Oregon State:

The top overall seed in the college baseball tournament boasts a record of 49-4 on the season. OSU has been anchored by lights out pitching this season with an absurd team ERA of 1.84 that leads the nation. The Oregon State bats hit a respectable .289 with contributions from up and down the lineup, including 5 regulars hitting .300 and 7 players with at least 27 RBI. Ranked 1st in the polls and RPI, the Beavs are the heavy favorite to take the Corvallis regional and host the Clemson regional winner next weekend.

Players to watch

• Nick Madrigal: .377, 18 2B, 4HR, 31 RBI (Pac-12 Player of the Year)
• KJ Harrison: .317, 5 HR, 29 RBI
• Luke Heimlich: 10-1 0.81 ERA (Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year)
• Jake Thompson: 12-0 1.31 ERA
• Drew Rasmussen: 3-0 0.51 ERA (Missed most of the season due to injury)

Nebraska:

Remember them? The Beavs and the Cornhuskers faced off twice in Surprise Arizona earlier this year with Oregon State taking both games by scores of 10-1 and 5-2. Since then the Huskers have compiled a record of 35-20-1, en route to a 1st place finish in the Big 10. The Huskers come to Corvallis ranked 23rd in the nation with an RPI of 44. Nebraska boast respectable team numbers in batting average (.282) and ERA (3.64). The #2 seed should represent the biggest challenge to Oregon State.

Players to watch:

• Jake Meyers: 8-1 3.09 ERA; .302 16 RBI
• Derek Burkamper: 6-5 3.09 ERA
• Scott Schreiber: .335, 16 2B, 6 HR, 50 RBI

Yale:

The Bulldogs won the Ivy league tournament to claim an automatic bid. Yale went 32-16 on the season and ranked 48th in the RPI. The Bulldogs have the highest team batting average (.291) of the 4 teams in Corvallis, while holding the regional’s worst team ERA (5.51). Some believe Yale should have been a #4 seed in a regional, but the selection committee disagreed rewarding the Bulldogs with a #3 seed.

Players to watch

• Richard Slenker: .345, 11 2B, 39 RBI
• Tim Degraw: .335, 16 SB, 39 RBI
• Scott Politz: 10-2, 3.47 ERA, 69 Ks

Holy Cross:

The Patriot league tournament champions head to Corvallis with a record of 23-27 and an RPI of 218. The Crusaders have yet to face a highly ranked team this season, so their Friday matchup with Oregon State will be quite the test. The Crusaders do not hit particularly well, boasting a team batting average of just .257 and they struggle to keep other teams off the board with a team ERA of 5.18. Holy Cross is a typical #4 seed who earned a spot in the post season via a conference tourney win, but does not boast a strong resume.

Players to watch

• Anthony Critelli: .302, 12 2B, 9 HR, 34 RBI

Schedule

Friday

Game 1: Yale vs Nebraska - 4pm

Game 2: Oregon State vs Holy Cross - 8pm

Saturday

Game 3: Loser of Game 1 vs Loser of Game 2 - 1pm (elimination game)

Game 4: Winner of Game 1 vs Winner of Game 2 - 7pm

Sunday:

Game 5: Winner of Game 3 vs Loser of Game 4 - 1 pm (elimination game)

Game 6: Winner of game 4 vs Winner of Game 5 - 7pm (potential elimination game)

Monday

Game 7: Winner of game 4 vs Winner of Game 5 - 8pm (If necessary)

All games will be available on the WatchESPN app, while some will air on ESPNU as well

Interesting notes:

• Yale and Holy Cross have played 6 times this season, including a doubleheader this past weekend. The Bulldogs won 5 of the 6 matchups
• The Beavers inaugural trip to Omaha was in 1952. Who won the national championship that year? Holy Cross
• Each team in the regional won their conference title for either the regular season or their conference tournament
• Each team in the regional has previously made it to the College World Series

Prediction

As we learned last Friday there is no such thing as a gimme in baseball, and each team earned a post season berth, but I would be hard pressed to imagine the Beavs not coming out of this regional and hosting a super regional next weekend.