An already insane game between LSU and Arkansas in the College World Series had a fitting ending as the Tigers advanced to the championship series for the second consecutive time.
Down 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth on Wednesday night in Omaha, Neb., it looked as though the Razorbacks were on the verge of victory, but a misplayed ball with two outs kept LSU alive and led to its eventual win.
Luis Hernandez lined a two-out ball into left field, and it looked as though Charles Davalan was going to make the catch for the final out.
Nevertheless, Davalan seemed to misread where the ball was going to go and was forced to scramble as he raced to try to make a catch, unsuccessfully diving as it hit off his glove and rolled away.
It allowed Ethan Frey and Steven Milam to score and tie the game at five as the crowd in Omaha went ballistic at what had just occurred.
But the dramatics weren’t done there.
Jared Jones, who had already hit a game-tying solo home run in the eighth inning, then stepped up to the plate and hit one off the glove of Arkansas second baseman Cam Kozeal that went into the outfield and allowed the game-winning run to score.
It capped a wild game in which Arkansas let a 1-0 lead slip away in the sixth inning before the Razorbacks got a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth inning, only to see that disappear in the bottom half.
After the heroics, Jones ran over to where his parents were sitting and hugged his dad and mom.
The win sets the stage for a showdown in the championship series between LSU and Coastal Carolina, which is set to begin on Saturday at 7 p.m.