Arkansas and Oregon State were scheduled to open the best-of-three College World Series finals Monday evening in Omaha, Neb., after a season of pressure and expectations.
The Razorbacks (47-19) and Beavers (53-11-1) were delayed Monday evening yet again due to weather. The first game was postponed to 6 p.m. tonight at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. The College World Series finals are scheduled to be shown on ESPN (Resort Channel 30).
Here is a timeline of how the winningest team in college baseball over the last two seasons and coach Dave Van Horn's most successful team in 25 years converged in the national championship series:
Preseason
Defending national champion Florida opened the year as the consensus No. 1 pick among preseason polls. The Gators were 52-19 in 2017 and were expected to win the Southeastern Conference and challenge for a second consecutive national title.
Oregon State grabbed fewer national headlines, but the Beavers were the consensus No. 2 in the national rankings. They were 56-4 in 2017 before back-to-back losses to LSU in the College World Series semifinals ended their quest for a title.
Arkansas was ranked sixth or better in each of the major national polls. The No. 3 ranking by Collegiate Baseball was the best for the Razorbacks since 2013.
The Hogs were a bit of an upstart with a 45-19 record in 2017 after going 26-29 in 2016. It was the only losing season of Van Horn's coaching career.
Junior right-hander Blaine Knight (13-0, 2.88 ERA) earned preseason All-American honors, as did junior Grant Koch. They were selected in the third and fifth rounds, respectively, earlier this month in the Major League Baseball Draft.
Van Horn led Central Missouri to an NCAA Division II national championship in 1994 and has coached at the Division I level ever since. He led the Nebraska Cornhuskers to back-to-back appearances at the College World Series in 2001-02 before moving to coach at his alma mater in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks have made the final eight six times in Van Horn's 16 seasons with the program.
The preseason rankings proved accurate as five of the eight teams in this year's College World Series were ranked seventh or better in each of the major national preseason polls, including Florida (49-21), Texas Tech (45-20) and North Carolina (44-20). Texas (42-23) was ranked between 14-26 in various polls, while Mississippi State (39-29) was ranked between 12-23. Washington (35-26) was the surprise team following a 28-26 season in 2017.
Florida State (43-19) and TCU (33-23) were ranked in the top 5-7 in the preseason polls. SEC teams Kentucky (34-22) and Texas A&M (40-22) were also close to the top of each set of rankings.
February
Van Horn knew the possibilities for this year's team and developed one of the most difficult schedules in the nation. Arkansas began the season at home against Bucknell before playing four games in San Diego against Arizona, Cal Poly, San Diego and San Diego State. The Razorbacks went 2-2 during their West Coast road trip and entered March with a record of 6-2.
Arkansas knew what it had early on with freshman left fielder Heston Kjerstad, who hit in the middle of the lineup from the start of the season and is one of only two players on the team to start and play in all 66 games. The other was junior right fielder Eric Cole, who was taken in the fourth round of the MLB Draft. Freshman third baseman Casey Martin was slightly behind Kjerstad, but started and played in 59 games.
Coach Pat Casey sent the Beavers to Surprise, Ariz., in February for two tournaments against opponents including Cal Poly, Nebraska and Ohio State. The Beavers picked up where they left off last season, starting the year 8-0.
March
Oregon State was 20-1 with a lone loss to Cal State Fullerton before back-to-back losses to Washington and Utah at the end of March. The Beavers were 21-4 heading into April despite two losses to the Utes.
Arkansas won two out of three games at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville against Southern California, won two home games against Texas and swept a home series with Kentucky, ranked No. 4 at the time, in the first half of March. The Razorbacks then won, 6-3, in Gainesville, Fla., to move to 17-5 and 4-0 in SEC play. First-round draft pick Brady Singer (12-3) lost the first of two games to Arkansas this season as the Gators fell to 19-5.
The victory began a common theme this season as Arkansas dropped each of the next two games on the road. The same occurred the following week at No. 4 Ole Miss, as Arkansas won the first game, 6-4, in Oxford, Miss., before dropping results of 5-4 and 11-10 to end March at 19-9.
April
The Razorbacks swept both Auburn and Alabama in Fayetteville during April, while South Carolina was able to steal one game at Baum Stadium. The team's poor road form continued in Starkville, Miss., with three consecutive losses to Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs began the season with their eyes on Omaha, but head coach Andy Cannizaro was forced into submitting his resignation less than a week into the season. Mississippi State was 19-19 after a loss to Memphis and 5-10 in conference play before the sweep. Arkansas was 32-13 after sweeping Alabama.
Oregon State lost back-to-back games on the road at Arizona in early April, but otherwise remained dominant and jockeyed with Florida and Florida State atop the rankings. The Beavers were 32-7 at the end of the month.
May
The Pac-12 is one of only a few college conference without a postseason baseball tournament. Oregon State finished the month 44-10-1 overall and won the conference championship at 20-9-1.
Arkansas lost four more games on the road at LSU and Georgia in May, but wins over South Carolina and Florida at the 2018 SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Ala., bolstered the Razorbacks' standing in seeding for the NCAA regionals and super regionals. They were ranked No. 8 at 39-18 after the SEC Tournament, in line to host regional and super regional games in Fayetteville.
Kjerstad was named the SEC Freshman of the Year and redshirt senior second baseman Carson Shaddy was Arkansas' only All-SEC First Team selection. Knight and Cole were named to the Second Team, while Koch and sophomore center fielder Dominic Fletcher made the SEC All-Defense Team.
June
Both teams were dominant on their home fields in the postseason. Oregon State was 3-0 in Corvallis, Ore., including two wins to eliminate LSU. The Beavers swept their super regional in two games against Minnesota.
Arkansas was 3-0 against Oral Roberts, Southern Mississippi and Dallas Baptist in the Fayetteville Regional. A loss to South Carolina forced a winner-take-all final in the Fayetteville Super Regional, but the Razorbacks comfortably booked their tickets to Omaha with a 14-4 win over the Gamecocks. They were 35-5 at home this season.
The Hogs are 8-1 in the NCAA Tournament and are in the finals after consecutive wins in Omaha against Texas, Texas Tech and Florida by a combined score of 23-11.
Oregon State opened the College World Series with a loss to North Carolina, but has since defeated Washington, North Carolina and Mississippi State twice by a combined total of 42-15.
Sports on 06/26/2018