OMAHA, Neb. – The ball flew off the bat of LSU’s Luis Hernandez to left field; it wasn’t particularly hard hit.
It was another fly ball to the outfield, and the 25,740 in attendance at Charles Schwab Field thought it would be caught, the game would be over, and the Arkansas Razorbacks would beat the LSU Tigers 5-3, forcing another game Thursday night that would decide which of the two teams would go to the 2025 Men’s College World Series Finals.
But in the span of time it took for the five ounce baseball to fly the 280-some feet to where Arkansas left fielder Charles Dalavan was patrolling the grass, a lot happened and a lot changed.
Dalavan’s feet slipped with his first step, and he couldn’t cover the 30-or-so feet between himself and the ball as quickly, turning a sure-out into a split second decision to slide, and when he slid to make the catch, the ball caromed off his right shoulder into the left field corner, allowing LSU’s Ethan Frey and Steven Milam to score and tie the game.
TIGERS TIE IT IN THE NINTH 🤯
Luis Hernandez hits a game tying double for @LSUbaseball.
(🎥@NCAABaseball)
pic.twitter.com/5BVbN0HPu7— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) June 19, 2025
Less than two minutes later, Jared Jones won the game for LSU when his liner at Arkansas second baseman Cam Kozeal hit the fielder’s glove and went into center field, allowing Hernandez to score and end the game, sending LSU to the finals and sending the Razorbacks to the airport.
In the minutes following, Charles Dalavan was despondent. He apologized to his teammates, to head coach Dave Van Horn, if there had been a microphone to address the crowd, he might have apologized to them, too.
But his teammates and coach didn’t pin the end of their season on him.
“He’s beating himself up and there’s no doubt in our minds that we’re in the position we are without him,” said relief pitcher Gabe Gaeckel. “Great player, even better teammate. I’m really going to miss playing with him.”
What kind of a player was Charles Dalavan this season? He started 64 of the Hogs’ 65 games. He batted .346/.433/.561, hit 14 homers and drove in 60 runs. He had the third-highest batting average and on-base percentage on the team.
Most notably, he didn’t make an error in 105 chances this season. That includes the fly ball to left field hit by Hernandez, which was scored as a double.
“I just told them after the game, I told them to get in a little tighter. A lot of guys were distraught. Charles was super upset,” said Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn. “I just told them I appreciate the effort all year and the ride they took us on. I just told them how much I appreciated them and that we’d talk again later.”
Van Horn sat in the dugout for around 10 minutes after the game, while LSU celebrated on the field. He felt bad for Dalavan. He saw his team hugging and consoling their teammate.
“Charles, he told me, he’s, like, ‘I’m sorry.’ I said, ‘Why are you sorry?’ We wouldn’t be where we are today without him, the way he competes, and he’s one of the best hitters and people and just all-around best baseball players I’ve ever been around,” said catcher Ryder Helfrick, who homered to give Arkansas a 1-0 lead in the fourth. “For him to say sorry, it kind of pissed me off because the game’s not on him. It’s on the team.”
"We wouldn't be where we are today without [Charles Davalan]… for him to say sorry kind of pissed me off."
Ryder Helfrick and Gabe Gaeckle quick to defend their teammate after the loss. Chuck is a MASSIVE reason why the Hogs are in Omaha. #WPS
📺⤵️https://t.co/bc9Uh2YOQs pic.twitter.com/16ubSd2Zcg
— Evan Kamikow (@emkamikow) June 19, 2025
When Van Horn found Dalavan after the game, the left fielder was again apologetic.
“I said, ‘Don’t tell me you’re sorry. You don’t have to tell me you’re sorry.’ And he said it again,” Van Horn said, noting that the sophomore outfielder’s offensive contributions probably won the Razorbacks at least 10 games on their Southeastern Conference schedule. “It’s tough. That kid doesn’t have to be sorry for anything. He was our glue, man. He held it together.”
“I appreciate the team going out and taking care of him and comforting him. That just shows you how much they respect him and how much they appreciate him.”
Youth and wisdom seldom combine, thus making it easy for Dalavan to blame himself. Dave Van Horn, who has coached college baseball since 1985 and has brought 10 teams to the College World Series, sees it quite differently.
“We lost the game because we didn’t score early in the game, we didn’t make a pitch, we didn’t make a play. And we lost. One play might be something that stands out, but there’s a lot of things going in that 27 outs,” Van Horn said.
“The game’s the game. Things happen. There’s so many plays throughout the game where you could get a hit here, make a pitch there, a play there. The game changes. It’s like life. It’s a roller coaster. But you control it and you’ve got to learn from your mistakes.”
Photo: Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn doesn’t blame left fielder Charles Dalavan for not catching a fly ball in the bottom of the ninth that let LSU tie the game. (AP Photo/Michael Woods)
WBN NCAA: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
