(OMAHA, Neb.)—Nobody anticipated Arkansas and Texas Tech would be playing one another in an elimination game on day three of the College World Series this year, but the two slugging powerhouses squared off on Monday afternoon for the right to remain in the hunt for the CWS championship, and slugging was the name of the game. Although Arkansas would grab an early lead, Texas Tech would rally to extend their stay in Omaha with a win over the Razorbacks.
Arkansas looked like they figured out their issues early on that plagued them in their loss to Florida State, as they shot out of the gate. Heston Kjerstad got things going with a solo-shot in the second inning, then Casey Martin would triple to deep left field that would bring in a run followed by a sac-fly to also bring Martin in. In the third inning, Arkansas was in control of the tempo and leading 3-0.
However, the Red Raiders are comfortable being uncomfortable. They rank second in the country in come-from-behind wins only behind Mississippi State, who rallied to beat Auburn last night.
“I think as a team, we fight back really well. We knew we weren’t out of the game,” Texas Tech Shortstop Brian Klein said. “We know we aren’t out of the game even if it’s 10, 15, or 20 to zero, we know we can fight back.”
Texas Tech did just that. The next inning is where things began, when Cameron Warren hit a monster 2-RBI home run into the left field bleachers, bringing the deficit to just one run. Then in the fifth inning, Easton Murrell hit his first home run of the season to tie the game up at three runs apiece.
Caleb Kilian began to settle in, too. After giving up three runs in the first three innings, he threw the next four flawlessly. He gave up no more runs and only two more hits until his departure from the game heading into the eighth inning, but his efforts gave the Red Raiders a chance to fight back.
Texas Rangers first-round draft pick, Josh Jung, would lead off the sixth inning with the Red Raiders’ third home run of the day and give Texas Tech a 4-3 lead.
Dane Haveman’s entrance into the game for Texas Tech ended up giving hope to the Razorbacks. Kjerstad hit a single to right field that put runners on the corners with one out in the eighth inning, and then a sac-fly from Jack Kenley brought in the tying run and knotted the game up at four runs.
The game looked to be on the shoulders of Arkansas’ bats, as Texas Tech had two outs in the bottom of the eighth and nobody on base. Cody Scroggins came into relief pitch for Arkansas before grabbing the second out of the inning, and then he walked Warren to put a runner on first with two outs. Not much damage done, until Cody Masters stepped into the box.
Masters blasted a huge triple into the right centerfield gap that brought in the go-ahead run. Just like that, Texas Tech was three outs away from staying alive.
Arkansas wasn’t done fighting. John McMillon faced one batter and hit Jacob Nesbit, putting the leadoff batter aboard. Taylor Floyd came in for McMillon, and immediately gave up a hit to Christian Franklin who hit a bloop-single to right center putting the winning run on the base paths.
Instead of sac-bunting to advance the runners, Arkansas elected to swing away. That’s when Trevor Ezell, one of the best hitters on that Arkansas squad, popped out to the pitcher. That set up a Casey Martin strikeout and a Matt Goodheart fly-out to end the game, and Arkansas’ season.
Kjerstad finished 2-4 with an RBI, and Martin went 2-5 with a triple. Warren, Jung, and Murrell all had home runs for the Red Raiders, as they await the winner of Louisville and Auburn at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow. Arkansas finishes the year 46-20.
