Dax Whitney was dominant early and the Oregon State Beavers were clutch late, beating Louisville 4-3 in walkoff fashion Friday at the Men’s College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
Gavin Turley doubled down the left field line to score Aiva Arquette from first in the bottom of the ninth inning, breaking a 3-3 tie and lifting the Beavers to the dramatic victory on a warm evening at Charles Schwab Field.
The eighth-seeded Beavers now move on to a winners’ bracket game against No. 13 seed Coastal Carolina at 4 p.m. Sunday (ESPN2, ESPN+).
Whitney struck out six of the first seven Cardinals hitters he faced — all swinging — to spark the Beavers (48-14-1) and give his offense a little time to find some rhythm. He would finish with nine strikeouts across 5 1/3 innings.
Louisville starter Patrick Forbes nearly matched Whitney’s dominance in the early innings, touching the high 90s with his fastball and striking out five across the first three innings.
It appeared this one might be a pitchers’ duel into the late innings.
But the Beavers, back in the MCWS for the first time since winning their third baseball national championship in 2018, broke through with their bats in the bottom of the fourth. Trent Caraway led off the frame with a single through the right side, and Arquette followed with an infield single. After a wild pitch by Forbes advanced both runners, Caraway scored on Turley’s groundout. Wilson Weber then drove in Arquette with a single up the middle to put the Beavers up 2-0.
Whitney retired the Cardinals in order in the fifth, but encountered trouble in the sixth. After Louisville (40-23) got runners on second and third with one out, Whitney gave way to fellow right-hander Eric Segura. The Cardinals soon cut the lead to 2-1 when Arquette couldn’t cleanly handle a sharply hit hopper and Kamau Neighbors scored.
The Beavers answered in the bottom of the sixth, with AJ Singer scoring on a fielding error to make it 3-1.
Oregon State right-hander Wyatt Queen held the Cardinals scoreless in the seventh and eighth, but Louisville tied it at 3-3 in the ninth. Turley gambled and dove to try to catch a fly ball, but missed, allowing Zion Rose to slide in for a leadoff triple. Rose scored on Tague Davis’ single to trim the OSU lead to 3-2.
Then Alex Alicea wound up at third after Arquette’s throw to first went wide and Weber couldn’t come up with the ball as he covered in foul territory. Neighbors singled to center to drive in Alicea, tying it at 3-3.
That set up the dramatic finish. Arquette singled to center with one out, then ended it on Turley’s double.
Forbes finished with 10 strikeouts for Louisville, which falls into an elimination game against Arizona at 11 a.m. Sunday (ESPN, ESPN+).
In Coastal Carolina, the Beavers will face a team that has won 24 games in a row.
— Joel Odom writes about trending topics in news, life and culture, and sports. Reach him at 503-221-8594, jodom@oregonian.com or @jkodom on Blue Sky.
