Arkansas, LSU fans getting gouged for College World Series experience

OMAHA, Neb. — ESPN has been selling the Arkansas-LSU game harder than they've sold anything involving the Razorbacks in quite some time. Teasers have been across the network for a few days now.

Of course, there's good reason to believe they might be sitting on a little bit of unexpected end of spring gold. Not only are the two betting favorites to win the entire College World Series meeting in their opener as the two highest seeds in the entire field, but ticket sales indicate interest in this game is through the roof.

If an Arkansas fan made the trip to Omaha and just wants to get into Charles Schwab Stadium to experience the atmosphere, he or she can come to the game between UCLA and Murray State and get into the outfield seats for $24. If he or she wants to really amp up the experience, a ticket behind home plate can be had for $86 on Ticketmaster.

However, if it's important to get into the Arkansas-LSU game a few hours later, then there's going to be a hefty price. There, upper deck seats ranging from the right field line to behind the plate (nothing is available on the lower level) run from $515 to $2,000.

Oddly enough, it's the secondary market that is slightly more reasonable. Seat Geek features a pair of tickets on sale in the upper portion of left field for $302. Meanwhile, a couple can sit almost directly behind home plate nine rows up for $776.

Directly behind home plate 11 rows up will run a shade over $1,900. However, again, this is for two tickets, making the cost half what is showing up on Ticketmster.

Either way, that's a far cry from the $86 UCLA and Murray State fans are getting to pay for a premium experience. So far, all the fans who have shown up have been treated to top level games.

Day 1 featured Coastal Carolina and Arizona battling back and forth in a rematch of the 2016 CWS championship game that the Chanticleers ultimately held on to win, 7-4, after posting three runs in the bottom of the eighth. Then, Oregon State and Louisville battled down to literally the last pitch.

The Cardinals battled back to tie the game, 3-3, with a pair of runs in the top of ninth. However, in the bottom of the inning, the Beavers' Gavin Turley turned on the ball for a hard liner that went to the left field corner to drove in a run to walk off with the win.

Whether Day 2 will provide as much intrigue when the other bracket takes the field remains to be seen. It's hard to know whether Murray State's Cinderella magic will continue against UCLA.

However, the evidence is there to suggest Arkansas and LSU will be an intense, close affair. The last time the two teams met up with their aces ready to take the mound, everything was up for questioning, including whether there would even be a game.

Because of steady rain in Baton Rouge, the game didn't even start until 9:57 p.m., a mere three minutes before the SEC would no longer allow the game to take place. The Razorbacks' Zach Root effectively won his duel with LSU's Kade Anderson, handing over a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh for protection.

Unfortunately for him, that didn't happen. Reliever Aiden Jimenez gave up a pair of walks and a pair of hits to surrender two runs to tie the game, giving Root no shot at getting the win.

Gabe Gaeckle's pitching over the next few innings helped Arkansas hold on to force extra innings where the Hogs loaded the bases. However, the Razorbacks failed again to provide run support, and finally a crack formed.

Just shy of 1:30 a.m., Gaeckle gave up a sacrifice fly to center to end the game, 5-4. The nailbiter was followed by a 13-3 win by LSU over an exhausted Arkansas in seven innings the next day.

Then, after getting proper sleep, the Hogs came back and took the final game, 7-4. Basically, the teams were dead even in unusual circumstances, then split the rest, so there's no telling how this evenings' game or the possible impending games between the two following it might go.

All anyone knows is it's going to be very expensive to be there to see it.