OMAHA, Neb. -- Trailing 3-1 heading into the ninth inning, it appeared Arkansas' College World Series dreams were dying on the vine, and they needed something big if they were going to come back and beat Virginia.
Brett Eibner came up huge in the top of the ninth. His two-run homer with two out tied the game, and Razorbacks reliever Dallas Keuchel got out of jams in the ninth, 10th and decisive 12th inning to help the Razorbacks eliminate the Cavaliers in an exciting 4-3, 12-inning affair Wednesday at the College World Series.
With the win, the Razorbacks get a day off before they face SEC rival LSU Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. Arkansas will need to beat the Tigers twice this weekend to reach the best-of-three championship finals.
It was shaping up to be a pitcher's duel early on, as neither team could plate a run during the first four innings.
Virginia broke the ice in the bottom of the fifth, thanks to a John Hicks solo homer and an RBI double by Danny Hultzen. Arkansas cut the deficit in half in the seventh on an Eibner sacrifice fly, but Virginia got the insurance run back in the eighth on Dan Grovatt's solo shot to left.
Arkansas' ninth-inning rally came with two outs in the inning. Zack Cox slapped a single to center to keep the Razorbacks' hopes alive, and Eibner followed with a blast to left that swung the momentum back in Arkansas' favor.
Virginia had their chances to win. The Cavaliers had runners on second and third with one out, but Arkansas intentionally loaded the bases and got out of the jam with an inning-ending double play to send the game to extra frames.
Virginia again had runners on second and third in the 10th, but Keuchel struck out two batters to get out of that mess, then got out of another two-on, two-out situation in the 11th. Arkansas broke the tie in the 12th when Jarrod McKinney scored on Andrew Darr's double to left. The Cavaliers had the tying run on third in the bottom of the 12th, but Keuchel got a strikeout to end the game.
Thursday is another elimination game, with North Carolina taking on Arizona State at 6 p.m. The winner of that game faces Texas on Friday at 6 p.m. and will need to beat the Longhorns twice to reach the championship finals.
Great seats for these College World Series games are available now at Ticket Express -- where no College World Series game is ever sold out.
College World Series Schedule, Results
(All times CDT)
Saturday, June 13
Game 1 -- Arkansas 10, Cal State Fullerton 6
Game 2 -- LSU 9, Virginia 5
Sunday, June 14
Game 3 -- Arizona State 5, North Carolina 2 (10 inn.)
Game 4 -- Texas 7, Southern Miss 6
Monday, June 15
Game 5 -- Virginia 7, Cal State Fullerton 5 (CSF eliminated)
Game 6 -- LSU 9, Arkansas 1
Tuesday, June 16
Game 7 -- North Carolina 11, Southern Miss 4 (Southern Miss eliminated)
Game 8 -- Texas 10, Arizona State 6
Wednesday, June 17
Game 9 -- Arkansas 4, Virginia 3 12 inn. (Virginia eliminated)
Thursday, June 18
Game 10 -- North Carolina (48-17) vs. Arizona State (50-13), 6 p.m.
Friday, June 19
Game 11 -- LSU (53-16) vs. Arkansas (41-23), 1 p.m.
Game 12 -- Texas (48-14-1) vs. Winner Game 10, 6 p.m.
Saturday, June 20
Game 13 -- Winner Game 11 vs. Loser Game 11, 1 p.m.
Game 14 -- Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 12, 6 p.m.
(NOTE: If only one "if necessary" game is played, it will be at 6 p.m.)
Monday, June 22
Championship Game 1 -- Bracket winners, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, June 23
Championship Game 2 -- Bracket winners, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, June 24
Championship Game 3 -- Bracket winners, 6 p.m. (If necessary)
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