Oregon State's wild 9th-inning comeback forces Game 3 in College World Series

The ball hung in the air for an eternity, it seemed, certainly long enough for one of the three Arkansas Razorbacks in pursuit to make a play. Whichever one of them caught it would've never paid for another drink in Fayetteville.

Except it dropped.

Consequently, moments later, instead of celebrating the first College World Series title in school history, the Razorbacks were staring at a two-run deficit, the non-catch sparking an improbable ninth-inning rally for the Oregon State Beavers, who kept their championship hopes alive Wednesday night with a wild 5-3 victory at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. The best-of-three showdown will be resolved Thursday.

Cadyn Grenier, Oregon State's shortstop, played an integral part in ensuring Thursday happened. Granted a stay of execution on his foul pop-up with two outs in the top of the ninth, Grenier pulled a ground-ball single into left field a couple pitches later, driving pinch-runner Zach Clayton in from third to tie Game 2 at 3-3 and bringing Trevor Larnach to the plate.

Larnach proceeded to work into a 2-0 count before doing this:

Though the Razorbacks had a notion of a rally in the bottom of the ninth, which began with a leadoff single from Jax Biggers, Oregon State closer Jake Mulholland promptly locked in, catching Eric Cole looking in a 1-2 count before getting Casey Martin to ground into a game-ending double play.