Corvallis, OR – JUNE 4: KJ Harrison (24) of the Oregon State Beavers during an 8-1 Oregon State Beavers victory over the Yale Bulldogs in an NCAA Championship Regional Playoff game on June 4, 2017 at Goss Stadium on the campus of Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR (Photo by Ben Ludeman)
The Oregon State Beavers will host a Super Regional this weekend against the Vanderbilt Commodores. The Beavers are having one of the best seasons in the past 20 years sporting a 52-4 overall and 27-3 in Pac-12 play. They were ridcoulous at home only losing one game to USC back on April 29th. Vanderbilt on the other hand had an up and down season going 36-23-1 while 15-13 in SEC play. The Commodores were even more up and down on the road going only 10-10.
The players to watch in this series with the Beavers is their starting pitching staff led by Luke Hermlich and Jake Thompson. Hermlich had one of the best seasons in Pac-12 play history going 11-1 with a minuscule 0.76 ERA in 16 starts totaling 118.1 innings pitched. Thompson was solid throughout also going 13-0 with a 1.30 ERA in 17 appearances (16 starts) while striking out 106 batters in 110.2 innings pitched. The Beavers offense is led by Nick Madrigal and KJ Harrison. Madrigal leads the team with a .380 average with four homers and 34 RBI while Harrison is hitting .328 with six homers and 32 RBI.
The Commodores pitching staff is led by Kyle Wright who everyone expects to go in the top five picks of the upcoming draft. He has been marginal on the hill with a 5-5 record in 15 starts accumulating a 2.98 ERA in 96.2 innings pitched. Will Toffey leads the offense with a .350 batting average while hitting 11 homers and driving in 62 runs.
Prediction: The only chance Vanderbilt has in this weekend’s match is Kyle Wright to pitch an absolute gem in his start while Oregon State’s starter struggles in one of the other games. I don’t think that happens and the Beavers will be back in Omaha.
