Kjerstad, Lewis named All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball

Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad (18) is greeted at home plate by catcher Casey Opitz (12) during a game against South Alabama on Saturday, March 7, 2020, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE — A shortened 2020 season did not keep Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad from landing on an All-America list.

Kjerstad was named a first-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper on Tuesday. He was one of seven SEC players on the 17-player first team.

Over 16 games played this season, Kjerstad led the Razorbacks with a .448 batting average, six home runs and 20 RBI. He opened the season with a 7-for-12 series against Eastern Illinois in which he hit four home runs - two in the opener, two in the finale - and drove in 10 runs.

Kjerstad earned Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week and SEC Co-Player of the Week honors after the series.

Kjerstad recorded at least one hit in all 16 of Arkansas’ games as a junior and finished with multiple hits 10 times. He hit a game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Razorbacks a 5-3 victory over South Alabama on March 8.

Kjerstad is the 28th Arkansas player to earn All-America honors. The Razorbacks have had a total of 33 All-America honors, including six in the past three seasons.

A.J. Lewis, a graduate-transfer catcher from Eastern Kentucky who signed to play for the Razorbacks earlier this month, was also named a first-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball.

In 13 games this year, Lewis batted .451 with 3 home runs, 21 RBI and 15 runs scored. He had a .541 on-base percentage and was slugging .843 when the season was suspended in March.

Arkansas All-Americans

Tim Lollar, LHP/DH, 1978

Ronn Reynolds, C, 1979

Steve Kruger, LHP, 1980

Kevin McReynolds, OF, 1980-81

Jeff King, 3B, 1985-86

Mike Loggins, OF, 1985

Ralph Kraus, OF, 1986

Andy Skeels, C, 1987

Troy Eklund, OF, 1989

Greg D'Alexander, 3B, 1990

Phillip Stidham, RHP, 1990-91

Kenderick Moore, 2B, 1996

Ryan Lundquist, OF, 1997

David Walling, RHP, 1998-99

Charlie Isaacson, RHP, 1999

Nick Schmidt, LHP, 2006-07

Jess Todd, RHP, 2007

Zack Cox, 3B, 2010

Brett Eibner, RHP/OF, 2010

Matt Reynolds, 3B, 2012

Ryne Stanek, RHP, 2013

Andrew Benintendi, OF, 2015

Blaine Knight, RHP, 2018

Carson Shaddy, 2B, 2018

Isaiah Campbell, RHP, 2019

Matt Cronin, LHP, 2019

Jack Kenley, 2B, 2019

Heston Kjerstad, OF, 2020