Game 1 went to Arkansas against Oregon State in a pitcher’s duel. The bats tend to come alive in Game 2, so look for more runs on Wednesday.
Game Odds
BetDSI Sportsbook has released odds, which you can view below, for this matchup.
Oregon State Beavers -160
Arkansas Razorbacks +120
Pitching matchup
Looking to keep the Beavers’ season alive for one more game will be Bryce Fehmel. Fehmel is 10-1 this season with a 3.61 ERA, but during the tournament he’s 1-0 with a 4.69 ERA four walks and 18 strikeouts.
Looking to end the season and give the Razorbacks’ their first national title in program history will be Detroit Tigers’ 11th round pick Kacey Murphy. Murphy is 8-5 with a 3.15 ERA during the season and in the tournament he’s 1-1 with a 3.17 ERA seven walks and 12 strikeouts.
Lineup matchup
Blaine Knight kept the Oregon State bats quite for the most part, but the Beavers had their chances to get more than the one run.
Oregon State actually swung it better than Arkansas in Game 1, going 9-for-34, but some misfortunes with a runner interference call killed a rally early.
The No. 4 overall pick by the Chicago White Sox, Nick Madrigal, went 0-for-4 in the game while Cadyn Grenier (No. 37 overall, Baltimore Orioles) and Steven Kawn (5th round, Cleveland Indians) combined to go 2-for-8 making the top three in the Beavers’ lineup 2-for-12.
Arkansas was 5-for-32 in Game 1 with 16 strikeouts, but manufactured four runs in the fifth with a hit and a couple hit batters.
The Razorbacks top six batters went 2-for-23 while the bottom third went 3-for-9 with an RBI.
Prediction
Oregon State isn’t ready for the season to be over. The Beavers came into the tournament looking to redeem last year and now they are looking to redeem themselves from last night.
They’ve been to the brink already having won four elimination games already in the College World Series, knocking off Washington, North Carolina and Mississippi State twice.
Look for this series to go the distance with a Game 3 Thursday night.
