Oregon State rallies, advances
Beavers come back from early deficits to eliminate Pac-12 rival Washington from College World Series.
Kyle Nobach hit a threerun homer to put Oregon State in control in the seventh inning, Kevin Abel pitched four strong innings of relief and Oregon State sent Pac-12 rival Washington home from the College World Series with a 14-5 win on Monday night in Omaha.
The Beavers erased early deficits, starting their comeback just before a 4-hour, 31minute weather delay and picking up where they left off when play resumed.
Oregon State (50-11-1), the No. 3 national seed, was coming off a loss to North Carolina in its CWS opener and still must win three more games to reach the best-of-three finals. Washington (35-26) went two games and out in its first CWS.
Washington had leads of 3-0 and 5-4 before the teams were pulled off the field with lightning near TD Ameritrade Park in the top of the sixth inning. The Beavers had the bases loaded with two outs when play was stopped. Washington sent out closer Alex Hardy (5-4), the fourth of seven Huskies pitchers, after the delay and he walked in the tying run.
The Huskies elected to intentionally walk Adley Rutschman to set up forces on the bases with two outs in the seventh. Michael Gretler smashed a ball down the left-field line for the tiebreaking double, and Nobach hit a 2-2 pitch that barely cleared the wall in right center for his sixth homer of the season and a 9-5 lead.
Oregon State scored all but one of its runs with two outs. The Beavers were 13 for 21 with two outs and seven for 10 with runners in scoring position.
Tyler Malone homered to start a five-run eighth inning that finished off the Huskies.
Oregon State avoided going 0-2 at a CWS for the first time in five appearances since 2005. Monday night’s Game 6 between Mississippi State (38-27) and North Carolina (44-18) was postponed and rescheduled for Tuesday at 8 a.m. PDT.
The postponement was caused by the delay of the earlier game between Oregon State and Washington, which was halted for 4½ hours.
Tuesday’s Game 7 between Texas (42-22) and Florida will begin 65 minutes after the conclusion of Mississippi State-North Carolina. Game 8 between Arkansas and Texas Tech is still scheduled for 4 p.m.