Brady Slavens praises Zack Morris for getting tough final out vs. Ole Miss

Brady Slavens had quite a day for Arkansas against Ole Miss in the College World Series on Wednesday. But after the game, he heaped some much-deserved praise for Razorbacks pitcher Zack Morris, who grinded through the bottom of the ninth to get the final out.

Ole Miss had the bases loaded and scored on an infield hit to make it a 3-2 Arkansas lead. But Morris got out of the jam, getting Jacob Gonzalez to fly out to end the threat — and the game, forcing a winner-take-all game on Thursday.

Slavens said he knew Morris had a chip on his shoulder after his performance earlier in the week. He gave up two runs in 0.2 innings against Ole Miss, and Slavens said he redeemed himself Wednesday.

“I can’t imagine what Zack was going through,” Slavens told ESPN’s Kris Budden. “He’s done a really good job. He wanted that redemption from that start the other night. He did a really good job right there getting out of it.”

Now, Arkansas can advance to the championship series with a victory on Thursday. It’s yet another elimination game for Dave Van Horn’s group, but Slavens said if the Razorbacks come out with the right mentality, they can pull off another big-time victory.

In fact, he thinks they’ll be just fine.

“I would just say come out with some energy,” Slavens said. “We’re going to be ready to play. We’ve got to strike early. This is a really good time. That’s the first time they’ve lost all postseason. We’ve played a lot this year. Both teams are going to be playing hard. It’s going to be a tough one.”

Dave Van Horn reveals message to Arkansas players before another elimination game

Arkansas is no stranger to elimination games. The Razorbacks fell to Ole Miss on Monday, meaning they had to win three straight elimination games to make it to the College World Series championship series.

They won one on Tuesday, defeating Auburn to set up a rematch with Ole Miss Wednesday night. Even with the stakes getting higher, Dave Van Horn didn’t change his message to his team. He opened up about what he said during an interview with ESPN’s Kris Budden during the fifth inning of Wednesday’s game.

“Pretty much the same thing as yesterday,” Van Horn said. “Play loose, have fun. Let’s see what can happen if we just do what we do and that’s compete every pitch and every man up in that ‘pen.”