The 3-2-1: Oregon State Baseball Avoids Elimination, Takes Down TCU 7-2

With the No. 8 national seed Oregon State baseball (42-13-1) taking down TCU 7-2 in the first elimination game of the Corvallis Regional on Saturday, BeaversEdge writer Brogan Slaughter gives an in-depth 3-2-1 on the Beavers advancing, but still needing three wins in two days to take the regional...

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Three Things We Learned

1. Dax Whitney Delivers Signature Performance

The young freshman righty got the call and stepped up to the challenge, stacking up an impactful 12 strikeouts, which were a new career-high through six total innings, with the first four scoreless. After a shaky start yesterday from sophomore Eric Segura in the loss to St. Mary’s, the Beavers had their backs against the wall and needed a pitcher to take the reins against the next best team (on paper anyway) in this Corvallis Regional, Two-seeded TCU. Whitney blew through the first six with four hits, a walk, and his 12K’s topping his previous high of 11 while only seeing 23 batters. That also eclipses 100 K’s on the year for Whitney. Dax gave way to Nelson Keljo, who finished off the contest with three full innings, keeping the total arms in this game to just two, a huge advantage for the Beavers if they are to fight through the losers bracket.

2. Goss is King

Being at both of the first two games, it was easy to see how much of a difference the 3-0 start against TCU was compared to the 0-3 first-inning deficit against St. Mary’s and how it impacted the crowd's engagement. When the fans are loud and livid, right behind the plate, suffocating opposing batters and pitchers alike, it makes all the difference. When things weren't rolling the Beavers’ way, something was missing from the crowd at Goss on Friday at times, perhaps a little bit of tension from the players to the fans. Saturday’s affair against the Horned Frogs was a much different story as Goss was loud from the jump… from a three-K inning from Dax, to a three-run homer from Weber to follow.

The hype goes hand-in-hand when the players are feeling the love, they unlock another tier of their play that feeds into the crowd, and so on, it makes the energy contagious in Goss. The Beavers will need all of that and more to win three games in two days to take the regional.

3. Beavers Need Short-Term Memory To Fight Back & Win Regional & Got It Today

The Beavers quickly and effectively shook off yesterday’s loss to St Mary’s by swiftly handling TCU in the Saturday elimination game. The Beavers are a consistent team that has won in streaks and picking up a crucial win against the Horned Frogs can be the exact spark they need to run through the consolation side of the regional bracket. They have both the pitching depth and talent at the plate to outmatch the opposition, whether it’s USC or St Mary’s again. Not to pick on the seeds too much, but when you consider the Beavers just knocked out arguably the biggest threat on paper coming into the regional, even needing three wins, now that they’ve got one in the bag, getting three more at home with a 18-3 record at Goss isn’t out of the question at all.