OMAHA, Neb. – Miscues in the top of the ninth were atoned in the bottom of the frame.
Shortstop Aiva Arquette had a one-out base hit to center and left fielder Gavin Turley doubled to left to knock in Arquette as No. 8 Oregon State nipped Louisville 4-3 on Day 1 of the College World Series in front of 24,963 fans at Charles Schwab Field.
“Proud of the way the guys punched back,” OSU head coach Mitch Canham said. “It seems to be more and more evident, this is true character by the way our guys continue to fight.”
The Cardinals will face Arizona on Sunday at 1 pm CT in an elimination game. The Beavers will meet No. 13 Coastal Carolina in a winners’ contest on Sunday at 6 pm CT.
OSU took a 3-1 lead to the ninth. Zion Rose hit a ball to left that got by Turley for a leadoff triple. Tague Davis followed with a base hit to shallow right center to plate Rose and pull the Cards within one at 3-2. Pinch-runner Tanner Shiver was thrown out on a steal attempt for the first out of the inning. Alex Alicia hit a grounder to short that Arquette threw away at first. A second error on the play allowed Alicia to reach third. A single to center by Kamau Neighbors brought home Alicia to tie the game at 3-3.
Trent Caraway and Arquette both had singles and scored in the fourth as the Beavers took a 2-0 lead.
Neighbors drew a leadoff walk in the sixth for UL. He was picked off at first, but the ball was misplayed at first to keep Neighbors on first. He went to second on a single by Lucas Moore, advanced to third on a fielder’s choice and came home on a base hit by Jake Munroe to make it a 2-1 ballgame.
OSU added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. AJ Singer had a one-out single and scored on an error to give the Beavers a 3-1 edge.
Dax Whitney was the starter for OSU and worked 5.1 innings with three hits, one unearned run, one walk and nine strikeouts.
“Trying to establish the fastball early,” Whitney said. “The goal today was fill up the zone, don’t walk. That’s what I’ve been working on — don’t walk guys, don’t give them free bases. Establish the heater early and they weren’t doing too well on the curveball early. I kept spinning that thing over and over. I felt like I could throw it any count. It made it pretty easy.”
Arquette went 3 for 5 with two runs for the Beavers. Turley had two hits and knocked in a pair.
Patrick Forbes (7 H, 3 R, 1 BB) fanned 10 in 5.1 innings for the Cards.
Congratulations to Oregon State,” UL head coach Dan McDonnell said. “They played well, they pitched well. 14 strikeouts against a really good offense. Must have been a great game for everybody to watch and enjoy. A lot of good baseball. We came up on the short end.”
Notes
Oregon State is 39-7 when scoring first and 21-6 away from home.
Louisville is 4-11 all-time at the College World Series. The Cards are 1-5 in CWS openers and 0-2 all-time against Oregon State.