The No. 12 Arkansas Baseball team completed its opening weekend sweep of Eastern Illinois Sunday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium after sophomore Heston Kjerstad roped a walk-off single to right-center field in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Panthers, 3-2.
It was Kjerstad’s second walk-off of his career and was his only hit of the day. Arkansas hitters struggled to put any runners on base all day as its six hits were scattered throughout the game. No player recorded more than one hit or one RBI, but the pitching was strong throughout to keep the need for runs low.
Junior Jacob Kostyshock, in his first career start, threw five scoreless innings, striking out three on 74 pitches, with only three hits allowed. Junior closer Matt Cronin, who entered the game in a save situation in the eighth, corralled the win after 1.2 innings pitched and one hit allowed in his first appearance of 2019.
The three-game sweep was Arkansas’ sixth-straight to open a season dating back to 2014.
Following his four-hit day in the doubleheader on Saturday, graduate transfer Trevor Ezell added another hit to his already growing total against the Panthers in his career.
Dating back to his four years at Southeast Missouri State, which played in the same conference (Ohio Valley Conference) as EIU, Ezell is 21-for-44 (.477) against the Panthers in 12 games.
He singled to right in the first inning on Sunday
Freshman Curtis Washington, Jr. was making only his second appearance of the weekend Sunday when he was called to bat for designated hitter Jordan McFarland in the seventh inning. Still looking for his first career hit, Washington was called to try and bunt over Jack Kenley, who walked earlier in the inning.
Washington did one better and drew a walk to put two runners on with no one out, which eventually led to Arkansas’ second run.
Washington, a West Memphis native finally got his first Razorback hit when he singled to lead off the ninth and scored the winning run on Kjerstad’s walk-off single.
Freshman Patrick Wicklander nearly achieved a feat that some pitchers only dream of when he came out of the bullpen in the sixth inning to relieve Kostyshock. Wicklander struck out the side of EIU hitters Jimmy Govern, Hunter Morris and Ryan Knernschield and did it on 10 pitches, just one shy of the near immaculate nine pitch, three strikeout inning.
Wicklander finished his first career outing with 2.1 innings, one run allowed and four strikeouts on 31 pitches.
Trevor Herzell, Heston Kjerstad, Casey Martin and Jack Kenley are the only Razorbacks to record at least one hit in each game this season, earning them a three-game hitting streak going into the road series at USC. Combined the top three of Arkansas’ lineup plus Kenley are hitting .391 with eight extra-base hits, three home runs and 12 RBIs. They’re also slugging at a .717 clip as a group.
Ezell leads all Hog hitters with an even .500 average (5-for-10) with four runs scored, two doubles, one home run and five RBIs.
