PROMO: Join BeaversEdge.com and get 30 DAYS FREE!
MORE: OSU Previews CV Regional | OV Profile: DE Epi Sitanilei | Spring Recap: DL | OV Profile: WR JJ Buchanon | CV Regional Announced | Spring Recap: TE
Oregon State opens the Corvallis Regional as the 15th national seed in the NCAA Tournament on Friday. The Beavers will play Tulane at 6 p.m. at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.
UC Irvine and Nicholls State will open the regional at 1 p.m. on Friday.
The Corvallis Regional will be paired with the Lexington Regional, which features the No. 2 seed University of Kentucky, Indiana State, Illinois, and Western Michigan.
The winners of the two regionals will play each other in Super Regionals with a trip to the College World Series on the line.
2. UC Irvine (43-12, 22-8 Big West)
The UC Irvine Anteaters finished with a 43-12 overall record and a 22-8 conference record, which knotted them a second-place finish in the Big West Conference.
The Beavers and Anteaters have played each other 11 times, including post-season and regular-season matchups. UC Irvine holds a 6-5 advantage over Oregon State; the last time these teams played was in 2022, when the Beavers won the regular season series at Goss Stadium.
The last postseason matchup saw the Beavers lose to the Anteaters 4-2 in the 2014 Corvallis Regional championship game, ending the Beavers' chances to host a super regional that year.
In 2007, the Beavers defeated the Anteaters in the 2007 College World Series 7-1. The win over the Anteaters advanced OSU to the CWS Final, where the Beavers swept North Carolina to win their second title.
Former player and current Pat Casey Head Baseball Coach at Oregon State Mitch Canham, along with former assistant coach and player Darwin Barney, each went 3-5 in the win over the Anteaters. Canham hit a home run and drove in three runs, while Barney drove in a pair of runs.
As a squad in the 2024 season, the Anteaters were projected to be a national seed late, having been ranked nationally all season, but ended up as the second seed in the Corvallis Regional.
Left fielder Myles Smith and catcher Blake Penso lead the team in batting average, with both hitting .400 on the season.
Catcher Thomas McCaffery leads the Anteaters in home runs with ten on the season. The next closest to McCaffery is infielder Anthony Martinez with nine home runs, and outfielders Myles Smith and Chase Call and infielder Joichiro Oyama each have eight home runs.
Shortstop Woody Hadeen leads the Anteaters in stolen bases with 12.
For the Anteaters pitching staff, LHP Nick Pinto leads the team in strikeouts with 90 on the season and has a 3.44 ERA. Pinto is expected to be the starter for the Anteaters on the mound against Nicholls State on Friday.
