The Oregon State Beavers baseball team kicked off the 2024 NCAA Tournament with a big win over Tulane Friday evening in the Corvallis Regional.
On Saturday, No. 1-seeded OSU will look to continue its hot start to the postseason and secure a spot in the regional final when it hosts No. 2 UC Irvine at Goss Stadium at 7 p.m.
Star sophom*ore Gavin Turley did the heavy-lifting for the Beavers on Friday and smashed a fifth-inning grand slam to lead an explosive offensive showing.
"I feed off the energy of the crowd," Turley said. "If it wasn't for them — I feel like what I do on a day-to-day basis is for them. (Trent Caraway) said it last night, like, 'Hey, let's go put on a show.' So I feel like that's sort of my job: to go out there and put on a show. They paid money to be here, so I'm gonna give them something that's worth watching."
Jacob Kmatz (6-2, 3.48) will get the starting nod for Oregon State, while Trevor Hansen (6-3, 5.64) will start for UC Irvine.
Follow along for updates from Goss Stadium.
FINAL: Oregon State 5, UC Irvine 3
Top of the 9th inning — Oregon State 5, UC Irvine 3
Bridger Holmes stayed on to face the Anteaters' 7-8-9 hitters. He struck out the first two batters he faced, but then walked Jo Oyama to brung the tying run to the plate.
But Holmes buckled down and rolled a groundout to shortstop to end the game.
Bottom of the 8th inning — Oregon State 5, UC Irvine 3
Jabin Trosky, Elijah Hainline, and Mason Guerra were retired in order in the eighth inning.
Top of the 8th inning — Oregon State 5, UC Irvine 3
Oregon State veteran righty Joey Mundt took over on the mound to start the eighth. He sandwiched a strikeout between two walks to begin the inning.
Mundt's second walk of the inning prompted a mound visit from pitching coach Rich Dorman. Immediately after that, Caden Kendle smashed an RBI double to cut Oregon State's lead to 5-2. Anthony Martinez followed with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 5-3.
Dorman then turned to all-conference closer Bridger Holmes. The star right-hander walked the first batter he faced, but then rolled a ground ball up the middle to end the inning.
Bottom of the 7th inning — Oregon State 5, UC Irvine 1
Oregon State loaded the bases by way of three straight walks. From there, the Anteaters turned to righty reliever David Utagawa. He halted the Beavers' momentum by getting Brady Kasper to roll into a 4-6-3 double play, but OSU got a run across the plate in the process.
Then, Utagawa struck out Elijah Hainline to end the inning.
Top of the 7th inning — Oregon State 4, UC Irvine 1
Oregon State's Jabin Trosky replaced Trent Caraway at third base to start the inning, marking the second night in a row that the Beavers opted to make a late-inning defensive substitution.
Jacob Kmatz stayed on and worked another 1-2-3 inning. He ended the frame by striking out Chase Call swinging, and then gave a massive first pump while strutting back to the dugout.
Kmatz's last pitch of the inning was his 108th of the night.
Bottom of the 6th inning — Oregon State 4, UC Irvine 1
With two outs, Elijah Hainline smashed a standup triple to the deepest part of the ballpark. That spelled the end of the night for Irvine starter Trevor Hansen.
The Anteaters turned to freshman righty Riley Kelly to face Mason Guerra. Kelly walked Guerra on five pitches.
Kelly then battled back and got Travis Bazzana to ground out and end the inning.
Top of the 6th inning — Oregon State 4, UC Irvine 1
After a rocky couple of innings, Jacob Kmatz produced his quickest frame of the night. He needed just eight pitches to work a 1-2-3 sixth. He's now at 94 pitches for the game.
Bottom of the 5th inning — Oregon State 4, UC Irvine 1
Elijah Haineline and Mason Guerra lined back-to-back singles to leadoff the inning. That brought Pac-12 player of the year Travis Bazzana to the plate with a chance to do further damage after his third-inning homer. But UC Irvine's Trevor Hansen staged a seven-pitch battle before striking Bazzana out looking.
Hansen got Micah McDowell to pop up for the second out, then proceeded to load the bases by walking Gavin Turley.
Then, Dallas Macias came through with a timely knock and ripped a two-run single through the right side to pad OSU's lead. Hansen escaped further damage by striking out Brady Kasper to end the inning.
Top of the 5th inning — Oregon State 2, UC Irvine 1
UC Irvine's Woody Hadeen laced a two-out double to left field to get the Anteaters on the board. Dallas Macias nearly made a really nice catch, but couldn't hang onto the ball.
Bottom of the 4th inning — Oregon State 2, UC Irvine 0
OSU's Brady Kasper smashed a single through the left side, but he was left stranded. After four innings, UC Irvine starter Trevor Hansen is at 65 pitches.
Top of the 4th inning — Oregon State 2, UC Irvine 0
UC Irvine's Myles Smith led off the frame with a missile of a line drive off the top of the right field fence that went for a single after right fielder Brady Kasper got the ball in quickly with a good throw. The Anteaters challenged the play as they believed Smith's hit cleared the top of the fence and should have been ruled a home run.
After a video review, the call stood and Smith stayed at first base. Jacob Kmatz proceeded to work around the big hit and escaped the inning without further damage.
Bottom of the 3rd inning — Oregon State 2, UC Irvine 0
Travis Bazzana launched his 28th home run of the year — a moonshot down the right field line — to give Oregon State an early lead. Micah McDowell followed with a hard-hit double to right-center, but was left stranded.
Top of the 3rd inning — Oregon State 0, UC Irvine 0
Jacob Kmatz worked around a throwing error from third baseman Trent Caraway and held UC Irvine scoreless for the third straight inning. He is at 41 pitches on the night.
Bottom of the 2nd inning — Oregon State 0, UC Irvine 0
UC Irvine starter Trevor Hansen produced another three up, three down inning that ended with a tremendous play from shorstop Woody Hadeen.
Top of the 2nd inning — Oregon State 0, UC Irvine 0
Oregon State starter Jacob Kmatz racked up two more strikeouts, then ended the inning with a loud flyout from Will Bermudez to right field.
Bottom of the 1st inning — Oregon State 0, UC Irvine 0
UC Irvine starter Trevor Hansen answered back with a 1-2-3 inning of his own in the first. That included strikeouts of Oregon State stars Micah McDowell and Gavin Turley.
Top of the 1st inning — Oregon State 0, UC Irvine 0
Oregon State starter Jacob Kmatz struck out the side in the top of the first inning to get the Beavers off to a strong start.
Oregon State starting lineup vs. UC Irvine
- 1) Travis Bazzana 2B
- 2) Micah McDowell CF
- 3) Gavin Turley DH
- 4) Dallas Macias LF
- 5) Brady Kasper RF
- 6) Wilson Weber C
- 7) Trent Caraway 3B
- 8) Elijah Hainline SS
- 9) Mason Guerra 1B
- RHP Jacob Kmatz (6-2, 3.48 ERA)
UC Irvine starting lineup vs. Oregon State
- 1) Woody Hadeen SS
- 2) Myles Smith CF
- 3) Caden Kendle LF
- 4) Anthony Martinez 1B
- 5) Dub Gleed DH
- 6) Will Bermudez 2B
- 7) Thomas McCaffery C
- 8) Chase Call RF
- 9) Jo Oyama 3B
- RHP Trevor Hansen (6-3, 5.64)
Who are the announcers for Oregon State baseball's Corvallis Regional game against UC Irvine?
- Broadcast team:Roxy Bernstein and Wes Clements
What channel is Oregon State baseball's Corvallis Regional game against UC Irvine on?
- Watch:ESPN2
- Stream:Fubo
What time is Oregon State baseball's Corvallis regional game against UC Irvine?
- Date:Saturday, June 1
- Start time:7 p.m.
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
