Beavers continue College World Series quest: ‘We all believe we can win it’

Shortstop Elijah Hainline (right) celebrates with left-fielder Dallas Macias after Oregon State’s 11-6 victory over Cal Irvine Monday, sending the Beavers into the SuperRegional at Lexington, Ky., next weekend (courtesy OSU sports communications/Karl Maasdam)

Updated 6/5/2024 10:45 PM

CORVALLIS — It took 20 hours to seal the deal, but Oregon State is on its way to Lexington, Ky., for next weekend’s Super Regional.

The Beavers got through a world-class rain delay to complete an 11-6 victory over Cal Irvine Monday and punch their ticket to Lexington, where they’ll face Kentucky in a best-of-three series.

Two more wins and Oregon State will beach at Omaha for the seventh time since 2005 but the first time since winning its third College World Series title in 2018.

“The goal all season has been to go win a national championship,” junior shortstop Elijah Hainline said. “We are going out there and playing our best baseball and setting ourselves up to do that.

“We all believe we can go win it. This was one of the stepping stones that gets us to the next spot that we need to be.”

Cal Irvine coach Ben Orloff sounded impressed after the Beavers had twice knocked off the Anteaters (45-14), a club that entered the Corvallis Regional hitting .318 and averaging more than nine runs a game.

“They have become the standard in the West,” Orloff said. “It feels like if you want to go to Omaha, it goes through Corvallis and Oregon State.

“What (Oregon State coach) Mitch Canham is doing here … It’s not easy to replace what Coach (Pat) Casey did, but for Mitch to be able to keep this thing rolling … they have a really good team, and they’re a class act.”

Oregon State (45-14) got sound pitching and enough offensive production to score 26 runs in its three victories in the Corvallis Regional.

Freshman Eric Segura ran into trouble in Sunday’s first inning of Game 3, yielding four runs, including a three-run home run to to Cal Irvine designated hitter Dub Gleed. In the second, the Beavers put up five runs of their own, including a three-run bomb by Hainline.

Segura settled down, pitching two scoreless frames before umpires huddled and the NCAA decided to postpone the game until Monday at noon due to driving rain and wind. Canham thought the biggest thing was Segura — who walked five in his three innings of work — getting through the first inning.

“Getting the outs, getting back in the dugout, then watching these guys have your back and put up five runs — that takes a lot of pressure off of you,” the OSU coach said. “You saw a big jump in his maturity. To be able to handle that and go out and put up (two) zeros, that’s a game-changer. Nice to see him respond.”

When play resumed in the bottom of the fourth on Monday with Oregon State leading 6-4, AJ Lattery was on the mound. The 6-5, 250-pound right-hander gave up a run and a hit in 1 2/3 innings before leaving with an undisclosed injury. Behind him, relievers AJ Hutcheson, Nelson Keljo and Bridger Holmes combined for 4 1/3 innings of one-hit, no-run ball.

Meanwhile, Oregon State’s offense continued to pound, adding runs in four of the five remaining innings. It could have been more; the Beavers left 12 runners on base, including the bases loaded twice over the final four frames. They finished with 14 hits, 10 walks and a hit-by-pitch. Micah McDowell had three hits and Hainline, Dallas Macias and Mason Guerra two apiece.

Said Canham: “Yesterday, responding after giving up four in the first and scoring five (in the second). … and today, taking up where they left off last night, continuing to put up runs. … the energy, the way they’re going about their business, the confidence in the box, the approach. … it’s fun to watch.”

Not for Cal Irvine.

“(The Beavers) pressure you one through nine,” Orloff said. “That’s why they have 45 wins. (Travis) Bazzana is the headliner and the best player in the country, but it doesn’t get much easier after him.

“Hainline had a huge series and killed us. McDowell is a veteran player. Guerra had a great series. There’s no let-up. There’s a good balance between left (handed hitters) and right. It’s a lot to handle.”

Cal Irvine’s pitching staff was running on fumes in its fourth game in four days. Closer Ricky Tibbett worked the final 4 1/3 innings Monday, throwing 76 pitches.

“It’s tough going through the losers’ bracket — 80 percent of the time you advance when you win your first two games,” Orloff said. “When you don’t do that, you’re in a bind trying to get 27 outs each night. You’ve got to be able to win those first two games.”

Five Beavers were named to the all-tournament team — Bazzana, the Most Outstanding Player; McDowell, Hainline, DH Gavin Turley and pitcher Jacob Kmatz, who twirled a three-hit, one-run, seven-inning gem Saturday against the Anteaters.

McDowell (8 for 13, 3 runs scored, 3 RBIs) and Hainline (6 for 12, 5 runs, 3 RBIs) raked through the weekend. Macias (5 for 13, 2 runs, 4 RBIs), Guerra (4 for 10, 4 runs, 4 RBIs, 3 walks) and Bazzana (4 for 11, 2 homers) had big moments, too. Turley was only 2 for 11, but smashed a grand-slam in Friday’s opening 10-4 win over Tulane, his fifth of the season.

“Guys are drawing walks, getting on base, knocking the ball all over the place,” Canham gushed. (He gushes often when things are going well.) “You don’t want to miss a pitch. If I’m thirsty, I don’t want to go down in the dugout to get a cup of water because I want to watch these guys go out and compete.”

The bottom of the order — Hainline, Guerra and third baseman Jabin Trosky — combined to go 6 for 12 with six runs scored and five RBIs. Guerra, who endured an almost unbelievable 0 for 41 streak late in the regular season, launched a long, high home-run drive over the hitting cage beyond left field in the eighth on Monday.

“It’s relentless, one through nine,” said McDowell, a 6-1, 195-pound senior, whose parents flew in from Nova Scotia to watch the tournament. “It wears the pitcher down over time. If we’re not going early on, the bottom of the order makes up for it. They were huge this weekend.”

Hainline, a transfer from Washington State, had a great tournament defensively at shortstop as well.

“I’m pouring into other guys and not letting the weekend get too big,” the 5-10, 180-pound junior said. “It’s the first Regional that I’ve played in. I’m new to all of this. Just watching everyone else play, it’s super fun to build on that.

“Why not go out there and play confident? We’re playing in front of Beaver Nation. We earned the right to host a Regional, so why not play like it?”

From now on, though, the Beavers won’t be in the friendly confines of Goss, where they finished 27-2 this season. They have an 18-12 record away from home. That’s where they’ll be next weekend in Lexington, facing one of the nation’s premier outfits in Kentucky.

The Wildcats (43-14) rank third nationally in RPI (the Beavers 18th). The Wildcats are ranked second in most of the polls (the Beavers sixth or seventh).

Kentucky has a pair of big boppers in 6-2, 205-pound junior outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt (.359, .482 on-base percentage, 14 homers) and 6-4, 225-pound senior first baseman Ryan Nicholson (.279, 20 homers, 58 RBIs). They have an ace in 6-4, 200-pound senior right-hander Trey Pooser (6-1, 3.77 ERA, .214 opponents batting average).

Kentucky’s season has been similar to Oregon State’s. The Wildcats tied for first in the Southeast Conference during the regular season (22-8) but lost two of three games in the SEC Tournament, including an 11-0 pasting by LSU in the opener. They lost two of three to No. 1-ranked Tennessee and three of four to South Carolina but took three of four from Arkansas. The Wildcats went 3-0 in the Lexington Regional, outscoring Western Michigan, Illinois and Indiana State by an aggregate 21-9.

The Wildcats, 24-6 at home this season, have the same goal as the Beavers. Win two more and write a ticket to Omaha.

“I like where we’re at,” Canham said Monday. Beaver fans hope he is echoing that refrain a week from now.

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