OMAHA, Neb. – More great pitching on display Sunday evening.
Jacob Morrison held No. 8 Oregon State to one run over 7.2 innings as No. 13 Coastal Carolina registered a 6-2 victory on Sunday evening in Game 6 of the 2025 College World Series in front of 24,490 fans at Charles Schwab Field to extend their winning streak to 25 games.
“For us to play like that on this stage, pretty darn remarkable,” Coastal head coach Kevin Schnall said. “These guys were unbelievable tonight. Jacob Morrison, winners win.”
The Beavers (48-15-1) will face Louisville in an elimination game on Tuesday at 1 p.m. CT. The winner of that contest will have to defeat the Chanticleers (55-11) on Wednesday and Thursday to advance to the CWS Championship Series.
Morrison scattered five hits, did not allow a walk and struck out seven to raise his record to 12-0. He retired 16 straight from the third to eighth innings.
“I’ve always been a big strike thrower,” Morrison said. “My freshman year, I threw a ton of strikes but I had a hard time keeping the ball out of the middle of the plate. That was a big thing, not only in my rehab last year, but even in freshman year development, throwing pitches where I want. I think it’s pretty awesome to do that type of stuff.”
CCU had an eventful top of the first. Caden Bodine reached on an error and went to second on a balk. Sebastian Alexander was called out on a clock violation on an 0-2 count, recorded as a strikeout. Blake Barthol walked and Walker Mitchell was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Blagen Pado thought he was plunked on a 3-2 pitch but was ruled to have intentionally moved to be hit by a pitch to go down on a strikeout. Colby Thorndyke laced a bases-clearing double to right center to give the Chants a 3-0 advantage.
“I’ve came in in that situation a few times earlier in the season and didn’t get it done,” Thorndyke said. “I knew if I would just get us one run on the board any way possible with Jacob on the mound, it would really dump some momentum in our dugout. As far as lefty on left, that’s just another pitcher to me. I stayed to my approach and put a good swing on it.”
CCU moved to 36-2 this year when scoring first.
“That was a massive two-out double, bases-clearing double,” Schnall said. “What did that provide us? That got us the score first, which is really critical in our program, and a big inning with one swing of the bat. And to do that in the first, I think it gave us a lot of confidence, obviously, moving forward, especially with Jacob Morrison on the mound.”
Easton Talt launched a leadoff homer to right in the bottom of the third as the Beavers pulled within two at 3-1.
“I saw him upset because he missed a fastball up and then slider down,” Talt said. “I knew he was going to be throwing one pretty much down the middle. He came back with a 2-1 fastball and basically repeated the same pitch, the 2-1 fastball. Got a hold of it.”
Aiva Arquette and Gavin Turley sent fly balls to the walls later in the frame, but both were caught.
Coastal tacked on two more in the fourth. Dean Mihos had a leadoff single and went to second on a one-out walk to Wells Sykes. Bodine hit a potential double-play ball to second that was misplayed, allowing Mihos to score. Sykes came home on a wild pitch to give the Chants a 5-1 edge.
CCU had some two-out magic in the fifth as Thorndyke was hit by a pitch and scored on a double by Mihos to make it a 6-1 contest.
OSU put two on with two away in the eighth to end the night for Morrison. Hayden Johnson came in to face Arquette, who sent a fly ball into the right field corner. Pado made a sliding catch in foul territory to end the threat.
After an unsuccessful bunt attempt on the first pitch in the bottom of the ninth, Gavin Turley belted a home run to left, his 20th of the season, to make it 6-2. The Beavers put two on with two away before Ryan Lynch came in and struck out Canon Reeder to record his ninth save.
“A lot of uncharacteristic mistakes made early on,” OSU head coach Mitch Canham said. [Kleinschmit] wasn’t his sharpest coming out of the gate. And even we had the hit batter that ended up in a strikeout and a clock violation. So some things that went in our favor, but a handful of things, like not playing clean, that led to a handful of runs. All six of their runs were from free bases. It was not clean baseball, and they got a good guy on the bump going.”
Notes
Coastal Carolina and UCLA are the only two schools unbeaten in the NCAA Tournament.
Wells Sykes reached base for the 25th straight game.
Ryan Lynch made his NCAA-leading 17th straight scoreless appearance.
Gavin Turley reached base safely for the 58th straight game.