You know that old saying your youth or high school coach used to say? Don’t let one game beat you twice?
Welp.
Arkansas looked lethargic and struggled all game after being one strike away from winning it all. Instead they lose the finale 5-0 and finish 2018 as runners up. Arkansas was defensive at the plate all game. This one stat sums things up pretty perfectly.
Arkansas ends the CWS finals 1 for 33 (.030) with 15 strikeouts when taking a called strike on the first pitch of the at-bat.
— Adam Ford (@AdamFord92) June 29, 2018
The Hogs were definitely not themselves this series, but that isn’t to take away from the Beavers, who clearly played the better baseball over the course of three games. That’s not to say they were a vastly superior ball club, they and Arkansas were both very good teams. But in these three games, Oregon State played better. And that’s just how it goes sometimes.
Look no further than their freshman Kevin Abel coming in and throwing a complete game gem to finish things off for them. He was outstanding multiple times when the Beavers needed them most. Arkansas didn’t see that in this series outside of probably Blaine Knight. The Hogs had gotten so much out of their hitting this season, and the struck out 38 times over the course of three games. It certainly wasn’t their best time at the dish.
Still, it was a hell of a run from a team that was so much fun to watch. There are definitely some guys who played their last games as Hogs, and as much as that sucks, they’ll be in the big leagues soon. They gave it everything they had this year and I can’t wait to watch Blaine Knight vs. Carson Shaddy in their first Battle of the Beltway matchup in a few years and Camden Yards.