Oregon State Baseball Falls To Coastal Carolina 6-2, Now On Brink Of Elimination
Oregon State fell to Coastal Carolina 6-2 in the College World Series on Sunday.
Jacob Morrison started on the bump for Coastal, and delivered an absolute gem of a game. Morrison would finish with allowing one run on five hits with seven strikeouts across 7.2 innings.
Ethan Kleinschmit was given the nod to start on the bump. Beavers fans never got a chance to relax, as there was an error and a balk against the Bears in the top half of the first inning before 10 pitches had been thrown.
The Chanticleers loaded the bases in the top half of the first thanks to the aforementioned error and balk by Kleinschmit, before Blagen Pado was called out for intentionally moving to be hit by a pitch. With the bases loaded and two outs, Colby Thorndike sent an 81 MPH curveball into right center that would bounce against the wall and clear the bases. Oregon State went into the bottom of the first trailing 3-0.
Morrison took care of the Beavers in the bottom half, as Oregon State couldn't wake up the bats early.
Kleinschmit was able to settle in and shake off the nerves in the second inning, as Coastal got nothing across in the top half. Oregon State followed suit and went quietly to turn things over to the third inning.
In the bottom half of the third, the Beavs trailed 3-0 when Easton Talt stepped up and launched a home run off of a 92 MPH fastball from Morrison into right center field. After three complete innings Coastal led 3-1.
The top half of the fourth inning was nothing short of a nightmare for the Beavs. An uncharacteristic defensive error by A.J. Singer at second base allowed a run to score, and with one out a wild pitch scored another run for Coastal Carolina, in the blink of an eye a 3-1 game became 5-1 with all the momentum in the Chanticleers' favor.
After the Easton Talt home run in the bottom half of the third, Morrison would go on to retire 16 straight Oregon State batters in a row. The Beavs mixed it up on the mound, opting for Zach Kmatz to handle the middle innings.
Kmatz looked comfortable, getting out of a tense fifth inning before handing things off to Laif Palmer would get out of a bases-loaded jam in the top half of the sixth inning, both times the Beavers went down in order following the top half. Oregon State didn't collect a hit after the Talt home run in the third until Canon Reeder connected on a one-out single in the bottom half of the eighth.
In the bottom of the ninth, Gavin Turley attempted to spark a comeback, connecting on a solo home run to cut the Chanticleers lead to four. However, it was too little, too late for Oregon State, as a few fielding issues and Morrison’s dominance paved the way for Coastal Carolina to reach the semifinals.
Oregon State isn’t done yet. They will play Louisville on Tuesday at 11:00 AM PT on ESPN, with the winner facing Coastal Carolina on Wednesday, and the loser going home.
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Kyle is a 2019 graduate of Southern Oregon University and currently does play-by-play for SOU football and men’s and women’s soccer. He hosts a daily sports show in southern Oregon on The Ace Sports Radio, 107.9 FM and 1300 AM. Kyle also does play-by-play for the Rogue Valley Royals hockey team and the North Medford High School Black Tornado for TableRockSports.net. Kyle lives in Ashland, Oregon with his wife and a Dalmatian named Penny.