2025 College World Series: Arkansas freshman Gabe Fraser hands out gear, signs autographs despite heartbreaking loss

Arkansas freshman Gabe Fraser didn’t let the Razorbacks’ heartbreaking loss in the College World Series stop him from giving fans memories that will last a lifetime. Before getting on the bus after the game, Fraser handed out gear and signed autographs for young fans.

It was a gracious move in the wake of Arkansas’ devastating collapse against LSU. The Razorbacks led the Tigers 5-3 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. However, the pressure was on Arkansas, with two LSU runners on base.

The Razorbacks collapsed in the clutch. Arkansas left fielder Charles Davalan misjudged a line drive and failed to make the game-winning catch, allowing LSU to score two runs and tie the game.

Arkansas freshman Gabe Fraser took the time after the Razorbacks’ elimination to hand out his gear and sign autographs. 🥺 pic.twitter.com/FK1w1Ssuqm

— Hurrdat Sports (@HurrdatSports) June 19, 2025

On the next at-bat, LSU’s Jared Jones hit a laser toward center field. The ball bounced off the top of Arkansas’ Cam Kozeal‘s glove, and LSU ultimately escaped with the win.

The Razorbacks were nothing short of crushed. Numerous members of Arkansas’ bench rushed onto the field after the game to console their teammates. Davalan was especially emotional, with tears streaming down his face..

Even Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn, who is normally stoic in difficult circumstances, was emotional following the loss. Van Horn passionately defended Davalan during the postgame press conference.

“I went down, finally made it to the bench before I came up here,” Van Horn said. “[Davalan]’s pretty distraught. But I just told him — I started telling him how much I appreciated him and we would never have made it here without him.

“He said that he was sorry. And I said, ‘Don’t tell me you’re sorry. You don’t have to tell me you’re sorry.’ And he said it again. It’s tough. That kid doesn’t have to be sorry for anything. He was our glue, man. He held it together.”

Arkansas still would have had to defeat LSU again to reach the College World Series if it had won on Wednesday evening. Unfortunately for the Razorbacks, they’ll never get to know how another showdown against the Tigers would’ve played out.

“It’s hard to say goodbye,” Van Horn said. “I’m not good at saying goodbyes anyway. Great team, fun team, hard-working team. And probably just ‘team.’ Man, they were a team. You could tell by how emotional they were after the game.

“It was a lot of heartbreak, maybe because we lost the game, but honestly, probably because the season’s over and they don’t get to be around each other every day. So proud of them. Proud of the University of Arkansas.”