FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad is over the flu that kept him from playing in the Razorbacks' exhibition game at Arkansas-Little Rock last week.
But Kjerstad still was feeling a little under the weather Thursday. He said he has been battling an ear infection and pink eye.
"It hasn't been the best week of the fall health-wise," Kjerstad said.
You wouldn't know the Razorbacks' sophomore star was anything less than full strength, however, after he went 4-for-5 with a walk and 6 RBI, and was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle during an intrasquad scrimmage at Baum Stadium on Thursday evening. Kjerstad's White team defeated the Cardinal team 12-4 to sweep the best-of-three-game Cardinal and White Series, Arkansas' traditional end to the fall practice season.
"It just shows you don't have to have it every day when you go out there; you don't have to be 100 percent," Kjerstad said. "You've just got to go out every day and go through the same process and stick with your game, and not worry about whether you're 100 percent or 80 percent. You just keep playing."
Kjerstad hit an RBI double off Cardinal starter Kole Ramage to open the scoring in the first inning, a three-run home run off reliever Jacob Kostyshock to put his team ahead 7-0 in the fourth and a two-run single against Kostyshock in the fifth that made the score 11-0.
Kjerstad's home run to right-center field was the highlight of the scrimmage, a shot that came on a 3-2 slider from Kostyshock and cleared the wall just beyond the reach of the leaping right fielder Christian Franklin. Kjerstad was looking for a fastball, but Kostyshock left the pitch up in the strike zone.
"That's pretty much what we've seen most of the fall from him, and that's two hits a game," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. "I know today he had a home run, a double and a single and (some) RBIs there in the middle of the game that put the game away. He was a tough out and battled, and I think he would tell you that he struck out more this fall than he wanted to, but he also hit .400 or .450."
Kjerstad was batting third in the lineup, behind sophomore shortstop Casey Martin, who was 2-for-6 and scored twice. Kjerstad and Martin were Freshman All-Americans last season when they led the Razorbacks in batting average and home runs.
"I think both of them have done a great job this fall of just coming out and leading," Van Horn said. "It's more by example than verbal; they're both kind of quiet guys. Hopefully they'll continue to work hard this off-season and get bigger and stronger."
Batting behind Kjerstad, redshirt freshman second baseman Jacob Nesbit was 2-for-3 with a pair of walks. Along with Trevor Ezell, a graduate transfer from Southeast Missouri, Nesbit is a candidate to replace departed All-SEC second baseman Carson Shaddy in the starting lineup in 2019.
With Ezell rehabbing an off-season shoulder surgery, Nesbit looked good with the bat and the glove throughout the fall.
"I kind of came out here with a chip on my shoulder and something to prove," Nesbit said. "I feel like it went really well."
Van Horn said Nesbit has made a noticeable jump in the past year.
"He didn't have a good fall last year and we redshirted him," Van Horn said. "He went out and played summer ball in the Northwoods League, and he went there early. He got a lot of at-bats and a lot of playing time. He came in here on a mission to make this team, and he did."
Martin, Kjerstad, Nesbit and catcher Casey Opitz recorded consecutive hits against Ramage during the White's three-run first inning. Ramage, a sophomore right-hander who is expected to compete for a starting job next season, took the loss in a 2 1/3-inning outing that included 4 runs on 6 hits and a walk.
"He didn't have his best stuff today," Van Horn said. "He was just missing early with his fastball and they were kind of sitting on his breaking ball....Today was the outing he might wish he could do over. He's been really good all fall."
Redshirt junior right-hander Cody Scroggins was the winning pitcher with a one-hit effort in five innings. Scroggins struck out eight and walked three.
"He had a really good outing today," Van Horn said. "He was on a pitch count and he stayed under it and went five innings....I figured he was going to go three, maybe four."
Arkansas will reassemble for team practice in late January. The Razorbacks open the 2019 season with a three-game series against Eastern Illinois that begins Feb. 15 at Baum Stadium.