OMAHA, Neb. — Arkansas didn’t hit much against Luke Heimlich and Christian Chamberlain in Game 1 of the College World Series finals. In fact, the Razorbacks struck out 16 times.
Somehow, some way, they sit on the cusp of their first national championship in baseball after beating Oregon State 4-1 Tuesday night.
They capitalized against a faltering Heimlich (16-3) in a four-run fifth inning, got a strong start from Blaine Knight with shutdown relief pitching and mixed in a few big defensive plays. That enabled the Razorbacks to win on a night when they mustered just five hits.
The finals opener, delayed a day because of rain, seemed to have a little bit of everything — a fly ball lost in the sun that went for a ground-rule double, a runner interference call against Oregon State and an overturned foul call on a ball hit down the right-field line.
Nothing turned the game more than the sudden collapse of Heimlich.
“He started to lose it,” OSU coach Pat Casey said. “He didn’t throw the ball where he needed to. He’d been real good all year long, and certainly really struggled in that inning.”
After failing to get out of the third inning in both of his previous CWS starts, the Beavers’ ace was in full command while striking out five and limiting the Razorbacks (48-19) to one hit through four innings.
In the fifth, though, the senior left-hander issued a walk and hit two batters.
“He lost command of his fastball a little bit and was out of the zone, so as hitters we’re all just trying to be patient, see him in the zone, and he ended up also missing his spots a few times,” Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad said. “That equaled a few more runs for us.”
Heimlich’s first two appearances in Omaha didn’t draw much reaction from the crowd other than cheers from Oregon State supporters. That was mostly the case again Tuesday, though there were scattered boos when he was introduced before the game and a woman behind the Arkansas dugout stood and gave a thumbs-down with her right hand.
Last year, Heimlich left the team before the CWS when it was revealed he had pleaded guilty to molesting a young relative when he was 15. The university allowed him to return to the team this year. He served two years of probation and went through a treatment program but denied wrongdoing in recent interviews with Sports Illustrated and the New York Times.
Arkansas starter Blaine Knight (14-0) went back to the mound with a 4-1 lead, pitched another inning and left having allowed seven hits with six strikeouts. Barrett Loseke and Matt Cronin combined to pitch three scoreless innings of relief.
“I feel fortunate to win the game,” Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn said. “Baseball is a little different game sometimes, and you have eight innings where you don’t do much and you put together one inning. You pitch good enough and play defense, you can win. That’s kind of what went on tonight.”
