Hogs hang on to beat Ole Miss, force 2nd CWS bracket final

OMAHA, Neb. — Zack Morris didn’t get much done as the starter for Arkansas two nights earlier, but what a finisher he was Wednesday.

Morris was called on after Mississippi loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the junior left-hander put down the threat to let the Razorbacks hang on for a 3-2 win at the College World Series.

The Hogs (46-20) forced a second bracket final against Ole Miss (39-23) on Thursday, with the winner advancing to play Oklahoma in the best-of-three championship round starting Saturday.

“Morris did a tremendous job,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “He talked to me last night after the game and said, ‘I want the ball again.’ And I said, ‘Just be ready.’

“When he came in, I just said, ‘Hey, man, can you do this?’ And he said, ‘Yes, sir.’ And I just said, ‘OK, here you go. Go get it.’”

For eight innings, Arkansas all but shut down an offense that had produced 64 runs in its first seven NCAA Tournament games. Kemp Alderman, who hit a tying homer in the second inning, was the only Ole Miss runner to advance past first base to that point.

The Rebels loaded the bases in the ninth after closer Brady Tygart hit two straight batters.

Morris, who had given up two runs and was pulled after two-thirds of an inning in the Hogs’ 13-5 loss to Ole Miss on Monday, struck out pinch-hitter Hayden Leatherwood and got TJ McCants to fly out before Justin Bench’s infield single made it a one-run game. Morris then got Jacob Gonzalez to line out to end the game.

“Zack’s been clutch for us all year long,” Brady Slavens said. “We all had faith in him. We all had belief in him. He didn’t have the best start that he wanted the other day, but he came out and proved himself tonight.”

Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said he and his players wouldn’t dwell on the loss.

“Rather than woe is us,” he said, “how about looking at what a great opportunity we have tomorrow?”

With the game tied at 1 in the fifth, Slavens blasted John Gaddis’ second pitch 436 feet to straightaway center into a light breeze.

The only other players to homer to dead center since the CWS moved to Charles Schwab Field in 2011 were Florida’s Pete Alonso (2015) and Florida State’s Dylan Busby (2017).

“I was just looking for a fastball over the plate,” Slavens said.

The Hogs added a huge insurance run in the eighth. Cayden Wallace sent a ball down the left-field line for a double, getting his hand onto the bag just ahead of second baseman Peyton Chatagnier’s tag attempt. The call was upheld on video review.

Sooners off to CWS finals after beating A&M

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Oklahoma’s baseball players came to the College World Series calling themselves “a bunch of Davids,” a nod to their embrace of the underdog identity they adopted after an underwhelming start to the season.

It was one David — David Sandlin — who got most of the credit Wednesday for taking down Texas A&M, the last of the national seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

Sandlin held the Aggies to one run and struck out a career-high 12 in seven innings, Jimmy Crooks’ three-run homer in the first held up and Oklahoma advanced to the CWS finals with a 5-1 victory.

Trying to complete a softball-baseball title sweep, the Sooners (45-22) have won three straight games at Charles Schwab Field by no fewer than four runs and will play for their first national championship since 1994.

Oklahoma’s opponent in the best-of-three finals starting Saturday will be either Arkansas or Mississippi.

Arkansas beat Ole Miss 3-2 on Wednesday night to force another game Thursday.

As Sooners fans chanted “O-U! O-U!” closer Trevin Michael struck out Brett Minnich to end the game against the Aggies. The celebration was subdued.

“I think those kids are focused,” coach Skip Johnson said. “I don’t know if it’s dog-piling or whatever it is… It’s kind of weird sometimes. I don’t tell them not to dog-pile, I can tell you that.”