Freshman throws two-hitter to win College World Series

“It worked perfectly. All I can say about that is learn to bunt, kids”.

It was fitting that Rutschman and Abel combined to make that final out, because they turned in two of the greatest individual performances in CWS history. And ever since then, we started breaking on ‘finish, ‘ to finish the job.

Arkansas never stood a chance. But his teammates helped complement his brilliance, battling at the plate and gobbling up grounders behind him.

Catcher Adley Rutschman was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after he set a CWS record with 17 hits, to go along with 13 RBIs. “So I think that that’s what created that opportunity for us to have something good happen”.

“And it just stayed steady throughout the game”.

Cronin entered in the eighth inning to attempt to preserve a 3-2 lead. Yet they kept letting him go back out there even as his pitch count was climbing. Abel made sure of that.

“The guys behind me … you can not find a better group of young men to represent the state of Oregon and Oregon State University”, Casey said.

“Kept making pitches, kept getting outs”, Abel said.

Abel pitched a two-hit complete game to run his record in the CWS to 4-0 and to tag the Razorbacks with their first shutout of the season.

Arkansas loaded the bases for naught in the third. The Beavers out-hit the Razorbacks 7-2. “He was just on”. They were a strike away from being national champions Wednesday night. That inning won the game for the Razorbacks.

Arkansas will go for the title today at 5:30 p.m. with right-hander Isaiah Campbell (5-6, 4.12 ERA) on the mound. And they weren’t the same. But the ball somehow drops between three Arkansas defenders in foul territory.

Murphy exited for the usually reliable Reindl, who walked Madrigal on four pitches.

Goe also gives a lot of credit to longtime OSU Baseball coach Pat Casey.

Certainly, as a Razorback fan dating back to my childhood in the 1970s, I feel a heaping measure of disappointment, but it’s nowhere almost as great as the pleasure I get from following the Hogs – win, lose, or draw – on a daily basis.

But a pop up in foul territory in the ninth inning fell between three fielders, and with it, the dream of a title fell as well. The 19-year-old struck out 10 while throwing 129 pitches, just a day after pitching an inning during the Beavers’ wild win in Game 2. All three of his singles factored in the scoring.

Arkansas bounced right back by plating two runs in the bottom of the fifth with the aid of a couple of bloop singles. The Razorbacks reached the finals by going 3-0 in Bracket 2 by outlasting Texas, Texas Tech and Florida. Arkansas was represented by senior Jared Gates, junior Blaine Knight, sophomore Dominic Fletcher and freshmen Heston Kjerstad and Casey Martin.

And even if Abel doesn’t suffer injury or reduced performance from this wear and tear, Major League Baseball organizations are very aware of the pitches and innings he’s thrown. Casey thought of going to the bullpen, but Abel wouldn’t hear of it. Campbell, to be clear, was pretty well locked in, throwing a lot of effortless mid-90s heat and coaxing numerous ground balls.

Quirky moment: Not often does the director of video and scouting grab the spotlight during an NCAA championship.

For Arkansas, it’s a gut-wrenching end to a phenomenal season.

“Christian Chamberlain showed you he was 92, 95 the other night in the World Series”. Abel never allowed the Razorbacks, and their large crowd, to get into the game as OSU claimed its third national championship.