Oregon State (54-4)
Coach: Pat Casey (843-444-5, 23 years at Oregon State; 1,014-553-6, 30 years overall). Road to Omaha: Won Corvallis regional: beat Holy Cross 8-2, beat Yale 11-0, beat Yale 8-1. Won Corvallis super regional: beat Vanderbilt 8-4, beat Vanderbilt 9-2. 2017 record vs. CWS teams: 0-0. Last CWS appearance: 2013. All-time record in CWS: 13-8 in 5 appearances; national champion 2006, 2007. Meet the Beavers: C Adley Rutschman (.247, 2 HR, 32 RBIs), 1B KJ Harrison (.330, 8, 39), 2B Nick Madrigal (.383, 4, 36), 3B Michael Gretler (.300, 4, 32), SS Cadyn Grenier (.280, 5, 34), LF Christian Donahue (.258, 0, 18), CF Steven Kwan (.345, 1, 17), RF Jack Anderson (.288, 1, 29), DH Trevor Larnach (.304, 3, 42). Starting pitchers: RHP Jake Thompson (14-0, 1.52 ERA), RHP Bryce Fehmel (5-2, 3.80), LHP Luke Heimlich (11-1, 0.76), RHP Drew Rasmussen (3-0, 0.83). Relievers: RHP Sam Tweedt (3-0, 2.57), LHP Jake Mulholland (6-1, 1.31, 6 saves), LHP Brandon Eisert (5-0, 2.18, 4 saves), LHP Max Engelbrekt (3-0, 0.48, 5 saves), RHP Grant Gambrell (1-0, 2.93). MLB Alumni: Michael Conforto, Jacoby Ellsbury, Darwin Barney, Daniel Robertson, Josh Osich, Sam Gaviglio, Matt Boyd. Short Hops: The status of Heimlich, the national ERA leader, is uncertain. He asked to be excused from pitching in the super regional after a newspaper detailed the molestation case against him when he was 15. … Beavers are on a 21-game win streak. Their last loss was April 29, to Southern California. … If Oregon State wins the national title, it will be the first champion with fewer than nine losses since Texas (49-5) in 1975. … Rasmussen was the No. 31 overall draft pick by Tampa Bay. Quotable: “It’s about the players. Obviously, you don’t have to have all the best players, but you’ve got to have the right players. We have the right players.” — Casey.
Cal State Fullerton (39-22) Coach: Rick Vanderhook (237-125, 5 years at Fullerton and overall). Road to Omaha: Won Stanford regional: beat BYU 13-2, beat Stanford 4-1, beat Stanford 4-2. Won Long Beach super regional: lost 3-0 to Long Beach State, beat Long Beach State 12-0, beat Long Beach State 2-1. 2017 record vs. CWS teams: 0-0. Last CWS appearance: 2015. All-time record in CWS: 34-29 in 17 appearances; national champion 1979, 1984, 1995, 2004. Meet the Titans: C Chris Hudgins (.242, 5 HR, 31 RBIs), 1B Dillon Persinger (.296, 3, 30), 2B Sahid Valenzuela (.324, 1, 24), 3B Taylor Bryant (.266, 3, 35), SS Timmy Richards (.301, 4, 26), LF Chris Prescott (.230, 0, 7), CF Scott Hurst (.332, 12, 39), RF Hunter Cullen (.271, 6, 30), DH Hank LoForte (.253, 0, 19). Starting pitchers: RHP Connor Seabold (11-5, 3.01), LHP John Gavin (8-2, 2.67), RHP Colton Eastman (2-0, 1.09). Relievers: RHP Jack Pabich (1-2, 5.52), RHP Blake Workman (6-2, 2.70), RHP Gavin Velasquez (4-3, 4.50), RHP Joe Wills (4-2, 9.19), LHP Erik Cha (1-1, 4.85), RHP Brett Conine (0-1, 1.49, 15 saves). MLB Alumni: Tim Wallach, Mike Harkey, Phil Nevin, Mark Kotsay, Jeremy Giambi, Kurt Suzuki. Short Hops: Eastman has allowed no earned runs in 132⁄3 postseason innings. … Titans have gone 26 straight innings without allowing an earned run, and their 1.19 postseason ERA is lowest in the nation. … Persinger has Quotable: