Who would have thought it? If the Hogs had nine lives to start this College World Series trek, we burned about half of those or more in the 4-3 win over Virginia on Wednesday.
How many bullets did we dodge? It was hard to keep track…
- The 9th through the 12th innings all saw the UVA leadoff man reach base.
- Before slapping a single to center, Zack Cox was down to the Hogs last strike of the season.
- Dallas Keuchel goes to a 3-0 count with the bases loaded, winning run on third, and battles back to record the out.
- A double play, turned by two freshmen, to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth.
Erasing a season full of frustration at the plate (.227 batting average), Brett Eibner’s blast to tie the game in the ninth is a highlight for the ages. Late subs Andrew Darr (GW double in the 12th) and Tim Carver (started the double play in the ninth off a hard hit ball) all came up big, and Keuchel did the rest. “Fear the Jaw!!!”
(Thanks to RazorVision for the video and to CharlieHog and HogNation — the best Hogs baseball message board around — for uploading it to YouTube.)
A thrilling night, and an incredible team victory by a team that has fought, clawed and scratched their way to the CWS final four. That kind of effort and resolve has brought out a level of excitement not seen in a while for Razorback Baseball. The grinding nature of this overachieving team will make this one a “team to remember”…win or lose against LSU.
