Arkansas will play for a national championship for the first time since 1979 this week. The best-of-three series with Oregon State is set to begin Monday.
Before the 6 p.m. first pitch on ESPN, HawgBeat takes a closer look at the Beavers…
Schedule (home team)
Monday, June 25 – 6 p.m., ESPN (Oregon State)
Tuesday, June 26 – 6 p.m., ESPN (Arkansas)
*Wednesday, June 27 – 6 p.m., ESPN (Oregon State)
*If necessary
Record: 53-11-1 (20-9-1 Pac-12)
Oregon State has been a top-10 team all season, spending most of its time ranked either No. 1 or No. 2. They weren’t quite as dominant as they were last year, but the Beavers still put together an impressive resume. It was nearly a month into the season before Oregon State suffered its first loss, as it won the first 13 games of the year, and the Beavers lost only two series – at Utah and at Arizona on consecutive weekends. They bounced back by winning 20 of their final 25 games, including a two of three at then-No. 2 Stanford. That helped them earn the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Head coach: Pat Casey (24th season)
Since arriving at Oregon State before the 1995 season, Casey has taken the school to new heights. This is the Beavers’ sixth trip to the College World Series during his tenure and they won back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007. Last season, Oregon State was an incredible 54-4 going to Omaha and won its first two games before dropping two straight against LSU to be eliminated. Casey owns an 898-457-6 record (.662) and has won five conference coach of the year honors.
Postseason Journey
Corvallis Regional
Hosting LSU, San Diego State and Northwestern State, Oregon State received very little resistance in its regional this season. The Beavers’ closest game was a 9-3 victory over Northwestern State in their first game.
They then crushed LSU in consecutive games by scores of 14-1 and 12-0. Oregon State never trailed in any of the three games, hitting .339 with five homers as a team.
Corvallis Super Regional
With No. 14 seed Minnesota winning its regional, Oregon State hosted the Golden Gophers for the best-of-three super regional. The Beavers jumped on them early in Game 1, scoring three runs in the first and cruising to an 8-1 win, but they finally ran into some trouble in the second game.
Minnesota actually led 3-2 heading to the eighth inning before Oregon State tied it up with a two-out RBI single by Kyle Nobach. One out away from escaping a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning – with the game tied 3-3 – the Golden Gophers gave up a two-out single to Adley Rutschman that scored two runs. The Beavers tacked on another with a bases-loaded hit by pitch to make the final score 6-3 and advance to the College World Series.
College World Series
Back in Omaha for a second straight season, Oregon State lost its first game 8-6 to North Carolina in the longest nine-inning game in College World Series history at 4 hours, 24 minutes.
That meant the Beavers had to come through the loser’s bracket with four straight wins in six days. They started that stretch with a 14-5 win over Washington in which they trailed 3-0 through four innings and 5-4 after five.
Oregon State’s offense woke up late again in an elimination game against the Tar Heels, trailing 6-3 going to the eighth before scoring four runs in each of the final two innings. The Beavers didn’t waste any time in their first matchup with Mississippi State, scoring five runs in the second inning to take control of a game they ended up winning 12-2.
Finally, they scored five runs in the third inning Saturday and hung on late to eliminate the Bulldogs 5-2 and reach the championship series. As a team, Oregon State is hitting .351 in Omaha.
Common Opponents
Despite playing in completely different areas of the country, Arkansas and Oregon State still played seven common opponents this season. The Razorbacks were just 5-9 against those teams, while the Beavers went 12-3 against them.
Cal Poly
Oregon State racked up 16 runs on 20 hits in a blowout win over Cal Poly in the first weekend of the season. Three runs in the ninth inning made the score look closer than it actually was, but it was still 16-7.
A week later, Cal Poly upset the Razorbacks 4-3 in the Tony Gwynn Legacy aided by three Arkansas errors that led to two unearned runs.
Arizona
One of the two series Oregon State lost came at the hands of the Wildcats in April. The Beavers won the first game 6-2, but were blown out 15-4 on Saturday and then dropped a one-run decision in the rubber match.
It wasn’t a part of the Tony Gwynn Legacy, but Arkansas and Arizona scheduled a non-conference game in San Diego a couple days before the event began. A solo home run by Heston Kjerstad was all the offense in the Razorbacks’ 1-0 game. Arizona was limited to only two hits.
Missouri State
During its open week of conference play, Oregon State traveled to Springfield, Mo., for a three-game series with Missouri State. Bad weather shortened it to two games and the Beavers won both games in blowout fashion: 17-6 and 10-2.
In a midweek game at Baum Stadium, Arkansas rallied from an early four-run deficit to beat the Bears 11-7.
San Diego
San Diego traveled to Corvallis for a rare Monday-Tuesday midweek series and Oregon State crushed them both games. The Beavers won 23-6 and 19-6, despite both being shortened to seven innings.
The Razorbacks’ final game at the Tony Gwynn Legacy was at San Diego’s home ballpark and they lost another one-run decision in which a couple of errors led to an unearned run.
USC
Playing on the road, Oregon State took the first two games of a series with USC – winning 4-0 and 8-1 – before dropping the finale 8-0.
Arkansas hosted the Trojans during non-conference play. After splitting the first two games, the Razorbacks won the rubber match 7-6 by scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth – capped by Dominic Fletcher’s walk-off single.
LSU
After a run to the SEC Tournament championship game, LSU was shipped out west to the Corvallis Regional. Oregon State had very little issue knocking out the Tigers, beating them 14-1 and 12-0.
As is always the case, LSU had Arkansas’ number in 2018. The Razorbacks won the first game of their series in Baton Rouge, La., but lost consecutive two-run games to lose the series. They met again in the SEC Tournament semifinals, with Zach Watson’s two-run homer being the difference in a 2-1 game.
Mississippi State
Another SEC team stood in Oregon State’s way of reaching the championship series in Omaha. It needed to beat Mississippi State twice in a row and did so 12-2 and 5-2.
By far Arkansas’ worst weekend of the season came in Starkville, Miss., in April, as it blew a 5-0 lead on Friday and ended up being swept.
Projected Starting Lineup
C – Adley Rutschman (so.): .397/.500/.616, 22 2B, 8 HR, 80 RBI, 38 K/53 BB, 1-3 SB
1B – Zak Taylor (jr.): .265/.329/.361, 7 2B, 2 HR, 21 RBI, 39 K/8 BB
2B – Nick Madrigal (jr.): .395/.455/.551, 9 2B, 4 3B, 3 HR, 34 RBI, 6 K/15 BB, 15-16 SB
3B – Michael Gretler (sr.): .312/.386/.486, 21 2B, 7 HR, 49 RBI, 43 K/21 BB, 1-1 SB
SS – Cadyn Grenier (jr.): .317/.405/.466, 17 2B, 6 HR, 45 RBI, 57 K/33 BB, 8-9 SB
LF – Kyle Nobach (r-sr.): .303/.422/.560, 10 2B, 6 HR, 31 RBI, 31 K/19 BB
-OR- Jack Anderson (r-sr.): .276/.376/.344, 9 2B, 15 RBI, 29 K/21 BB, 1-2 SB
CF – Steven Kwan (jr.): .359/.467/.462, 8 2B, 6 3B, 2 HR, 41 RBI, 16 K/50 BB, 14-20 SB
RF – Trevor Larnach (jr.): .344/.464/.643, 17 2B, 18 HR, 75 RBI, 62 K/49 BB, 4-6 SB
DH – Tyler Malone (so.): .284/.410/.496, 6 2B, 8 HR, 32 RBI, 36 K/30 BB, 1-1 SB
Kwan, the Beavers’ All-Pac-12 center fielder, suffered a left hamstring injury against Washington on Monday. The injury kept him out of the starting lineup in Oregon State’s last three games, but he did pinch hit in two of them and could start Monday against Arkansas.
Anderson filled in at center field in his absence. It is unclear whether he will move back to left field or if Nobach – who had started five straight games as the designated hitter – will remain at that spot when Kwan returns. Malone will likely remain in the lineup as the DH considering he has hit three home runs in Omaha so far.
Pitching Situation
Usual Starters
Game 1 – Sr. LHP Luke Heimlich – 122 pitches (63 – June 16, 59 – Wednesday)
-Stats: 20 G/19 GS, 16-2, 2.80 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 154 K/26 BB, 125 1/3 IP, .222 opp. avg.
Game 2 – Jr. RHP Bryce Fehmel – 114 pitches (57 – Monday, 57 – Friday)
-Stats: 19 G/19 GS, 10-1, 3.16 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 63 K/24 BB, 111 IP, .237 opp. avg.
Game 3 – Fr. RHP Kevin Abel – 153 pitches (58 – Monday, 95 – Saturday )
-Stats: 21 G/6 GS, 6-1, 3.28 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 95 K/44 BB, 71 1/3 IP, .193 opp. avg.
Bullpen Arms
Fr. LHP Christian Chamberlain – 83 pitches (28 – June 16, 55 – Wednesday)
-Stats: 19 G/3 GS, 3-0, 4.00 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 38 K/23 BB, 36 IP, .213 opp. avg.
Soph. LHP Brandon Eisert – 153 pitches (81 – June 16, 72 – Friday)
-Stats: 26 G, 5-3, 5 SV, 2.42 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 45 K/12 BB, 52 IP, .215 opp. avg.
Soph. LHP Jake Mulholland – 103 pitches (16 – Monday, 42 – Wednesday, 45 – Saturday)
-Stats: 30 G, 2-2, 15 SV, 2.25 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 41 K/11 BB, 44 IP, .196 opp. avg.
Jr. RHP Dylan Pearce – 18 pitches (15 – June 16, 3 – Wednesday)
-Stats: 25 G, 2-0, 2 SV, 3.49 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 27 K/7 BB, 28 1/3 IP, .282 opp. avg.
Having played five games in an eight-day span on its journey through the loser’s bracket at the College World Series, Oregon State is in a tricky spot concerning its starting pitching.
Heimlich has been the Beavers’ ace, but he would be playing on just four days’ rest after throwing 59 pitches against North Carolina. The No. 2 guy on their staff, Fehmel, just threw 57 pitches against Mississippi State and would have only three days’ rest if he started the second game of the championship series.
As bad as that sounds, Oregon State would be in a much worse situation had it not received the performance it got from Abel in the clinching game against the Bulldogs on Saturday. The freshman ate up seven innings – on 95 pitches – so it is unlikely he would be able to do much in the “if necessary” third game Wednesday on three days’ rest.
The bullpen has also thrown its fair share of pitches over the last few days, as seen with the pitch counts listed above. Head coach Pat Casey said Sunday’s practice would be used to determine each pitcher’s availability for the championship series.
“Everybody knows that we’ve played five games and we’re going to find out who feels good,” Casey said. “We’ve got a couple different options, that’s for sure, but we’re not in sequence because we got in the loser’s bracket, and therefore we can’t stack it up the way we want to stack it up.”
In the MLB Draft
The Beavers had six players selected in the MLB Draft earlier this month:
1 (4) – Nick Madrigal, Chicago White Sox
1 (20) – Trevor Larnach, Minnesota Twins
1 (37) – Cadyn Grenier, Baltimore Orioles
5 (163) – Steven Kwan, Cleveland Indians
6 (185) – Drew Rasmussen, Milwaukee Brewers
10 (294) – Mike Gretler, Pittsburgh Pirates
Stat Comparison – Arkansas | Oregon State (national rank, out of 297 teams)
Batting average: .302 (11th) | .323 (3rd)
Slugging percentage: .487 (8th) | .494 (5th)
On-base percentage: .396 (16th) | .419 (2nd)
Home runs: 98 (t-3rd) | 65 (t-27th)
Runs/game: 7.2 (15th) | 7.8 (8th)
Stolen bases: 39 (t-210th) | 50 (t-152nd)
ERA: 3.55 (29th) | 3.33 (13th)
WHIP: 1.25 (19th) | 1.19 (4th)
Strikeouts/9 innings: 9.3 (25th) | 8.7 (60th)
Strikeout-to-walk ratio: 2.69 (21st) | 2.67 (23rd)
Fielding percentage: .972 (98th) | .979 (13th)
