College World Series roundup

• With a wave of his cap to the LSU fans, Alex Lange disappeared into the dugout after what very well could have been his last outing as a collegian. It was one of his best, and most timely. The Chicago Cubs’ firstround draft pick limited top-seeded Oregon State to two hits over 7 1⁄3 innings in a performance Friday that carried the Tigers to a 3-1 victory and ended the Beavers’ 23-game winning streak. It also set up a winnertake-all Bracket 1 final at the College World Series on Saturday, with the winner going to the best-of-three finals beginning Monday. Lange (10-5) won a CWS elimination game for the second time in his career, and he said his experience pitching so many important games at home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, prepared him. The Tigers (51-18) avenged a 13-1 loss to the Beavers (56-5) on Monday and became the first team to knock them off since Southern California on April 29. They did all of their scoring against national wins leader Jake Thompson (14-1). Max Engelbrekt relieved in the seventh after Josh Smith hit Thompson’s first pitch of the inning for a homer. Oregon State was still stinging after the game from a call in the third inning when, with runners on first and second, Steven Kwan sliced a ball down the leftfield line that bounced off the wall and was ruled foul. TV replays indicated it was a fair ball. Oregon State coach Pat Casey said by the time someone on his staff told him to ask for a video review, the next pitch had been thrown, closing his window of opportunity. • Evan Skoug hit a basesclearing double, four TCU pitchers combined on a five-hitter, and the Horned Frogs beat Florida 9-2 on Friday night to force a second Bracket 2 final at the College World Series. The teams will meet again Saturday night, with the winner advancing to the best-of-three finals starting Monday. Skoug was 2 for 13 in the CWS when he came up in the sixth inning with two outs and the bases loaded. He lined reliever Frank Rubio’s 2-2 pitch into the right-center gap for an 8-2 lead. Charles King (1-3) pitched 3 1⁄3 innings of onehit shutout relief after taking over for starter Mitchell Traver with two outs in the fourth. Jackson Kowar struck out seven of the first eight batters he faced on his way to a career-high 11 Ks, but the Horned Frogs (50-17) were able to get to him.

BRENDAN SULLIVAN — ASSOCIATED PRESS Oregon State’s Tyler Malone celebrates hitting a lead-off double in the bottom of the fourth inning against LSU during the College World Series June 23 in Omaha, Neb.