Over the weekend, Oregon State clinched the Corvallis regional outscoring their opponents 27-3 over the course of three straight wins. Now, the tournament’s number one overall seed look to secure their spot in Omaha with Vanderbilt coming to town for a best of three series. The Commodores won the Clemson regional as a two seed with victories over the host team as well as St. John’s.

How To Watch:

Game 1-ESPN2, Game 2-ESPN, Game 3-ESPN2 or ESPNU

How To Listen:

The game will air live on the Beaver Sports Network, TuneIn (search Beaver Sports Network) and OSUBeavers.com.

The Beavers:

Oregon State sits at 52-4 on the year after two emphatic wins over Yale and one against Holy Cross in regional play. The pitching staff remains nearly perfect with the top team ERA in D1 and the top two individual ERAs with Luke Heimlich and Jake Thompson. Heimlich even drew comparisons to historically great Major League left handers like Steve Carlton and Sandy Kofax from Yale head coach John Stuper.

The offense looked almost equally impressive during regionals with 41 hits in 3 games. That includes the second game against Yale where Golden Spikes candidate Nick Madrigal reached base on four bunts in one night. The Beavs are rolling on all cylinders at the moment with plenty of reasons to be confident riding a nineteen game win streak.

The Commodores:

Vanderbilt and Oregon State haven’t faced off since the 2011 Super Regional in Nashville. Vanderbilt won that series on their way to a finish in the College World Series semifinals. While this is obviously a different team than the one from six years ago, Vandy has a familiar feel this year with plenty of offensive firepower. The Commodores are 36-23-1 this year and finished third in the SEC East behind Kentucky and Florida.

Vanderbilt also has some really solid pitching at their disposal. During the season, they produced the lowest opposing batting average in the entire SEC at .221. Their team ERA was 3.54, which was 22nd in the nation. Patrick Raby and Kyle Wright will likely be the two starters that OSU will face. At the plate, third baseman Will Toffey is one of the hotter players still in the tournament. Toffey had two home runs and five RBIs in their latest win and was named the Clemson Regional MVP after recording nine hits, eight runs, and ten RBIs in those four games.

The Schedule:

(Game times and projected starting pitchers are subject to change)

Friday June 9th - 6 PM PT

RHP Patrick Raby (10-3, 2.36 ERA) vs Jake Thompson (13-0, 1.30 ERA)

Saturday June 10th - 6 PM PT

RHP Kyle Wright (5-5, 2.98 ERA) vs Luke Heimlich (11-1, 0.76 ERA)

Sunday June 11th - 6 PM PT

RHP Drake Fellows (3-3, 3.30 ERA) vs Drew Rasmussen (3-0, 0.83 ERA)

Conclusion

Oregon State has found ways to dig out wins all year and this weekend will have to be no exception. In order to secure a trip to Omaha, the pitching staff needs to continue to be locked in and the offense needs to seize every opportunity to add to a lead. Winning the series is well within their wheelhouse, however. This should be a good one, folks.