photo credit: Craven Whitlow
Arkansas baseball found a way to survive and advance from a second College World Series elimination game in as many days, taking down No. 15 UCLA 7-3 to force a rematch with No. 6 LSU on Wednesday night.
Razorback ace Zach Root returned to the mound on just two days of rest, bouncing back from a rough outing against the Tigers on Saturday to deliver five scoreless innings. The southpaw struck out five Bruin batters while walking two and allowing three hits. It wasn’t always smooth sailing for the junior, as he had to work through jams in the first and fifth innings, but he was able to get out of both unscathed. Right-hander Aidan Jimenez followed it up with three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, only allowing a single hit.
By that point, Arkansas’ bats had broken the game open, but it took them a while to wake up. Heading into the seventh inning stretch, Wehiwa Aloy’s two-run homer and RBI triple had brought home the Hogs’ only runs up to that point, leaving the Bruins within striking distance. Right fielder Logan Maxwell finally gave the Hawaiian slugger some help in the bottom of the seventh with a two-RBI double off the wall in left center. In the eighth, Cam Kozeal scooted home on a wild pitch before Justin Thomas Jr. continued his hot streak by roping a double down the left field line.
By the time the dust settled, the Razorbacks held a commanding 7-0 lead. That allowed Arkansas baseball coach Dave Van Horn to let Jimenez hit the showers an inning early and turn to super senior Will McEntire to finish things off. But the ninth inning was a sloppy one for the Hogs. A leadoff triple, errors from McEntire and Brent Iredale and a wild pitch allowed UCLA to plate three runs before the coffin was sealed shut. But outside of the final frame, it was a convincing and complete performance for the Razorbacks.
Now, No. 3 Arkansas will face LSU for the second time in this MCWS and the fifth time overall this season. The Tigers are 4-1 in those matchups, with a moral victory in the regular season series finale the only solace for the Hogs. But setting aside a 13-3 run-rule drubbing in Baton Rouge, Arkansas has been within three runs in the other three losses to the Bayou Bengals.
In the locker room after the game, most Razorback players were very humble and reserved when asked about the chance at a rematch with LSU, saying that they’d like the chance to flip some of those close losses into a win on Wednesday night. But catcher Ryder Helfrick went further than that, openly advocating for revenge against the rival Tigers.
“I think we wanted revenge a little bit,” Helfrick said on SEC Now postgame, admitting the chance of a grudge match served as extra motivation to get past UCLA. “I think it’s exciting to get to play them again.”
It’s unclear who either team will turn to as a starter in Wednesday night’s contest, though Arkansas will likely turn to lefty Landon Beidelschies. LSU has only really burned two arms in Kade Anderson (100 pitches vs Arkansas on Saturday) and Casan Evans (81 pitches across two outings), and it holds a slight pitching advantage after playing one less game than the Hogs.
Arkansas has spent Root, Gabe Gaeckle and no-hit hero Gage Wood, all of whom have thrown 90 or more pitches in the MCWS so far. Both teams will have to get creative with starting pitching, but LSU has the possibility of throwing All-SEC right-hander Anthony Eyanson after his Monday night start was cut short by a weather delay.
With their backs against the wall, the Razorbacks will have to channel some of Helfrick’s thirst for vengeance to take down the Tigers twice in the next two days.
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Here’s an inning-by-inning recap of No. 3 Arkansas’ 7-3 win over No. 15 UCLA:
LIVE UPDATES: Arkansas vs UCLA
T-1st: UCLA 0, Arkansas 0
West hits a grounder into the hole behind second base, and Kozeal doesn’t have a play. It’s scored as a leadoff infield single.
Cholowsky barrels one up and ropes a single into left-center field, moving West up to second.
Levu hits a ball sky-high towards the gap in right-center, but Thomas ranges over to make the catch. Both runners tag up and advance.
Root battles back from down 3-0 to work the count full, but loses Martin at the end. The free pass loads the bases with one out.
Aloy snares a liner off the bat of Salgado for the second out, and all the runners are forced to hold.
West tries to catch the Razorback battery snoozing with a straight steal of home, but Helfrick delivers the tag just in time to escape the jam.
B-1st: UCLA 0, Arkansas 2
Davalan gets the Hogs started with a leadoff single through the left side.
Wehiwa Aloy gets Arkansas on the board early with a two-run bomb into the right field bullpen. That one had an exit velocity of 109 mph.
Maxwell strikes out swinging.
Helfrick rips a grounder towards the hot corner, but Martin makes a diving stop and fires over to first for the out.
Kozeal strikes out swinging to end the inning.
T-2nd: UCLA 0, Arkansas 2
Brennan hits a chopper right back at Root.
Bythewood strikes out swinging on a full count.
Dugger strikes out looking on a painted off-speed pitch, and Root retires the side in order.
B-2nd: UCLA 0, Arkansas 2
Aloy hits a 115 mph rocket past Cholowsky for a leadoff single. Big hit for the Hawaiian, who’s been in a bit of a slump recently.
Robinett grounds into a 3-6-3 double play.
Iredale ropes a single through the shift.
Thomas tries to lay down a bunt with two outs but Delvecchio guns him down at first.
T-3rd: UCLA 0, Arkansas 2
Call strikes out looking on three pitches, and he’s displeased with the call.
West gets fooled by a breaking ball in the dirt, and he’s rung up on a check swing.
Cholowsky chops out to first base, as Robinett steps on the bag.
B-3rd: UCLA 0, Arkansas 2
Davalan chases a fastball above the zone and flies out to right field.
Aloy grounds out to short.
Maxwell ropes a two-out single into right.
Helfrick falls for the elevated fastball and strikes out swinging.
T-4th: UCLA 0, Arkansas 2
Levu hits a chopper to third, but Iredale sails the throw over Robinett’s head. The Hogs catch a break as Levu slips rounding first and gets tagged out.
Iredale makes up for the throwing error by snaring a hard line drive on the hot corner.
Salgado grounds out to Kozeal at second for the third out.
B-4th: UCLA 0, Arkansas 2
Kozeal barrels one up, but its right at Levu at first.
Aloy gets a hold of one out towards left-center, but it’s caught shy of the warning track for the second out.
Robinett fouls off a few pitches before hitting a grounder deep into the shift. The throw is just in time to end the inning.
T-5th: UCLA 0, Arkansas 2
Brennan hits a ground ball past Root and a diving Aloy for a leadoff base hit.
Bythewood gets rung up on a check swing chasing a breaking ball in the dirt.
Dugger hits a liner that skips off Robinett’s glove, but Kozeal is able to track it down and make the throw to first for the out.
Root walks the nine-hole hitter on five pitches, and that’ll bring pitching coach Matt Hobbs out of the dugout for a quick chat.
Both runners moved into scoring position after a breaking ball skipped away from Helfrick, but Root gets the clutch third out by inducing a groundout from West.
B-5th: UCLA 0, Arkansas 3
Iredale leads off with a base knock into right field.
Thomas sprays a 112 mph line drive over the shift on the left side, and Iredale moves up to second.
That’ll do it for Delvecchio, as UCLA makes a move to the bullpen. Lefty reliever Ian May now pitching for the Bruins. He threw 16 pitches in 0.2 innings against LSU earlier today.
Davalan grounds into a 4-6-3 double play. That’s the 66th time UCLA has turned two this season, the most in the nation. Iredale moves to third with two outs.
Wehiwa Aloy drives one into deep right-center field, and it skips off the wall as Brennan slips while chasing it. Iredale comes home to score and Aloy reaches third with a standup triple.
May issues a walk to Maxwell, and that’s it for him. RHP Cal Randall takes the mound for the Bruins after throwing 32 pitches against LSU this morning.
Relfrick gets under one and pops out to second base.
T-6th: UCLA 0, Arkansas 3
Zach Root’s day is done after five innings of scoreless work. Aidan Jimenez now takes the mound for Arkansas.
Cholowsky grounds out to Aloy at short.
Levu pops out to Iredale down the third base line.
Martin strikes out looking and Jimenez retires the side in order.
B-6th: UCLA 0, Arkansas 3
Kozeal works the count full, but Randall catches him looking with a painted pitch low on the outside corner.
Randall strikes out Aloy swinging.
Robinett gets solid contact the opposite way, but West makes the catch just short of the warning track.
T-7th: UCLA 0, Arkansas 3
Salgado goes down swinging on a nasty breaking ball from Jimenez, and Helfrick tags him out.
Brennan grounds out deep into the shift at second and Kozeal makes the play.
Aidan Espinoza pinch hitting for Bythewood. He grounds out to Aloy at short, and Jimenez has retired all six batters he’s faced.
B-7th: UCLA 0, Arkansas 5
Iredale reaches base for the third time tonight, drawing a walk.
UCLA head coach John Savage is out of the dugout for Randall, and southpaw Chris Grothues enters the game. Thomas lays down a sac bunt that moves Iredale into scoring position.
Davalan grounds out to the left side of the infield, and Iredale moves over to third.
Savage decides to intentionally walk Wehiwa Aloy to put runners on the corners.
Maxwell seemed to take that move personally, launching a deep line drive into the gap the opposite way. Iredale and Aloy come home to score, and Maxwell’s safe at second with a double.
Kendall Diggs enters as a pinch runner for Maxwell, and he’ll replace him in right field.
Jack O’Connor enters from the bullpen to replace Grothues. The right-hander threw 15 pitches this morning.
O’Connor fools Helfrick with an offspeed pitch for an inning-ending strikeout.
T-8th: UCLA 0, Arkansas 5
Dugger draws a walk after a 10-pitch plate appearance that saw him foul off five payoff pitches.
Call flied out to right field.
West singles into left-center field and Dugger gets to third.
Jimenez wins a big battle against Cholowsky as the Bruin slugger grounds into a double play. Aloy fielded it, stepped on second and rifled it to Robinett in time.
B-8th: UCLA 0, Arkansas 7
RHP Justin Lee enters the game. He issues a four-pitch leadoff walk to Kozeal.
Aloy pops out into foul territory near first base.
Kozeal took second on a passed ball.
Robinett grounds out to the right side of the infield. Kozeal advances to third.
Kozeal races home on a ball that skips away from Dugger behind the dish. It’s a close play at the plate, but he’s safe by a hair.
Iredale draws a walk. During the next at-bat, he steals second and takes third on a throwing error from the catcher.
Thomas rips a double down the line in left field, and Iredale comes home for another run.
That’ll do it for Lee, and lefty closer Easton Hawk enters the game. Davalan pops out on the second pitch to retire the side.
T-9th: UCLA 3, Arkansas 7
Will McEntire enters the game after three scoreless innings from Jimenez. Levu rips a ball down the right field line and motors around to third for a triple.
McEntire fans Martin for a swinging strikeout.
Salgado pokes a ball down the third base line. It’s barely fair and Iredale boots it. Levu comes home and Salgado motors into second.
Brennan hits a dribbler back to McEntire, but he airmails the throw to first and allows Salgado to score. Brennan reaches second.
Espinoza hits one high in the sky, and Thomas ranges over for the catch. Brennan tags up and reaches third.
Brennan races home on a wild pitch.
Dugger works the count full and then draws a walk.
Call lines out to Thomas in center field to bring a sloppy ninth inning to a close in an otherwise solid performance from the Diamond Hogs
FINAL: Arkansas 7, UCLA 3
Starting Lineups
UCLA BaseballArkansas Baseball1. Dean West – LF (L)1. Charles Davalan – LF (L)2. Roch Cholowsky – SS (R)2. Wehiwa Aloy – SS (R)3. Mulivai Levu – 1B (L)3. Logan Maxwell – RF (L)4. Roman Martin – 3B (R)4. Ryder Helfrick – C (R)5. AJ Salgado – RF (L)5. Cam Kozeal – 2B (L)6. Payton Brennan – CF (L)6. Kuhio Aloy – DH (R)7. Toussaint Bythewood – DH (R)7. Reese Robinett – 1B (L)8. Cashel Dugger – C (L)8. Brent Iredale – 3B (R)9. Phoenix Call – 2B (R)9. Justin Thomas Jr. – CF (R)On the Mound: RHP Cody DelvecchioOn the Mound: LHP Zach Root
How to Watch Arkansas vs UCLA
Date: Tuesday, June 17
First Pitch: 6:30 p.m. CT (weather permitting)
Location: Charles Schwab Field (Omaha, Neb.)
TV: ESPN
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