College World Series: Oregon State falls short against North Carolina; Mississippi State blanks Washington
College World Series began Saturday in Omaha with the Pac-12's two competing teams, Oregon State and Washington, both in action. Read on to see how the action played out.
[Related: 2018 NCAA Baseball College World Series bracket (NCAA.com)]
No. 6 seed North Carolina 8, No. 3 Oregon State 6
The Tar Heels used a breakout third inning to jump ahead early and then held on down the stretch against Oregon State in Omaha's opening game. The game was four hours and 24 minutes — the longest nine-inning CWS game in history.
North Carolina, which led wire-to-wire, tallied five runs in the third inning after scoring one in the first to chase Oregon State starter Luke Heimlich from the game. The senior surrendered six earned runs over 2 1/3 innings of work.
Oregon State responded with three runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning. Run-scoring hits from Trevor Larnach and Adley Rutschman tightened the game up at 6-4. Meanwhile, Brandon Eisert was strong in relief for the Beavers. He posted four-plus innings of scoreless ball, allowing one run and five hits while striking out four and throwing 81 pitches.
North Carolina tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh before Oregon State added two more runs in their half of the seventh. Kyle Nobach and Michael Gretler each had RBIs during the rally, which halved Oregon State's four-run deficit. It was 8-6 at that point. Steven Kwan had an opportunity to extend the rally with the bases loaded and two outs but struck out looking to end the inning.
Larnach finished the day 3 for 5 with two RBIs. Rutschman also had two RBIs for the Beavers, who commited an uncharacteristic three errors on college baseball's biggest stage.
Oregon State will face Washington to remain alive in Omaha on Monday at 11 a.m. PT.
Mississippi State 1, Washington 0
Saturday's nightcap stood in sharp contrast to the earlier opener. It was a pitchers' duel from start until a MSU walk-off hit to break a nearly nine-inning scoreless tie.
In fact, according to ESPN Stats & Info, it was the first scoreless CWS game through eight innings since 1985.
Joe DeMers got the start for Washington and turned in yet another strong outing this postseason. He went 7 1/3 innings, threw 74 pitches, allowed seven hits while striking out two before handing the game over to Alex Hardy. The Huskies had a rally in the top half of the ninth when Levi Jordan and Nick Kahle each singled, setting up runners on first and second for slugger A.J. Graffanino. But the Huskies' second baseman grounded out on the first pitch he saw to end the inning.
Mississippi State pieced together the eventual game-winning rally in the home half of the ninth with back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. The next batter muffed a bunt attempt that Kahle easily snagged behind the dish.
Then, Washington brought the outfielders in and Mississippi State's Luke Alexander took advantage by lifting a walk-off single over the head of UW right fielder Kaiser Weiss.
The Huskies' loss sets up a battle of two Pac-12 teams Monday both looking to stave off elimination. Oregon State took two-of-three when the two teams met during the regular season.