Oregon State Beavers Win The Their College World Series Championship

It might not be Game 7 of the World Series of Major League Baseball, but the drama and the intrigue was no different for the fans of the Oregon State University Beavers baseball team.

After all, the Beavers not only lost their opening game of the College Baseball World Series against the University of North Carolina in mid-June, but also lose Game 1 of the World Series Championship series against the University of Arkansas. Previously, only four teams had ever lost Game 1 of the Championship Series, only to end up winning the title.

But now, you can make that five, as the Oregon State Beavers are the national champions of college baseball.

Riding the history-making performance of freshman pitcher Kevin Abel, the Beavers defeated the Razorbacks by a 3-0 score in the deciding Game 3 of the series. Able retired the last 20 batters he faced as part of a complete game shutout; it’s the first time in CWS history when a pitcher allowed only two hits or less in a complete game effort.

The national championship win marks Oregon State’s third achievement of said title, after winning back-to-back championships in 2006 and 2007.

The Beavers went 6-2 during their College World Series run, with their only two losses coming against the Tar Heels and Razorbacks. But in an 11-day span, Abel  earned four of Oregon State’s wins, including the last three wins in a row. Abel shut the door in a loser-goes-home game against Mississippi State, and then won back-to-back games — on consecutive days — against Arkansas, culminating in his gem of a Game 3 performance. No pitcher in college baseball history had ever won four games in the college world series prior to the 19-year old Abel pulling it off.

Interestingly enough, Abel entered the postseason as the pitcher with the sixth-lowest ERA on his own team. That isn’t a knock on him at all as a player, but shows what a star-studded group of guys he had on his rotation.

Abel also stated in his post-game comments that he didn’t feel like he had his best stuff during the game. His curveball was almost non-existent during the middle four innings of the game, as he used a combination of his fastball and his changeup to retire Arkansas’ last 20 batters.

While Abel’s heroics will undoubtedly be the last memory of the Beavers’ achievement, we certainly can’t overlook the performance of Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman was named 2018 College World Series Most Outstanding Player. Rutschman had a CWS-record 17 hits in addition to 13 RBI’s, doing his part on offense in Oregon State’s title efforts. Rutschman was named to the 11-man all-Men’s College World Series team, as selected by the media. Unsurprisingly, 10 of the 11 players on the team were guys on Oregon State or Arkansas, the last two teams to duke it out for championship rights in Omaha.

Along with Rutschman, first baseman Jared Gates, shortstop Cadyn Grenier, outfielder Trevor Larnach, and designated hitter Tyler Malone were also named to the team. Abel was also named as one of the two pitchers to the team as well.

Image © OSU Beavers