Arkansas knocked out of College World Series in messy, heartbreaking fashion

The Arkansas Razorbacks were a steamroller in college baseball this spring. The Louisiana State Tigers were one of just a few teams they’d been able to leave in their wake, beating their SEC rival three times in four opportunities.

So when they met for a fifth time in the College World Series, it was equally likely we’d see fireworks or heartbreak. Unfortunately for the Razorbacks, they served up both.

Arkansas battled back from an early deficit to take a 5-3 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning. A win would force a rubber match between conference foes in Omaha. A loss would send the Tigers to the College World Series final and the Razorbacks back to Fayetteville. After a strikeout, single and walk put the winning run at the plate with one out, a grounder to shortstop could have been a game-ending double play. Instead Wehiwa Aloy made the safe choice and opted to force out the lead runner at third.

That brought up LSU catch Luis Hernandez. He lined a 1-0 pitch to left field, well-hit but within Razorback Charles Davalan’s range. But a misstep upped the degree of difficulty. By virtue of two misplaced inches of a glove, the game was tied.

Arkansas could have recovered from a double that could have easily been a game-saving catch. One more out would send the game to extra innings. Instead, well, game of inches.

Jared Jones, who homered in the eighth inning to tie the game at three-all, lined a ball up the middle and just off the tip of second baseman Cam Koziel’s glove. With that, Arkansas was done.

This was a program that went 50-15 this season. The Razorbacks won 20 games against SEC competition, shredding some of the best baseball teams the NCAA had to offer. They only lost to one team once the NCAA Tournament began.

Unfortunately, that one team was LSU. The Tigers were tailor made for the moment. Arkansas met the end of its season in one of the most college baseball ways possible — via a brutally timed deflection off the tip of a glove.