Dave Van Horn sends message to Charles Davalan after LSU loss: 'That kid doesn't have to be sorry for anything'

On Wednesday, Arkansas suffered a season-ending 6-5 loss to LSU in the College World Series. It was a comeback win for the Tigers, who trailed 5-3 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

LSU had two runners on-base at the time. Then, Luis Hernandez hit a line-drive to left field. The ball had plenty of velocity but too much air under it. For a moment, it looked like all hope was lost for the Tigers.

Then, Arkansas left fielder Charles Davalan stumbled. In turn, the ball bounced off Davalan’s shoulder and rolled out to left field, allowing LSU to score two runs and tie the game. On the next play, the Tigers hit a walk-off single to center field.

Charles Davalan was understandably devastated. The broadcast showed Davalan’s fellow Razorbacks escorting him off the field after the game as tears streamed down his face. After the loss, Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn vehemently defended Davalan.

“I went down finally made it to the bench before I came up here. He’s pretty distraught,” Van Horn said of Davalan. “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.”

Despite the unfortunate ending to Davalan’s season, he was fantastic for the Razorbacks this year. The sophomore standout boasted a slash line of .346/.433/.561, along with 60 RBI and 35 walks.

Davalan was equally stellar in the field. He recorded 101 putouts this season and the error on Wednesday was his only one of the season. Van Horn had no shortage of sympathy for the All-SEC First-Team outfielder.

“Feeling bad for Charles because I could see him out there. He’s so emotional and everybody hugging on him. It’s not his fault,” Van Horn said. “We wouldn’t have got here without Charles Davalan. We wouldn’t have gotten close. Guy got so much clutch hits, started so many rallies. You can probably take 10 wins off our SEC. He was unbelievable.”

Moreover, Dave Van Horn didn’t fault Davalan for not catching the fly ball. Instead, he minimized Davalan’s mistake.

“I had a straight-on view of it,” Van Horn said of the play. “It was hit hard, obviously. It was kind of hooking and sinking. But it looked like Charles slipped like right at the beginning of taking off for it. When he slipped he probably lost sight of it. When the ball is hit that hard, he’s just trying to find it.”