The Beavers are 13-0 after sweeping the Hartford Hawks over the weekend and downing Portland in a midweek contest. Ranked the #1 team in the land by Collegiate Baseball (and #2 in every other set of rankings), OSU is one of just five undefeated teams left in D1 along with Louisville, Texas Tech, Auburn, and Florida State. This week, they face the Cal State-Fullerton Titans in a rematch of the opening series of last year’s College World Series. CSUF seems to have had a rough start to the year, however, so will we get the epic battle we were hoping for...? I guess we’ll find out.

Projected starting pitchers are subject to change.

How To Watch

Friday’s game will be broadcast on the Oregon State Livestream via the Pac-12 Conference’s website. Saturday and Sunday’s games will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.

How To Listen

For a full list of radio stations across the state that will carry the games, check the game notes provided by OSU athletics. OSUBeavers.com will also have the audio all weekend.

Schedule

Game 1: Friday, Mar. 9 - 5:35 PM PT

Game 2: Saturday, Mar. 10 - 1:00 PM PT

Game 3: Sunday, Mar. 11 - Noon PT

Opponent Outlook

With four national championships and 18 College World Series appearances to their name, the Fullerton Titans are one of the first names that come to mind when you think of “baseball schools”. There’s seemingly something different about this team though. The Titans began the year getting swept by Stanford on the road and followed it up with a loss to Nevada at home before taking one of three against the Houston Cougars. They then lost by ten runs to UCLA at home, but most recently they won their three-game series against Tulane in New Orleans.

CSUF is currently in last place in the Big West conference with their 3-8 record. A big part of this has simply been their struggle to keep offensive pace with their opponents. They’ve got just 90 so far this year, which averages out to about 8 per game. Their opponents have mustered 109 hits against them. Coming into this series, Oregon State has totaled 136, which is tied for 25th in the nation.

Poor fielding has also plagued CSUF in spots this year. In two particular games last month against Houston and UCLA, Fullerton had five errors on their way to losses. Furthermore, they’ve allowed fewer than five runs just twice all year. Sunday starter Blake Workman has the lowest ERA on the team at 2.92 but hasn't been able to secure a win just yet.

In Conclusion

After Fullerton began the year as the preseason favorite to win their league and nationally ranked in the top-fifteen, I think this series was making a lot of people nervous on the Oregon State side. But with how the first few weeks have gone, those worries are significantly smaller. OSU should definitely win the series, but I would not rule anything out given the minor scares that Hartford provided.