Loss to Auburn leaves Oregon State out of College World Series 2022
The Oregon State Beavers are very familiar with elimination games. The Beavers have played in win-or-go-home games in three of their last four games, including Monday's contest against Auburn.
While Oregon State was 29-11 coming into Monday's game, the team could not win another make-or-break game.
Auburn (42-20) advanced to its first College World Series since 2019 by defeating Oregon State (48-18) 4-3 at Goss Stadium. The Tigers will join Stanford, Texas A&M, Texas, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Ole Miss in Omaha with a chance to play for a national championship.
Tigers' first baseman Sonny DiChiara was 2-for-2 as he recorded a home run and two RBIs. Oregon State right fielder Justin Boyd registered three hits and a seventh-inning home run.
Jaren Hunter got the start for Oregon State as they decided against putting its usual starter Jacob Kmatz on the mound. Hunter began the game spotless in the first two innings. However, Hunter ran into some issues in the third as he made a mistake to the co-SEC Player of the Year.
With two outs in the inning, DiChiara blasted a two-run home run to left field, giving Auburn a 2-0 lead. Oregon State got on the board in the bottom of the third when a Boyd triple later translated into a run after a Wade Meckler scored Boyd, which made the score 2-1.
Hunter was outstanding the rest of the game. His hit to DiChiara was the only mistake he made the entire game. He pitched five innings as he recorded one strikeout.
Auburn starter Mason Barnett left the game in the fifth inning with runners on first and second after pitching 4.1 innings as he gave up five hits and a run while striking out five batters. Carson Skipper relieved Barnett and struck out Jacob Melton and Travis Bazzana to keep the game at 2-1.
The Tigers added to their lead in the sixth as they scored on an error by Travis Bazzana scored DiChirara. Auburn extended its lead to 4-1 when Kason Howell's safety squeeze bunt scored Bobby Peirce.
The crowd at Goss Stadium was quiet until the bottom of the seventh inning when the Beavers made some noise with their bats. Kyle Dernedde began the inning with a single to the left side. Then Justin Boyd hit a two-run home run, which cut the Tigers' deficit to 4-3.
Blake Burkhalter entered the game in the seventh and closed the door on a Beavers' comeback. He recorded his 15th save of the season after pitching 2.2 innings and striking out five batters.
After being named the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, losing in the Super Regionals is a bit disappointing for Oregon State. The Beavers were looking to return to the College World Series for the first time since 2018 and bring a fourth national championship to Corvallis.
Oregon State looked like the best team in the country heading into mid-May, but the Beavers lost four of five games to end the regular season. Then Oregon State rallied to play in the Pac-12 Championship before losing to the Stanford Cardinal.
Game 2:Oregon State forces third game against Auburn in the Corvallis Super Regional
The Beavers will likely be championship contenders in 2023, but they will likely need to replace a few key players, including 2022 Pac-12 Conference's Player of the Year Melton and arguably the nation's best pitcher Cooper Hjerpe as both players could be early selections in the 2022 MLB Draft.
Contact Register-Guard sportswriter Antwan Staley at astaley@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @antwanstaley
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon State baseball season ends with loss to Auburn
