NO. 7: Hogs rebound on road to Omaha

— Arkansas’ baseball season looked bleak after the Razorbacks lost eight consecutive conference games and stumbled to fourth place in the SEC West with a 14-15 record.

Then came the postseason and a dramatic turnaround, and suddenly the Razorbacks found themselves at the College World Series inOmaha, Neb.

Arkansas went 7-2 in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the College World Series for only the sixth time in school history, but chances are most will remember the season because of one game in Omaha.

Arkansas was part of one of the most exciting CWS games, when the Razorbacks beat Virginia 4-3 in 12 innings.

Trailing 3-1, Arkansas was down to its last out in the ninth inning when Zack Cox delivered a single to right field. Brett Eibner then stepped up to the plate and crushed a long home run to send the game intoextra innings.

Dallas Keuchel worked out of jams in the 10th, 11th and 12th innings before Arkansas won the game when Jarrod McKinney scored on Andrew Darr’s double to left field.

The dramatic victory was the highlight of the Razorbacks’ trip to Omaha, where they also defeated No. 2 seed Cal State Fullerton before losing twice to eventual national championship LSU to finish 41-24 overall.

“The season ended up being successful because of the way we finished,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “We didn’t have a guy make first- or second-team All-SEC, so we had something to prove and we did that, obviously.”

After being swept by Alabama and Ole Miss to end the regular season, Arkansas went 2-2 in the SEC Tournament. The Razorbacks then got on a roll in the NCAA Tournament, winning the Norman (Okla.) Regional and taking the super regional at Florida State.

Arkansas stretched its winning streak to six consecutive by beating Cal State Fullerton 10-6 to open the College World Series. It was the first victory in Omaha in 20 years for the Razorbacks, who finished as national runners-up in 1979.

Sports, Pages 33 on 12/27/2009

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