To cherish a fleeting moment of triumph

The ball shot up. It jumped off of Cadyn Grenier’s bat in the top of the ninth inning with two outs, a runner on third base and Oregon State trailing, 3-2.

The trajectory of the ball indicated it was going to be an easy fly ball to catch in foul territory along the right field line. The ball left the screen, and the ESPN2 broadcast sat on the image of the pitcher’s mound and home plate for less than two seconds, but Razorback fans will remember them forever.

For less than two seconds, Arkansas was the 2018 national champion of NCAA Division 1 baseball for the first time in program history. It was as close as any Arkansas team, outside of cross country and track and field, had been to a national title in more than 23 years.

Then, the broadcast changed to a different camera. That sense of triumph evaporated. I knew it. You knew it. We all knew it.

The ball was not going to be caught. Many of us were met with the instantaneous realization of how significant and painful this moment would become.

The camera change showed three Arkansas fielders scrambling toward the foul ball with no confidence and hardly any communication. It was a stereotypical Arkansas moment. Three players raced for the ball for what should have been their final, crowning achievement in college baseball.

Right fielder Eric Cole was a fourth-round Major League Baseball Draft pick, not that you would know it from ESPN’s coverage. It would have been his final play for the Razorbacks, despite having another year of eligibility.

First baseman Jared Gates turned around an abysmal senior season to become “Mr. June” for the Razorbacks. He was one of the hottest bats in the lineup and a rock at first base after coach Dave Van Horn said in May it would be the senior’s position for the rest of the season.

Redshirt senior second baseman Carson Shaddy chased the foul ball. He wanted to catch it so badly that he called off the right fielder with possibly a better angle and the first baseman already closer to the play. The Fayetteville native worked so hard and persevered through so many position changes, injuries and other setbacks to get to this moment.

It should have been the last play as a Razorback for all three players. Arkansas had been the better team for the last 17 innings. The College World Series had become a farewell tour to arguably the best baseball team in Arkansas history.

The team’s only other senior, designated hitter Luke Bonfield, was substituted out for a pinch runner in the seventh inning after hitting a double on what could have been his final collegiate atbat. Coaches and teammates congratulated him and celebrated the potential final success.

Junior Blaine Knight left the field the day before after securing a win to move to

14-0, a record that will long be remembered in Razorback lore. Coaches and teammates hugged him in a manner of saying, “A job well done.”

Other teams get to have these moments. Why couldn’t Arkansas? Why shouldn’t Arkansas?

I don’t know what it was, but something was always missing from this team. They went 35-5 at home, but just

6-12 in true road games. Combined with their 7-4 record at neutral sites, the greatest baseball team in Arkansas

history only went 13-16 away from Arkansas.

The Razorbacks left an absurd amount of runners on base, both in wins and losses. Game

1 reflected how they often won despite this flaw. Game 2 showed how it could hurt them at the worst possible times.

The Hogs were 6-12 on the road overall and

4-11 in Southeastern Conference road games . They faced quality competition all season long, but four times they won the opening game of a series with Knight on the mound only to lose the next two games.

“There’s still another game to play,” became the rallying cry. The Cubs had another game to play after Steve Bartman. The Mets had another game to play after Bill Buckner.

Winning Game 3 on Thursday would not have only bucked an entire athletic program of history. It would have gone against everything we saw from Arkansas this season.

So, the foul ball landed in between the fourth-round draft pick, Mr. June and the fifthyear senior from Fayetteville, a 10th round draft pick. It was immediately apparent the play would be remembered alongside other painful moments, such as Clint Stoerner’s fumble and Reggie Fish’s muffed punt.

Those “disasters” do little to dampen those teams and their stars in the twinkle of a fan’s eye. Clint Stoerner is still one of the most popular quarterbacks in program history. Try walking five feet in Arkansas without bumping into someone who is not still a super fan of Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, Peyton Hillis or Mitch Mustain.

The 2018 baseball team was a championship team in every way but designation, and it will be remembered as such.

As it turns out, I think the only thing this team was missing was a championship. But for a brief second there, for a fleeting moment, they had it.