For the 11th time in school history, the Razorbacks are headed to Omaha. Arkansas (43-19) punched its ticket to the College World Series in dramatic fashion with a 4-3 walk-off win over North Carolina (42-22) on Sunday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium.
A pair of lengthy lightning delays made the second game of the NCAA Chapel Hill Super Regional an all-day affair, but it was worth it when Brady Slavens muscled a walk-off single through a drawn-in Tar Heel infield to cap a two-run, ninth-inning rally.
North Carolina – playing as the visiting team – had scratched out a run on Patrick Alvarez’ single to center in the top half of the ninth to claim their first lead of the afternoon. Alvarez’ heroics, however, were immediately put into question when Jalen Battles led off the bottom of the ninth with an infield single to the left side.
Peyton Stovall laced his third hit of the afternoon into the right-center field gap to put Hogs on the corners with no outs. After a walk to pinch hitter Kendall Diggs loaded the bases, Braydon Webb’s fielder’s choice chased Battles home for the equalizer and set up Slavens to be the hero.
Stovall led the way with three hits as the Razorbacks racked up 12 base knocks in the win. Slavens, Battles and Michael Turner all had two hits, while Slavens collected a team-leading two runs batted in. Battles got the Hogs’ scoring started in the fourth with an RBI double before Webb added his 15th homer of the year in the fifth.
Left-hander Zack Morris picked up the win in relief, recording the final out of the ninth to improve to an unblemished 6-0 on the season. Will McEntire, meanwhile, was stellar in his start of 5 2/3 scoreless innings, scattering three hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
