BY HAILEY CHAPMAN
In the first elimination game of the College World Series, Arkansas fell just a run short of overcoming Texas Tech in the losers’ bracket Monday.
Arkansas and Texas Tech were the first two teams to face elimination after the Razorbacks fell to Florida State in a 1-0 upset while the Red Raiders fell to No. 3 Michigan, 5-3.
In the elimination game Monday afternoon, Texas Tech’s Caleb Kilian got the nod on the mound and went the distance for seven innings. Though Arkansas scored first with a run in the top of the second and two in the bottom of the third, Kilian was able to keep his composure and confidence on the mound to hold them to only three earned runs on six hits, with nine strikeouts and a walk.
A Heston Kjerstad bomb over the opposite field fence pushed Arkansas up three runs.
Entering the bottom of the fourth, the Red Raiders responded to the threat with two runs, followed by consecutive one-run innings in the fifth, sixth and eighth innings.
As the fifth inning began, a two-out walk to Cameron Warren proved costly as Cody Master’s ripped a triple off the wall to score the tying run.
Kilian proceeded to mow through the Arkansas offense with a quick three-up-three-down inning, bringing the Red Raiders back to the plate.
The go-ahead run in the sixth came from a Josh Jung solo home run, the sophomore star’s 15th of the year.
Arkansas responded in the top of the eighth to tie it up once again with a Jack Kenley sacrifice fly that scored Dominic Fletcher. Texas Tech responded once again in the bottom of the eighth with the eventual game-winning run, a product of Cody Masters who capitalized on a two-out walk to Cameron Warren.
That was enough for closer Taylor Floyd, who battled out of a bases-loaded jam and retired the top three in the Arkansas lineup.
Game leaders at the plate included Arkansas’ Kjerstad with a home run, making him 2 for 4 on the day, Casey Martin who went 2 for 5, and Christian Franklin, who went 2 for 4.
Texas Tech’s three home runs from Cameron Warren, Eastom Murrell and No. 8 overall draft pick Jung proved to be the difference in the game. All three only produced one hit in the game, but made it count as Warren’s two-run shot was marked at 421 feet, blasted into the left-center field bleachers.
Arkansas finished the day with four runs on eight hits and no errors, while Tech ended with five runs on nine hits and no errors.
Texas Tech awaits their next elimination game, facing the loser of Florida State and Michigan this evening.
Game Stats:
Arkansas: 4 runs, 8 hits, 0 errors
Texas Tech: 5 runs, 9 hits, 0 errors
Winning Pitcher: Texas Tech’s Caleb Kilian 7 IP, 6 hits, 3 runs all earned, 9 K, 1 BB
Losing Pitcher: Arkansas’ Cody Scroggins 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 run earned, 1 K, 1 BB
Teams in CWS:
BRACKET 1
Florida State
Michigan
8 Texas Tech
5 Arkansas – ELIMINATED
BRACKET 2
Auburn
3 Mississippi State
2 Vanderbilt
11 Louisville
Caleb Kilian delivers a pitch in the elimination game on Monday afternoon. Kilian held the Razorbacks to three runs in his seven innings of work to earn the win and keep his team alive in the losers bracket. photo courtesy of tribune news service