After cruising through the Corvallis Regional last weekend, the Oregon State Beavers will face their toughest test of the season this weekend when they square off with the No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats in the Lexington Super Regional.
The No. 15 Beavers (45-14, 19-10 Pac-12) are seeking their eighth-ever trip to the College World Series and first since their title-winning trip to Omaha in 2018. Kentucky (41-14, 22-8 SEC) is two wins away from its first World Series berth in program history.
"I think we're in a really good spot," Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana said. "I've kind of said this a couple times the last week or so: really high hopes leading up to the season, really good fall, such a talented squad, and a combination of, again, the little injuries in the middle of the year and just finding ourselves as a group. It always felt like there was hitting at points in time a couple weeks with no pitching and defense and then there was pitching and defense with no hitting. Again, the last couple weeks we've been able to sort of put together all cylinders of the game, and it's been really enjoyable."
Follow along for live updates as the Beavers and Wildcats face off in Lexington.
FINAL: Kentucky 10, Oregon State 0
Top of the 9th inning: Kentucky 10, Oregon State 0
Jackson Nove sat Elijah Hainline, Brady Kasper, and Mason Guerra down in order to close out the game.
Bottom of the 8th inning: Kentucky 10, Oregon State 0
Oregon State reliever Laif Palmer stayed in and worked around a one-out double from Mitchell Daly to hold Kentucky scoreless.
Top of the 8th inning: Kentucky 10, Oregon State 0
Oregon State's 2-3-4 hitters went down in order against Kentucky lefty reliever Jackson Nove.
Bottom of the 7th inning: Kentucky 10, Oregon State 0
Emilien Pitre drew a leadoff walk, then immediately stole second. Devin Burkes followed with a bloop single to put runners on the corners with nobody out.
Cleanup man Nick Lopez struck out swinging, and Burkes stole second base in the process. The Beavers then turned to right-handed reliever A.J. Hutcheson.
The Wildcats greeted Hutcheson with a safety squeeze, and Mitchell Daly put down a great bunt to score Pitre, who slid under Wilson Weber's tag. Kentucky put another run on the board when Devin Burkes stole third, and then advanced on a wild throw from Wilson Weber.
Then, Ryan Nicholson busted the game open with a towering two-run homer to make it 7-0.
Hutcheson issued two more walks before Oregon State lifted him from the game for righty Noah Ferguson. Things didn't get any better after that for the Beavers. Ferguson threw three wild pitches and allowed three more runs to score before being replaced by Laif Palmer.
At long last, Palmer ended the inning by forcing a pop-up.
Top of the 7th inning: Kentucky 3, Oregon State 0
Oregon State star freshman Trent Caraway came on to pinch hit for Jabin Trosky with one out and worked a six-pitch walk. Then, another pinch-hitter, Wilson Weber, replaced Tanner Smith in the No. 9 spot of the Beavers' lineup and struck out swinging.
With two outs, Travis Bazzana smoked a line drive to the left-field warning track, but Ryan Waldschmidt made an incredible leaping catch to rob the Beavers' leadoff man of extra bases and end the frame.
Bottom of the 6th inning: Kentucky 3, Oregon State 0
Kentucky ambushed Aiden May with back-to-back singles to start the sixth inning, and that spelled the end of the day for the Beavers' starter.
Joey Mundt came on in relief and worked three straight outs to escape the jam.
May's final line is as follows: 7 hits, 3 earned runs, 1 walk, and five strikeouts K in 5.0 innings of work. He threw 85 pitches, including 52 strikes.
Top of the 6th inning: Kentucky 3, Oregon State 0
Trey Pooser showed no signs of slowing down in the sixth. The Kentucky starter struck out Dallas Macias looking to begin the inning, then retired Elijah Hainline and Brady Kasper to end the frame.
He's at 95 pitches on the day.
Bottom of the 5th inning: Kentucky 3, Oregon State 0
James McCoy greeted Aiden May with a leadoff single and then May hit Grant Smith with a pitch to give Kentucky two runners on with nobody out. At that point, pitching coach Rich Dorman came out for a mound visit and Joey Mundt began warming up in the OSU bullpen.
Leadoff man Ryan Waldschmidt came to the plate and May walked him on four pitches to load the bases. Emilien Pitre followed with a two-run double to center field to put the Wildcats up 3-0.
May managed to limit the damage by striking out cleanup hitter Nick Lopez and popping Mitchell Daly up to right to end the inning.
Top of the 5th inning: Kentucky 1, Oregon State 0
Mason Guerra was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Then, Jabin Trosky rolled a groundball that was ready-made for a double play. By Trey Pooser threw the ball into center field, giving the Beavers two on with nobody out and No. 9 hitter Tanner Smith at the plate. Smith was unable to get a bunt down, though, and eventually struck out.
Travis Bazzana followed by drawing a walk to load the bases. But Pooser fought back and struck out Micah McDowell and Gavin Turley to end the threat.
Bottom of the 4th inning: Kentucky 1, Oregon State 0
Nick Lopez cracked a leadoff single, and Kentucky was aggressive in trying to move him into scoring position. But Mitchell Daly popped up a bunt that led to Jabin Trosky throwing out the lead runner at second. Later, Elijah Hainline threw Daly out at third while he was trying to advance on a ground ball.
Aiden May forced Nolan McCarthy to ground out and end the inning.
Top of the 4th inning: Kentucky 1, Oregon State 0
Kentucky starter Trey Pooser retired the Beavers in order. He needed just 59 pitches to get through the first four innings of the day.
Bottom of the 3rd inning: Kentucky 1, Oregon State 0
Aiden May blew a 96-mile-per-hour fastball past Kentucky leadoff man Ryan Waldschmidt to strike him out for the second time today. Then, May retired Emilio Pitre on a first-pitch groundout, and struck out Devin Burkes to end the inning.
Top of the 3rd inning: Kentucky 1, Oregon State 0
Kentucky starter Trey Pooser navigated his way through the most dangerous part of Oregon State's lineup. He struck out Travis Bazzana swinging and later got Gavin Turley to fly out to end the inning
Bottom of the 2nd inning: Kentucky 1, Oregon State 0
Nick Lopez led off the inning with a double, and Ryan Nicholson followed with a double of his own two batters later to get Kentucky on the board.
Dallas Macias made a stellar catch in left field to rob Nolan McCarthy of a hit.
Top of the 2nd inning: Oregon State 0, Kentucky 0
Elijah Hainline began the inning by smashing a single up the middle. But Trey Pooser retired Brady Kasper, Mason Guerra, and Jabin Trosky in order to leave him stranded.
Bottom of the 1st inning: Oregon State 0, Kentucky 0
Oregon State starter Aiden May worked a 1-2-3 first that included strikeouts of Ryan Waldschmidt and Devin Brukes. He needed just 11 pitches to get through the inning.
Top of the 1st inning: Oregon State 0, Kentucky 0
Kentucky's Trey Pooser worked around a two-out walk to hold Oregon State scoreless in the top of the first.
Beavers' center fielder Micah McDowell lifted a ball to the warning track on his first at-bat of the day.
Oregon State Beavers starting lineup vs. Kentucky Wildcats
- 1) Travis Bazzana 2B
- 2) Micah McDowell CF
- 3) Gavin Turley DH
- 4) Dallas Macias LF
- 5) Elijah Hainline SS
- 6) Brady Kasper RF
- 7) Mason Guerra 1B
- 8) Jabin Trosky 3B
- 9) Tanner Smith C
- RHP Aiden May (7-0, 2.88)
Kentucky Wildcats starting lineup vs. Oregon State Beavers
- 1) Ryan Waldschmidt LF
- 2) Emilien Pitre 2B
- 3) Devin Burkes C
- 4) Nick Lopez DH
- 5) Mitchell Daly 3B
- 6) Ryan Nicholson 1B
- 7) Nolan McCarthy CF
- 8) James McCoy RF
- 9) Grant Smith SS
- RHP Trey Pooser (6-1, 3.77)
What channel is Oregon State baseball's Lexington Super Regional game against Kentucky on?
- TV Channel:ESPNU
- Streaming:Fubo
Who are the announcers for Oregon State baseball's Lexington Super Regional game against Kentucky?
- Broadcast team:Roxy Bernstein and Xavier Scruggs
What time is Oregon State baseball's Lexington Super Regional game against Kentucky?
- Date:Saturday, June 8
- Start time:3 p.m. PT
Jarrid Denney covers high school sports and Oregon State for the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at JDenney@salem.gannett.com or on X @jarrid_denney
