Omaha, Neb. – Conor Noland allowed a run in a 7-inch skill game, Chris Lanzili hit a three-run homer and Arkansas beat No. 2 national seed Stanford 17-2 in Saturday’s Men’s College World Series game. 34 years.
The Razorbacks knocked out Pac-12 pitcher of the year Alex Williams in the fifth inning and recorded their biggest win in 36 CWS games. It was Stanford’s biggest defeat in their 73 MCWS games.
The Hogs (44-19) will play against the winner of Saturday night’s match between Auburn and Mississippi on Monday. Stanford (47-17) will play the loser in the elimination game.
Arkansas have scored 11 runs in the last three innings and finished with a season-high of 21 hits, including a homer in Caden Wallace’s ninth 30th career.
Noland (8-5) surrendered Stanford leadoff man Brock Jones to Homer on his third pitch, but the defender played a double game to get him out of two jams, with Stanford not scoring again. Salute to reliever Cole Ramge with a base hit in eighth place.
When the temperature rose to 106 degrees, Noland threw only 79 pitches on a hot, humid afternoon. He led 11 groundball outs and seven flyouts and his only strike came in the sixth inning. With the exception of Jones’ Homer, all the Cardinals against him were five singles and walks.
Razorback fans stood to greet him, many of them “calling hogs,” as he hugged his teammates and walked from the mound to the dugout.
Williams (8-4) struggled for the third consecutive start in the NCAA Tournament. He tripped Braden Webb on the first pitch of the game, hitting one batsman and dropping the move, but the innings ended 1-0.
Williams completed the next three innings, then a single in the fifth inning, before Lanzili switched dozens of rows in left-center positions to make it 4-1.
Williams’ day was over when Robert Moore followed with a base hit, scoring 16 runs in his last 10⅓ innings (13.94 ERA).
The Hogs, who made just three hits in a 5-0 win over Stanford in February, suffered the Cardinals’ worst loss in the MCWS since Arizona beat Wichita 19-1 in 1988.
This was Arkansas’ first win over the Cardinals since 1985 MCWS.
