Brett Eibner’s two-out, two-run homer off Virginia closer Kevin Arico in the top of the ninth tied it at 3, and Arkansas’ Dallas Keuchel allowed a runner to reach third base in each of the last four innings but escaped each time.
Arkansas (41-23) plays Louisiana State on Friday and will have to beat the Tigers then and again Saturday to reach next week’s best-of-three finals.
Virginia (49-15-1) was eliminated after going 1-2 in Omaha.
Darr, who hit a two-run double to win a Super Regional over Florida State, battled for nine pitches against Andrew Carraway before drilling a grounder down the third-base line to score Jarrod McKinney from second.
Carraway (9-2) came on with two outs in the ninth and retired eight in a row before McKinney singled with one out in the 12th. The Cavaliers had a chance to retire Darr, but first baseman John Hicks couldn’t come up with a pop fly in foul ground.
Virginia couldn’t push a run across against Keuchel, the Hogs’ No. 1 starter who made his first relief appearance.
In the ninth, Keuchel (9-3) fell behind Danny Hultzen 3-0 with the bases loaded before getting a hard grounder to short. Tim Carver bobbled the ball but was able to flip to second, and Bo Bigham’s throw to first got Hultzen by a step to complete the double play.
In the following inning, Keuchel struck out Jarrett Parker and John Hicks after Shane Halley made it to third.
In the 11th, Keuchel induced Dan Grovatt’s groundout to strand Franco Valdes.
Steven Proscia led off the 12th with a double and stole third with one out. But Keuchel struck out Hicks and Valdes to end the game.
