FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Former UCF designated player/outfielder and NFCA All-Gulf Region selection Kendall Yarnell has transferred to Arkansas to join Head Coach Courtney Deifel and the Razorbacks.
As a sophomore in 2026, Yarnell appeared in 61 games with 54 starts while slashing .344/.446/.747 with 53 hits, 31 runs scored, nine doubles, four triples, 15 home runs, two grand slams, 115 total bases, 24 walks, and 46 RBI en route to being named to the NFCA All-Gulf Region Second Team. The Olathe, Kan., product, produced one of the greatest offensive seasons by a Knight in program history, ranking among the top 10 in the single-season record books in numerous offensive categories, including slugging percentage (.747, 3rd) home runs (15, T-5th), triples (4, T-8th), total bases (115, 8th), on-base percentage (.446, 9th), and RBI (46, 9th). She registered 14 multi-hit games and 16 multi-RBI games while posting an 11-game reached base streak. Defensively, she posted a 1.000 fielding percentage with seven putouts, primarily seeing action in right field.
Yarnell opened her sophomore campaign by batting .417 with one double, one triple, two grand slams, 10 RBI, three runs scored, 14 total bases, and three walks in five games against Boston U., Cal-State Bakersfield, No. 16 Duke, Maryland, and Buffalo (Feb. 5-8). She played a key role in helping the Knights secure a series win at No. 12 Oklahoma State, with a 3-for-4 performance in the series finale, collecting a double, an RBI, and a run scored (March 8). Other highlights from her sophomore campaign include a pair of multi-homer games in UCF's series sweep of Houston, going 5-for-11 with four home runs, five RBI, 17 total bases and four runs scored in the series (March 27-29). She also helped UCF post a 3-1 record to win the NCAA Tallahassee Regional by batting .308 with a double, a home run, and two RBI (May 15-17).
She appeared in 50 of the Knights’ 60 games with 14 starts primarily at the designated player position as a freshman in 2025. Yarnell hit .339 with 21 hits, seven runs scored, one home run, 24 total bases, six walks, six RBI, and one stolen base to go with a .406 on-base percentage. She served as UCF’s most-trusted pinch-hitter and led the Big 12 conference with 11 pinch hits while hitting .324 with a home run in pinch-hit situations. In two pinch-hit opportunities at Kansas (May 3-4), Yarnell went 2-for-2 to help UCF to a series sweep of the Jayhawks. She smashed a go-ahead, pinch-hit three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning of the series finale to lift the Knights to an 8-6 win.
Prior to her time at UCF, Yarnell was a standout at Olathe Northwest High School in Olathe, Kan., where she earned All-Sunflower League and 6A KSHSAA All-State honors multiple times. She graduated as the all-time career home run leader in the state of Kansas with 47 home runs at the prep level. Yarnell smashed 15 round-trippers as a senior in 2024 while leading Olathe Northwest to its fourth state championship in program history. She was named the 2024 Sports in Kansas 6A Player of the Year after batting .506 with 40 hits, seven doubles, three triples, and 15 home runs to go along with her 39 RBI while posting a 1.241 slugging percentage. Yarnell hit 16 home runs as a junior in 2023 and smashed a combined 16 home runs across her sophomore and freshman seasons while being named the Sunflower Player of the Year in 2022. She also led Olathe Northwest to the KSHSAA 6A State Championship in track in 2024 while finishing individually as the runner-up in the discus with a throw of 146 feet and four inches. Additionally, she recorded runner-up finishes in the discus at the 6A KSHSAA State Track and Field meets in both 2021 and 2022.
Yarnell is the fourth transfer to join the Razorbacks in the 2026 cycle, alongside Boston outfielder Kylie Doherty, Nevada infielder Katie Wetteland, and Notre Dame transfer infielder Ava Zachary.
Arkansas is coming off a historic 47-13 campaign, which featured the Razorbacks’ first trip to the Women’s College World Series in program history. The 2026 Arkansas squad’s 47 victories were the second-most in program history, while the Razorbacks’ 26 run-rule wins were a program record. At Bogle Park, Arkansas posted a 29-3 record, which marked the second-most wins and second-best winning percentage since the stadium opened in 2009, trailing only 31 wins in 2022 and a .931 winning percentage during a 27-2 campaign in 2018.
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