Rapid Recap: Arkansas' season ends with loss to Texas Tech in Omaha

HawgBeat's coverage of the Razorbacks' Road to Redemption in Omaha is brought to you by Arkansas Oral Surgery, which has offices located in Conway and Russellville.

OMAHA, Neb. — The Razorbacks’ road to redemption ended with a short stay at the College World Series.

Back in Omaha after coming within a strike of winning a national championship last year, Arkansas gave up a two-out RBI triple to Cody Masters and lost to Texas Tech 5-4 on Monday.

That ended the Razorbacks’ goal of getting back to the finals, as it was their second loss of the tournament.

All of the momentum early belonged to Arkansas, as it jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first three innings.

In the second inning, Heston Kjerstad launched a one-out home run into the left field bullpen to finally snap the Razorbacks’ 23-inning scoreless streak at the College World Series. That was the longest by a team at the event since Rice went 25 scoreless from 2006-2007.

The scoring continued the very next inning, with Christian Franklin getting things started by lining a one-out single into center. He was arguably Arkansas’ hottest hitter in Omaha, as that was his third hit in his first four at bats and he finished the game 2 for 4.

With two outs, Casey Martin hit a pitch into left field that Kurt Wilson made a diving attempt to catch. The ball got by him for an RBI triple and then he scored on an RBI infield single by Matt Goodheart.

Arkansas couldn’t sustain that, though. After Martin booted a double play ball that would have cleared the bases, Cameron Warren swung the momentum back in favor of Texas Tech with a monstrous two-run home run in the fourth.

That pulled the Red Raiders within 3-2 and was the first of three long ball in consecutive innings.

Connor Noland, who gave up two earned on four hits and a walk while striking out two, was removed after four innings and 55 pitches. His replacement, Kevin Kopps, retired the first two batters he faced before giving up the lead.

A two-out solo shot by Easton Murrell, the former Arkansas player who transferred to Texas Tech in the offseason, tied it up in the fifth. Making just his 10th start and hitting leadoff for the first time, the sophomore crushed Kopps’ 3-1 pitch into the right field bullpen. It was Murrell’s first career home run and just his third RBI.

In the sixth inning, Josh Jung gave Texas Tech its first lead of the game by hitting a leadoff home run of Arkansas’ reliever. Coming into the game, Kopps had allowed just two home runs in 39 1/3 innings, so Saturday’s game doubled that total.

Meanwhile, Caleb Kilian settled in for the Red Raiders and ended up giving them seven strong innings. Arkansas managed only three base runners in his final four innings, with one of them coming via a wild pitch on a strikeout.

He was charged with three earned runs on six hits and one walk. The junior right-hander also struck out nine, matching a career high.

Down to its final four outs, Arkansas managed to tie it up against junior left-hander Dane Haveman. The Texas Tech reliever walked Dominic Fletcher and then gave up a single to Kjerstad, putting runners on the corners in the eighth.

Jack Kenley nearly got a first-pitch blooper that was nearly caught and landed foul. Instead, after fouling off five straight pitches, he hit a fly ball into left field. It wasn’t very deep, but Wilson’s throw was not close.

Unfortunately for the Razorbacks, Texas Tech answered in the bottom of the inning. A leadoff single by Brian Klein chased Jacob Kostyshock, but was erased when Casey Opitz caught him stealing with Cody Scroggins on the mound.

Scroggins struck out Jung to get Arkansas within an out of ending the inning, but walked Warren and then gave up the aforementioned triple to Masters. It hit off the wall in left-center and easily scored Warren, who was off on the pitch.

The Razorbacks had another opportunity in the ninth when Jacob Nesbit was hit by a pitch and Franklin singled, but they were stranded when Trevor Ezell, Martin and Goodheart went down in order.

The loss ends Arkansas’ season with a 46-20 record.

BOX SCORE