FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) – With three teams in the top-15 nationally in home runs, offense was expected to be plentiful in the Fayetteville Regional.
It took a few innings but Arkansas held up their end of the deal.
Heston Kjerstad’s first of two home runs came in the third inning and gave the Razorbacks and the rest of the offense a boost in the middle innings, as No. 5 Arkansas (40-18) coasted to the 10-2 win over Oral Roberts.
Arkansas advances to the winner’s bracket portion of the regional and will play at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. The Razorbacks will face the winner of the Southern Miss-Dallas Baptist game that starts at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Carson Shaddy added a solo home run in the sixth inning then Jax Biggers capped a four run frame with a two run shot as the Razorbacks took a 6-1 lead.
Grant Koch added a pair of RBI as he had a run scoring single in the sixth and a RBI fielder’s choice in the seventh.
Kjerstad’s second two run home run of the game tied him with Casey Martin for the team lead. Both have 13 long balls and are each tied with Zack Cox for the Arkansas freshman record.
Blaine Knight was in control for much of the afternoon despite not racking up the huge strikeout numbers that the Razorback fans are used to seeing. Knight, who improved to 11-0 on the season, threw eight innings while striking out two and walked one while scattering three hits. The only damage ORU could muster off of Knight came from Riley Keizor as he had a pair of solo home runs.
After Knight’s longest outing of the season, Cody Scroggins closed out the win with a scoreless ninth inning.
