WATCH: Arkansas’ Chris Lanzilli crushes home run following controversial call
Arkansas right fielder Chris Lanzilli added to the lead over Auburn in an elimination game at the College World Series with a two-run home run which immediately followed a close call at second base. After Auburn unsuccessfully challenged a play earlier in the game, the coaching staff chose not to go to the monitor on a close play at second which would have ended the inning.
Instead, Arkansas scored a run on that play and brought Chris Lanzilli to the plate for an at-bat. The choice proved to pitch to the graduate transfer proved a bad one as he delivered a ball deep into the left field bleachers where fans fought for the souvenir.
Meanwhile, Auburn left fielder Mike Bello – who has struggled to track the ball all day against the sun – held his glove up and asked his center fielder for help tracking the ball which ultimately landed no less than 50 feet behind him.
The home run extended Arkansas’ lead to 8-0 and puts the Tigers on the brink of elimination as each team hopes for a rematch with Ole Miss for a spot in the championship series.
SEC dominating College World Series
For the 13th time in the past 14 season, the SEC is guaranteed at least one team in the College World Series finals. Auburn defeated Stanford by a score of 6-2 on Monday afternoon to eliminate the Cardinal, four of the six remaining teams in the CWS are from the SEC.
Because of the way the bracket is set up, one of either Auburn, Arkansas or Ole Miss is now guaranteed to play in the championship series. Of the 13 years the SEC has had a team in the final, it has won seven times. Three of those times it has been an all-SEC final.
Nine of the SEC’s 14 teams made an appearance in the NCAA Baseball Tournament, with Tennessee even earning the No. 1 overall seed. The fact that the SEC still made up half the field without arguably its best team is a testament to the strength of the conference.