FAYETTEVILLE -- Jordan McFarland made his first SEC start this season for the University of Arkansas baseball team Saturday against Mississippi State because of Heston Kjerstad's one-game suspension.
Kjerstad, a sophomore who started the first 39 games this season in right field after starting all 69 games last season in left field, was suspended by the SEC after being ejected in Friday night's 12-5 Arkansas victory for arguing with home plate umpire John Brammer about a called third strike.
Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn said he considered whether to start McFarland -- a junior with 89 career games -- or freshman Trey Harris, who has played in 13 games.
Harris is batting .258 (8 for 31) and McFarland was at .184 (7 for 38), but Van Horn decided to go with the more experienced player.
"If you're going on batting average, maybe I should have gone with the other guy," Van Horn said. "But I just thought McFarland has been working hard. He's a junior, and I'm going to give him the first shot to step up and help us out in this situation -- and he did it."
McFarland was the designated hitter -- with Matt Goodheart shifting to right field -- and went 2 for 3 with 2 runs and 1 RBI as the No. 10 Razorbacks beat No. 2 Mississippi State 10-2 at Baum-Walker Stadium to complete a three-game sweep.
"I thought his at-bats were good," Van Horn said. "He seemed confident. He thought he could get the job done, and I liked that. It was a great day for Jordan, and he helped us win."
McFarland, batting sixth in the lineup, led off the fifth inning with a single, advanced on Casey Opitz's groundout and scored on Jacob Nesbit's single to give Arkansas a 1-0 lead.
In the sixth inning, McFarland came up with the bases loaded and one out. Facing a 1-2 count, he was hit by a pitch from Trysten Barlow for an RBI that scored the first run of what became an eight-run inning that pushed the Razorbacks' lead to 9-0.
"It's fun to have those innings," McFarland said.
It was McFarland's 10th start this season, but second of the week. He started at first base in the Razorbacks' 16-4 victory over the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tuesday night, going 2 for 4 with an RBI.
"I'm always grateful to play whether it's one game or every day," McFarland said. "I want to play regardless."
McFarland had 48 starts the previous two seasons at first base and batted .289, but graduate transfer Trevor Ezell has taken over there this season and is batting .297 with 5 home runs and 27 RBI.
Until Saturday, McFarland's only SEC appearance this season had been at Vanderbilt last weekend when he played off the bench and went 1 for 2 in a 12-2 loss. Before that game, McFarland was batting 4 for 32.
"I know the deal," McFarland said. "If you don't play well, you don't play, and it's as simple as that. Yeah, I'd love to be out there helping my guys by playing, but whatever it takes to win, I'm going to do for the team.
"It's a blessing to play every day. It's a blessing to show up to the park in general. So I take nothing for granted. That's for sure."
Van Horn said he's been impressed by McFarland's positive attitude considering he's playing less as a junior than he did as a freshman and sophomore.
"It says a lot about his character and what he's all about inside," Van Horn said. "He's about the team."
Van Horn said he knows McFarland was disappointed and frustrated earlier in the season, but he doesn't show that now.
"I think his teammates appreciate that," Van Horn said. "He comes out and works hard every day, and he actually smiles at practice and he has a good personality.
"Believe me, I look for that stuff because [a poor attitude] can hurt you or hurt your team, and I don't see it at all with Jordan. I think he's been a great teammate.
"If a guy's not playing and they're older, a lot of times, it's not good. So we want to make sure that isn't happening, and if we see it happening, we're going to talk to him and try to get it fixed. But we haven't had to do that with Jordan."
McFarland said he's matured and become a better teammate.
"I'll do whatever the team needs me to do," he said. "I have fun hitting regardless of whether it's two at-bats now or two at-bats in three weeks, whatever it is.
"I just try to keep everything simple, everything the same whether I'm in batting practice, playing, sitting or pinch-hitting. Keeping it simple and just having the same attitude every day."
Kjerstad, who is batting .317 with 9 home runs and 32 RBI, figures to be back in the lineup when the Razorbacks play Northwestern State on Tuesday night at Baum-Walker Stadium.
"I'd like to see that kid come out on Tuesday and hammer," Van Horn said of Kjerstad. "Maybe he needed a little break.
"Maybe it'll be good for him. He's a great player, been a great teammate. He's disappointed that it all went down and he'll come back with a little fire this week, I'm sure."
Sports on 04/22/2019