Hello, Omaha! Arkansas eliminates North Carolina in walk-off fashion
Brady Slavens will be forever remembers in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The senior from Olathe, Kansas, in his senior season, was a hero.
Arkansas rallied from a one-run deficit in the final inning to clinch a spot in the College World Series with a 4-3 win over No. 10 North Carolina. The trip to Omaha, Nebraska, is Arkansas third in the last four years and 11th in school history
Braydon Webb’s RBI groundout tied the game at three after Arkansas loaded the bases in the ninth with nobody out. Slavens followed and took the second pitch just out of the reach of North Carolina second baseman Patrick Alvarez and Peyton Stovall trotted home to the disappointment of the literal home team.
Alvarez had given the Tar Heels the lead in the top after he entered in the seventh as a defensive replacement. He had four hits on the season before his sinking line drive plated Thomas Frick and suggested a Game 3 was on the horizon.
Two straight singles, a walk and Slavens walk-off changed things in a hurry.
Will McEntire went 5 2/3 innings for Arkansas and allowed just three hits and two walks. North Carolina’s runs were scored off his replacement, Kole Ramage.
Arkansas took the lead in the fourth on a Jalen Battles RBI double then made it, 2-0, when Braydon Webb homered in the fifth. They were only two extra-base hits the Diamond Hogs managed on the day.
North Carolina tied it on an RBI groundout and a wild pitch in the seventh.
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn will be making his 10th trip to the College World Series, eight of which have come while coaching the Razorbacks.
