Analyzing Arkansas' sweep of Eastern Illinois

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas started off the 2020 season with a powerful showing and series sweep of Eastern Illinois. The Razorbacks were impressive in 5-1, 10-1 and 12-1 victories over the Panthers. Here is what stood out:

Kjerstad worthy of preseason awards

The junior right fielder from Amarillo, Texas, showed power to all fields. He blasted three balls over the right field fence, including one that, if the wind wasn't blowing in from right, might have hit the Baum-Walker signage atop the scoreboard. 

To add to the three home runs to right field, he also snuck one inside foul pole down the left field line on Friday. All said and done, Kjerstad slashed .583/.643/1.667. He hit four homeruns, had 10 RBI, walked twice and struck out once.

It earned him honors from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper as their national player of the week. He was also named an SEC co-player of the week along with Ole Miss' Cael Baker. Baker slashed .416/.462/1.000 against top-ranked Louisville. Baker hit two home runs and was 4-4 Saturday against the Cardinals, but he also struck out five times and walked once in the entire series. 

No nerves from Noland

Replacing Blaine Knight and Isaiah Campbell is no easy task. You could understand if Noland was a little nervous, but the sophomore didn't show any nerves on the mound Friday against EIU. Noland pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up just two hits, an unearned run and struck out a career-high 11 batters.

Noland struck out 10 last year in a start against Tennessee. He was so good it earned him SEC pitcher of the week honors and led to this incredible tweet from the Razorbacks baseball Twitter account.

Two things stood out about Noland's performance: the speed and his pitch count. Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said before the weekend that Noland was on a pitch count of 70-75 pitches, but he allowed the right hander to throw 86. Noland seemed to be OK going over his pitch count.

"I felt good," Noland said Tuesday. "I had more in the tank to go and I definitely could have gone more innings if I needed to."

Van Horn explained that it's not a complete science with pitch counts.

"It just depends on what type of situations they’re trying to get through each inning and how hard is it," he said.

Noland was also consistently faster with his fastball than last year. Noland hovered around the low 90s most of the game, but never dipped into the 87-89 mph range as he did in 2019. 

From diapers to double plays

Much was made about freshman Robert Moore starting at second base, and for good reason. Moore, 17, is supposed to be playing high school baseball right now, so it was reasonable for people who hadn't seen him play to worry about a young guy at second.

After opening weekend, it's apparent Moore belongs. Yes, his hitting was sub par, his .083 average was the worst out of every player that started, but his offense will come along. Besides, all Moore needs to do is be OK with the bat because his fielding more than makes up for any hitting deficiencies.

This double play he turned with Martin was a thing a beauty. 

The ball barely stays in his glove. The hitting will come, but you just can't teach the quickness he has with his hands. 

Changes coming?

Van Horn told the media Tuesday that the batting order may look a little different on Thursday against Gonzaga. I know it's hard to believe that an offense that compiled 35 hits, 27 runs, 26 RBI and seven home runs could be better, but Van Horn said what he's doing is preparing the team for the long run.

"We may change up the lineup a little bit to protect some people," he noted. "It's not because we didn't score runs or we didn't hit. We're kind of looking at the big picture down the road."

What might those lineup changes look like? Van Horn didn't say, but he did mention it might involve Christian Franklin.

"He may be a guy we move a little bit," Van Horn said. "He'll take a walk, but he's also hit the ball a long way. He uses the whole field. I told Christian before the season started that I might hit him 1, 2, 5, somewhere in there. We may move him back in the order just to sit behind some other hitters, take a little speed to the middle, to the backside of that lineup.”

With Franklin moving back, Jacob Nesbit might be a candidate to move up in the order. Van Horn moved Nesbit from No. 8 in the batting order on Friday to No. 6 on Saturday and Sunday. Nesbit responded by going 4-for-9 with four RBI in Games 2 and 3.

Hitting them early

The Razorbacks scored in the first inning of every game last weekend, and that can largely be attributed to Braydon Webb. The junior college transfer didn't waste any time making an impact for Arkansas.

He did what a leadoff batter is expected to do: Get on base. Webb reached base safely to start off each game of the EIU series, and he has an on-base percentage of .400.