2018 champ Beavers are out; Langeliers' 11 RBIs set record
The second day of NCAA regionals brought an early exit for the defending national champion, one of the greatest individual performances in tournament history and an upset of No. 1 national seed UCLA.
Oregon State was eliminated on its home field with a 4-1 loss to Big East champion Creighton on Saturday, marking the first time the Beavers have gone 0-2 in regionals in 14 appearances since 1985. They were knocked out in the regional round for the first time since 2015.
“It was a matter of us not playing good baseball. That’s the bottom line,” OSU interim coach Pat Bailey said.
The Beavers lost 10 of their last 15 games and finished 36-20-1 a season after they completed a two-year run in which they won 111 of 130 games under former coach Pat Casey.
The game was catcher Adley Rutschman’s last for Oregon State. Rutschman is projected to be the No. 1 pick in the Major League Baseball draft on Monday. He was on deck when the Bluejays turned the game-ending double play. He had driven a ball to the warning track in his last at-bat and tipped his cap to the crowd as he jogged back to the dugout.
Baylor’s Shea Langeliers hit three home runs and doubled while going 5 for 6 and driving in a tournament-record 11 runs in a 24-6 win over Omaha in an elimination game.
“When I was a little kid, I liked to think I was a pretty good hitter, but I think this game will probably be one of the most meaningful games for me as a hitter probably for the rest of my career,” Langeliers said. “Our backs were up against the wall and we needed a big game from our offense and we got it. It was a lot of fun.”
Langeliers, who likely will be the second catcher drafted behind Rutschman, broke the NCAA postseason record of 10 RBIs in a game shared by Vanderbilt’s Connor Kaiser (2018) and Miami’s Kevin Brown (2001).
Langeliers’ homers were for two, one and three runs. He also had a two-run single and three-run double.
Hours after Langeliers’ big performance, Loyola Marymount beat UCLA 3-2 on the same field in Los Angeles. The Lions lost twice to the Bruins in the regular season and had dropped seven in a row against them.
Cooper Uhl, LMU’s 9-hole batter, sent a run-scoring single into right field in the seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie. Nick Frasso earned his second save in two days, striking out three in two shutout innings.
UCLA had its 11-game win streak end and must beat Baylor in an elimination game to get a rematch with the Lions in the regional final Sunday night.
Other national seeds that lost and face elimination Sunday: No. 3 Georgia Tech, No. 4 Georgia, No. 7 Louisville, No. 10 East Carolina, No. 11 Stanford and No. 15 West Virginia.
HE DID IT AGAIN
Down to his last strike with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Steven Williams hit a three-run homer to give Auburn a 6-5 walk-off win over Georgia Tech. Williams, the Tigers’ 8-hole hitter, homered and drove in five runs Friday against Coastal Carolina.
HE DID IT AGAIN, TOO
Florida State’s Tim Becker, the graduate student who walked on after playing three seasons on the school’s club team, homered for the third time in two games in a 12-3 win over Georgia.
FSU is a win away from super regionals in Mike Martin’s 40th and final season. The Seminoles, a No. 3 regional seed for the first time under Martin and one of the last four teams selected for the tournament, have scored 25 runs in two games.
THAT’S QUINNIPIAC, MAC
No. 4 regional seed Quinnipiac upset East Carolina 5-4 in a first-round game postponed until Saturday. The Bobcats of Hamden, Connecticut, play third-seeded Campbell in a winners’ bracket game Sunday. Quinnipiac went 0-2 in its only previous tournament appearance in 2005.
BIG BATS
— Trevor Boone’s go-ahead three-run homer with two outs in the top of the ninth inning completed Oklahoma State’s rally in a 6-5 win over Nebraska.
— Emilio Nogales had three hits and three RBIs to lead Fresno State past Stanford 7-2.
— Bobby Morgensen hit two homers for the second straight day, leading Florida Atlantic in a 10-6 win over Mercer.
— Hunter Coleman homered twice and drove in five runs in Texas A&M’s 11-2 win over Fordham.
MOUND MARVELS
— SEC pitcher of the year Ethan Small struck out 10 in six innings in No. 6 national seed Mississippi State’s 7-2 win over Central Michigan, ending the Chippewas’ nation-leading 19-game win streak.
— Doug Nikhazy struck out nine and allowed one run on four hits in eight innings in Mississippi’s 6-1 win over Clemson. Nikhazy has given up one run and seven hits in his last 16 innings.
— Isaiah Campbell limited TCU to four hits and one run and struck out eight in eight innings as No. 5 national seed Arkansas won 3-1.
— Duke’s Bryce Jarvis struck out 11 in eight shutout innings in a 4-0 win over West Virginia.
— Andrew Magno allowed one run and struck out 12 in 7 1/3 innings of relief in Ohio State’s 9-8, 13-inning win over McNeese State. He struck out six of the last seven batters.
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AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy contributed to this report.
The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.
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