17, 18-12) is scheduled to play tonight in the 2018 SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Ala., against the winner of Tuesday’s late play-in game between South Carolina (32-22, 17-13) and Missouri (34-21, 12-18).
Kjerstad is hitting .348 for the season, leading all SEC freshman and 12th-best among freshman in the country. His 11 home runs is two away from tying Arkansas’ all-time freshman single season record of 13 set by Zack Cox in 2009.
His season numbers rank best among SEC freshmen in batting average, runs scored, total bases, hits and home runs, while ranking second in slugging percentage and third in RBIs. Kjerstad is one of five freshmen in the nation and the only player in the SEC with at least a batting average of .345 and a slugging percentage of .575 or better.
Florida juniors Jonathan India and Brady Singer were named the Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, respectively. Their coach, Kevin O’Sullivan, was named the SEC Coach of the Year.
Keegan McGovern, of Georgia, and Nico Mascia, of Tennessee, were named the Co-Scholar Athletes of the Year.
The No. 1 Gators (41-15, 20-10) led the way with four selections to the First Team. Kentucky (34-21, 13-17) was the only other team with multiple selections with two.
Shaddy led Arkansas with a .354 batting average and had career-bests with 10 home runs and 37 RBIs. He also led the team with a .395 average, .716 slugging percentage and .474 on-base percentage in 24 conference games.
The Razorbacks led the conference in Second Team selections with four.
Knight finished the regular season with a perfect 9-0 record and 2.88 ERA in 81 1/3 innings over 14 starts. He is the only pitcher in the SEC with an undefeated record and an ERA under 3.00.
The junior was 6-0 in conference starts, allowing just 24 earned runs in 58 1/3 innings for a 3.70 ERA and a team-leading 61 strikeouts. Knight needs one more win to crack into the top nine all-time for Arkansas in wins and his 224 career strikeouts currently ranks seventh in school history.
Cole has started all 54 games for Arkansas, hitting .333 with a team-high 12 home runs. He drove in a team-leading 28 runs in conference play, including 17 in the last month.
Martin hit .344 during the regular season, second only to Kjerstad among SEC freshman. His .333 average in conference play was third-best on the team and best among freshman in the SEC.
Arkansas was the only team with more than one player selected for the All-Defense team.
Koch made one error in 51 games for a fielding percentage of .998, tying his best mark as a Razorback. He caught six of 16 base stealers, including four in conference play, which is tied for the least steal attempts in the SEC.
The junior is the only catcher in school history to be named All-SEC and All-Defense in a career. Koch is the first Arkansas catcher since Jake Wise in 2014 to be named to the All-Defense team.
Fletcher is the first Arkansas outfielder named All-Defense in school history. He only made one error in 30 conference games and made 118 putouts in 125 chance for a .968 fielding percentage.