Freshman Heston Kjerstad has advanced approach

Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad hits a home run during a game against Kentucky on Saturday, March 17, 2018, in Fayetteville.

— Opposing pitchers are finding there is no easy way to attack Arkansas freshman Heston Kjerstad.

Pitch inside and the left-hander might pull a home run to right field, such as the one he hit over the scoreboard last Friday night at Florida. Pitch inside even more and Kjerstad will wear it like he has done many times this year with his Southeastern Conference-leading 11 hit by pitches.

Recently it seems more teams are attempting to challenge Kjerstad on the outside of the plate. No luck there either.

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Kjerstad’s recent hot streak - he is 10-for-19 with 8 runs scored, 6 RBI and 3 walks in his past 5 games - has included 6 opposite-field hits. He had a home run last Wednesday at Charlotte and two doubles and three singles over three games at Florida, all the other way.

“College baseball, especially with the metal bats, historically it’s pitch away, pitch away, pitch away - not that that is what you’re always going to see, but you have to be able to utilize the whole field if you’re going to be successful,” Arkansas hitting coach Nate Thompson said.

“I think that’s the mark of a hitter that can do a lot of good things, when they can go to the opposite field.”

Of Kjerstad’s 34 hits this year, 10 have been to the opposite field and 8 up the middle or to center field. He went opposite field for one of the Razorbacks’ biggest hits of the year, a solo homer to left center that was the only run in a 1-0 victory over Arizona in San Diego on Feb. 21.

Even Kjerstad’s outs have displayed some good approaches. Of the 73 balls he has put in play, 47 have been to opposite field or up the middle.

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said he saw glimpses of Kjerstad’s opposite-field ability while he was a skinny high schooler near Amarillo, Texas.

“He’s always been able to go the other way,” Van Horn said. “That’s one reason we thought he was such an advanced hitter when he got here. It’s his swing path a little bit; his hands really stay inside the baseball and he’s got a lot of power to left center. He’s also shown that if he gets it out there and you try to get in on him, he’s looking for it and can hit it a long way, like he did last week at Charlotte.

“That’s something that’s hard to teach. That’s what usually you start teaching young hitters, to stay inside the ball and go the other way, and he had a lot of that before he got here. That’s really helped him.”

Kjerstad enters Thursday’s series opener at Ole Miss with a nine-game hit streak and near the top of the SEC in several statistical categories.

His .395 batting average is fourth in the league, .505 on-base percentage is fifth and .698 slugging percentage is sixth. He is also top 10 in hits, RBI and sacrifice flies.

“You can’t hide him anymore,” Van Horn said. “He’s too good of a hitter and it seems like he’s always right in the middle of the action. They know who he is and what he can do.”

Arkansas has moved Kjerstad around the lineup in recent weeks, higher in the batting order against right handers and lower against lefties.

He was 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles batting third against Florida right-hander Tyler Dyson last Sunday, and 1-for-3 with 2 runs, 2 walks and a stolen base in the 8-hole against Memphis left-hander Danny Denz on Tuesday.

“Obviously he’s a force wherever you put him,” Van Horn said.