OMAHA, Neb. – Oregon State used a five-run third inning to punch its ticket to the College World Series Finals with a 5-2 win over Mississippi State Saturday evening in Omaha, Neb.
Freshman Kevin Abel threw a gem for the Beavers, allowing just three hits and one run, while striking out five in seven innings of work.
The Beavers will now move on to face Arkansas, Monday at 4 p.m. PT in game one of a best-of-three series.
Oregon State jumped in front early, using RBI singles from Adley Rutschman and Michael Gretler, along with a three-run homer from Tyler Malone to take a 5-0 lead in the top of the third. Mississippi State pulled one back with an RBI single in the bottom of the frame.
The Bulldogs put runners on second and third with one out in the fifth, but Abel was able to get out of the inning with a double play on a liner to third. Mississippi State scored one in the bottom of the ninth, and brought the winning run to the plate with the bases loaded, but Jake Mulholland was able to shut the door to send Oregon State to the next round.
Rutschman and Gretler each put up a pair of hits in the contest, as the Beavers tallied eight hits in the game, compared to four for the Bulldogs.
Mississippi State’s Cole Gordon allowed just one hit in 4 1/3 shutout innings after entering the game in the fifth inning.
Next Up
Oregon State will advance to the College World Series Finals, where it will take on Arkansas in a best-of-three series. The series will begin on Monday at 4 p.m. PT.
Keep on Winning
The victory was Oregon State’s 53rd of the season, passing the 2013 squad for the second-most wins in program history. The Beavers’ wins record is 56, set last season.
Score Runeth Over
Oregon State broke the program record for runs in a season on Saturday, as their total for the year moved to 507. The previous record was 504, set by the 1997 squad.
Elimination Games
Oregon State now moves to 22-9 in elimination games in the Pat Casey era.
Clutchman
Adley Rutschman drove in one run on Saturday, bringing his season RBI total to 80, the most by a Pac-12 player since Arizona State’s Brett Wallace drove in 83 in 2008. Rutschman has also knocked in 17 runs this postseason, one short of Bill Rowe(2006) for the highest total by a Beaver.
Mad Madrigal
Nick Madrigal brought his postseason total to 19 hits on Saturday, one shy of Tyler Graham’s 20 in 2006.
First Blood
Oregon State moves to 40-6 this season when scoring first.
