OMAHA, Neb. — Arkansas played for a national championship Thursday, about 19 hours after one of the most devastating losses in program history.
Several Razorback players said they had put the loss behind them by the time Game 3 of the College World Series finals began, but Arkansas never really threatened Oregon State in a 5-0 loss that gave the Beavers their third national championship in 13 seasons and left the Razorbacks still in search of their first title.
“We weren’t down,” said Isaiah Campbell, a redshirt sophomore pitcher who allowed three runs (two earned) in two-plus innings. “We fought the ups and downs all year. This team knows how to compete and fight to the end, and that’s what we did.”
Arkansas pitching coach Wes Johnson said he thought Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn handled the loss well in his postgame talk with the team Wednesday. Second baseman Carson Shaddy said the gist of Van Horn’s speech was, “It’s not the end of the world and we have another game. You’ve had your backs against the wall all year and just come out and be ourselves and not try to do too much.”
Arkansas coaches gave players a chance to sleep in Thursday and didn’t have them take pregame batting practice on the field.
“We didn’t need to get out and about,” Johnson said. “We needed to get focused and I thought we were.”
But the Razorbacks were bested by Oregon State across the board. The Beavers out-hit Arkansas 7-2 and didn’t commit an error, while Arkansas third baseman Casey Martin committed a throwing error that led to an unearned run in the first inning.
That gave Oregon State a 2-0 lead and the Razorbacks only had one legitimate scoring opportunity, when they loaded the bases with one out in the third inning. Freshman Kevin Abel, who threw a complete game, struck out Arkansas’ three-hole hitter Heston Kjerstad and got clean-up hitter Luke Bonfield to fly out to strand the bases loaded, the first two outs of 20 straight that he retired to end the game.
Van Horn said Abel - not the game the night before - was the difference in not being competitive Thursday.
“If Abel hadn't thrown it so well, maybe it's a little different story,” Van Horn said. “But he just didn't give us a chance, really.”