Hey Omaha, the Hogs are back!

Arkansas rallied for a dramatic 4-3 victory over host North Carolina on Sunday, completing a 2-0 series sweep and sending the Hogs to the College World Series.

After a scoreless 3 1/2 innings, Arkansas scored first when Jalen Battles singled to score Chris Lanzilli. Braydon Webb blasted a solo bomb to center to give the Razorbacks a 2-0 lead

Things then got hairy. UNC tied the score with 2 in the 7th and then pushed across the go-ahead run in the top of the 9th.

Webb again had a huge at-bat when he came up with the bases loaded in the bottom half of the ninth. With nobody out, he grounded to the shortstop for a fielder’s choice, but the Heels couldn’t turn two. Arkansas scored the tying run on Webb’s 40th RBI of the season.

Then, with the winning run just 90 feet away, Slavens came up and caught a breaking ball and drove it through the infield to right center. Peyton Stovall raced home and the party was on.

With smiles as wide as the Arkansas River, the Hogs have given it their all to reach this point when the season looked bleak just two short weeks ago.

How did they get here, you ask?

Well, it’s a long story but I’ll keep it short.

Resiliency.

Mid-to-late season, Arkansas began to struggle. These Hogs, still dealing with coming short of Omaha last year, climbed to No. 2 in the country this season. The expectation was that they’d host a Super Regional. After a couple of hiccups, that was modified to maybe hosting a regional. Finally, there was some brief concern that they might not be in the host conversation at all. They lost 4 SEC series this season and limped into the SEC Tournament.

The Razorbacks were missing the long ball. Base hits were hard to come by at points. Errors started to pile up all of a sudden.

Robert Moore, arguably Arkansas’ best clutch and powerful hitter, had been down this season but his defensive prowess has been there all season.

Speaking of defense, at one point the OmaHogs boasted a .988 fielding percentage.

Although the Hogs were seemingly on a nosedive to end the regular season going 2-6. However, they regrouped between the SEC Tournament and regionals and haven’t looked back.

Catcher Michael Turner turned in a timely performance, not only making incredible pickoff plays from his stomach but also made delivering clutch hits.

The Kent State graduate transfer has been the most consistent player but he also experienced adversity during a cold stretch leading up to the SEC Tournament. He responded during the Stillwater Regional by going 8-for-18 at the plate with 9 RBIs.

Turner was named the MVP of the regional and helped lead Arkansas to their 4th consecutive Super Regional — the longest active streak in the country.

Stovall, the unlikely hero who considered going to the big leagues out of high school, had hit a wall. Now, he has become “Stonewall” Stovall. A man of heart both offensively and defensively.

Battles, Webb and starting pitcher Will McEntire have all emerged as problems in the field or at the plate.

This team has come together at the right time and teams should be afraid to see the OmaHogs inside Charles Schwab Field.