June 18, 2025 at 11:37 p.m.
by Matt Jones
OMAHA, Neb. — LSU All-American Jared Jones delivered another gut-punch loss to Arkansas on a field where the Razorbacks have had a few.
The Tigers’ slugger lined a game-winning RBI hit off of second baseman Cam Kozeal’s glove with 2 outs to cap a 3-run ninth inning that gave LSU a dramatic 6-5 victory at Charles Schwab Field on Wednesday.
With the win, the Tigers (51-15) advanced to play Coastal Carolina in the national championship series that begins Saturday. LSU is looking for its second title since 2023 and eighth overall.
“What a game,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson, who added, “Is ESPN Classic still around? They should play that game on loop for a week.”
Arkansas (50-15) will leave Omaha without a title after another what-if moment at the College World Series.
The Razorbacks chose to pitch to Jones with first base open. He homered in his previous at-bat to tie the game 3-3 in the eighth inning and his RBI in the ninth capped a 3-hit night.
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said he did not think intentionally walking Jones was necessary in a right-on-right matchup with pitcher Aiden Jimenez.
The Razorbacks opted for 2-out intentional walks twice earlier in the game with mixed results.
Michael Braswell struck out to strand 2 base runners in the second inning after Daniel Dickinson was intentionally walked, but pinch hitter Jake Brown had a 2-run single in the sixth after Josh Pearson was intentionally walked.
“Hindsight is 20-20,” Van Horn said. “We could talk about all the ifs and buts until we’re sick of each other.”
Jones’ hit came on the fourth pitch thrown by Jimenez.
“He’s a great pitcher,” Jones said. “You’ve got to respect his slider and I was able to stay on it and do just enough to get it over the second baseman’s head.”
Jimenez entered after Cole Gibler allowed a 2-run, 2-out double to Luis Hernandez to tie the game 5-5. Arkansas left fielder Charles Davalan appeared to slip as he dove to attempt to catch the ball and it skipped behind him.
Davalan was in tears and apologetic as he left the field.
“I said, ‘Why are you sorry?’” Arkansas catcher Ryder Helfrick said. “We wouldn’t be where we are today without him, the way he competes, and he’s one of the best hitters and people and just all-around best baseball players I’ve ever been around.
“For him to say sorry, it kind of pissed me off because the game’s not on him. It’s on the team.”
Van Horn said Davalan also apologized to him.
“I said, ‘Don’t tell me you’re sorry. You don’t have to tell me you’re sorry.’ And he said it again,” Van Horn said. “It’s tough. That kid doesn’t have to be sorry for anything. He was our glue, man.
“We lost the game because we didn’t score early in the game, we didn’t make a pitch, we didn’t make a play, and we lost. One play might be something that stands out, but there’s a lot of things going in that 27 outs.”
The ninth inning was full of defensive plays the Razorbacks would like back. First baseman Reese Robinett threw wide of Gibler covering the bag after a 1-out infield single by Derek Curiel.
And instead of trying to turn a potential game-ending double play while ahead 5-3, shortstop Wehiwa Aloy opted for a force out at second base to bring Hernandez to the plate.
“The way it all turned out, I guess I would have,” Van Horn said when asked if he would have liked to have seen Aloy try for a double play. “I haven’t talked to him about it. I think he felt he moved too far to his right for Cam to turn it.”
Both teams threw haymakers late to make distant memory a game that was well-pitched for several innings by starters Landon Beidelschies of Arkansas and Zac Cowan of LSU. The Razorbacks took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth.
Then the fireworks started, igniting the crowd of 25,470 that included large contingents from both sides.
Brown’s 2-out, 2-run single against Arkansas reliever Gabe Gaeckle put the Tigers ahead 2-1. The Razorbacks had hoped to get to Chris Stanfield for a right-on-right matchup, but Johnson made the move to Brown.
“He’s one of our best players,” Johnson said. “It really wasn’t a hard decision.”
Johnson indicated he made the decision with Gaeckle’s performance last Saturday against LSU on his mind.
“We did not see him at all the other night,” Johnson said. “He struck out, like, 10 guys. It was very uncharacteristic for our team, and it was mostly right-handers.”
The Razorbacks regained the lead, 3-2, in the eighth when Davalan scored on a fielder’s choice by Helfrick, and Aloy came home on a 2-out fielding error by Jones at first base.
Jones atoned for the mistake with a 398-foot home run against Gaeckle with 2 outs in the bottom of the eighth. That tied the game 3-3.
“I hadn’t been seeing Gaeckle very well this week,” Jones said. “He struck me out 5 times, I think, in 5 at-bats. It was all on sliders. My approach is always to be on time for a fastball. I was lucky enough to get one in the zone and put a good swing on it to tie the game there in the [eighth].”
Robinett singled and Brent Iredale doubled on 100 mph fastballs by Chase Shores in consecutive 1-out at-bats in the top of the ninth. LSU turned to right-hander Jacob Mayers, who allowed a 2-run single by Justin Thomas on the first pitch he threw to put the Razorbacks ahead 5-3.
Thomas advanced to third on a stolen base and a throwing error, but Mayers struck out Aloy looking to strand Arkansas’ sixth base runner.
“They’ve got a great team,” Van Horn said of LSU. “They just kept fighting. We kept fighting. They took the lead. We came back, took the lead. Then they got us.”
The only run over the first 5 1/2 innings was scored by Helfrick, who led off the fourth inning with a 417-foot home run to center.
That was the only run Cowan allowed in 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander, who has been a closer this season, allowed 4 hits and struck out 6 without a walk.
Beidelschies pitched into the sixth and allowed 2 runs, 3 hits and 1 walk, and struck out 9. He also hit a pair of batters, including Steven Milam in the sixth inning after a leadoff double by Ethan Frey.
Cowan and Beidelschies were both throwing for the first time since the NCAA regional round in early June.
Four days after throwing 90 pitches in relief during a 4-1 loss to LSU in the CWS opener for both teams, Gaeckle threw 51 pitches over 3 innings Wednesday. He allowed 1 run, 3 hits and 2 walks, and struck out 4.
Gibler was charged with the loss. He recorded 2 outs in the ninth and LSU scored 3 runs on 2 hits and 1 walk against him.
Arkansas fell into the losers bracket with its loss to LSU last Saturday but battled to the semifinal round with victories of 3-0 over Murray State and 7-3 over UCLA on Monday and Tuesday.
The Razorbacks needed to beat LSU twice to advance to the championship round.
“It would have been nice to win the game, get to tomorrow, see what happens,” Van Horn said. “But that’s baseball. It’s a crazy game.”
The Razorbacks are now tied with Clemson and North Carolina for the second-most appearances at the CWS (12) without winning a national title. Florida State has been to Omaha 24 times without a championship.
LSU went 4-1 against Arkansas this season. The Tigers won 2 of 3 games in Baton Rouge on May 9-11, including 5-4 in the series opener when Jones had a sacrifice fly to score the winning run in the 10th inning of a game that ended at 1:17 a.m.
The Razorbacks and the Tigers were the highest-seeded teams remaining when the CWS began last weekend. Arkansas, LSU and Coastal Carolina (56-11) are the sport’s only teams with 50 or more wins this year.
“I think it’s pretty cool that rarely does it work out like this,” Johnson said. “While that game was going on tonight, the three best teams in college baseball were still alive.”
Privacy Preferences
Copyright © 2025, Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC. (NWA Media)
All rights reserved.
This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC.
Material from the Associated Press is Copyright © 2025, Associated Press and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing. All rights reserved.