No. 3 Arkansas (50-14, 20-10 SEC) fought off elimination again in its win against the No. 15 UCLA Bruins (48-18, 22-8 Big 10), 7-3, on Tuesday night in Omaha, Neb., at Charles Schwab Field. The Razorbacks move on to the 2025 Men's College World Series Semifinals, but will have to defeat the No. 6 LSU Tigers twice in a row to move on to the finals.
Arkansas baseball vs UCLA: College World Series
UCLA got rolling in the top of the first inning with back-to-back singles by LF Dean West and SS Roch Cholowsky to begin the game. Both runners moved into scoring position after 1B Mulivia Levu flew out to deep center field, and 3B Roman Martin drew a walk to load the bases with one out. RF AJ Salgado lined out short, West was caught trying to steal home to run the Bruins out of the inning.
After getting out of the jam, Arkansas nabbed the lead in the bottom of the first with CF Charles Davalan leading off the frame with a single to left. SS Wehiwa Aloy smashed a two-run bomb to right field to put the Hogs up, 2-0, for his 21st home run of the season.
Offense was hard to come by for the Razorbacks until the bottom of the fifth when 3B Brent Iredale and CF Justin Thomas Jr. led off the inning with back-to-back singles. After LHP Ian May relieved RHP Cody Delvecchio, Davalan grounded into a double play with Iredale moving over to third. Wehiwa Aloy drove in Iredale with an RBI triple to center field to give Arkansas a three-run lead. After RF Logan Maxwell drew a walk to place runners on the corners with two outs, May was relieved by RHP Cal Randall. C Ryder Helfrick popped up to second to end the inning.
LHP Zach Root put up a big bounce-back performance on the mound in his 19th start of the season with five shutout innings on 87 pitches (55 strikes) while allowing just three hits and two walks with five strikeouts. RHP Aiden Jimenez relieved him to open up the top of the sixth.
The Razorbacks added to their lead in the bottom of the seventh thanks to some two-out hitting. Iredale led off with a walk, and UCLA placed LHP Chris Grothues on the hill in relief of Randall. Thomas threw down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runner to second, and Davalan grounded out to move Iredale to third. Wehiwa Aloy was intentionally walked to put runners on the corners with two outs. Maxwell stepped up and ripped a two-run double to left center to cash in both Iredale and Wehiwa Aloy to give the Hogs a comfortable 5-0 lead. RHP Jack O'Connor was placed on the mound and struck out Helfrick to end the rally.
RHP Justin Lee was brought out the bullpen for the Bruins to start the bottom of the eighth. 2B Camden Kozeal started off the frame with a walk and moved over to second base on a passed ball. DH Kuhio Aloy fouled out, and 1B Reese Robinett grounded out to second, which allowed the runner to move over to third. Kozeal scored on a wild pitch with Iredale up to bat to push the Arkansas lead to six. Iredale drew a walk to keep the inning alive. He quickly stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error by C Cashel Dugger. Thomas drove in Thomas with an RBI double down the left field line to put the game out of reach.
RHP Will McEntire relieved Jimenez to open up the top of the ninth. Jimenez supplied three shutout innings in his 21st appearance of the year while allowing a hit and a walk with two strikeouts on 41 pitches (29 strikes).
UCLA led off the top of the ninth with a leadoff triple by Levu down the right field line. After Martin struck out swinging, Salgado made it to second base on a fielding error at third that scored Levu for the Bruins' first run of the game, 7-1. CF Payton Brennan legged out an infield single and moved over to second on a throwing error by McEntire that allowed Salgado to score to cut the deficit to five. Pinch hitter Aidan Espinoza flew out to right center for the second out with Brennan moving over to third base. Brennan scored on a wild pitch to make it a four-run game, and Dugger drew a walk to keep UCLA's hopes alive. McEntire settled back in and forced 2B Phoenix Call to lineout to center to end the game.
The Razorbacks will take on the No. 6 LSU Tigers on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. in Omaha, Neb., at Charles Schwab Field. The game will be broadcast on ESPN. The Hogs need to win tomorrow night's game and Thursday's game to reach the Men's College World Series Finals.