Oregon State’s redemption tour meets up with Arkansas’ hot swinging Diamond Hogs in the 2018 College Baseball World Series final.
Series Odds
BetDSI Sportsbook has released odds, which you can view below, for this matchup.
Arkansas Razorbacks +275
Oregon State Beavers -335
2018 Baseball College World Series Odds: Super Regionals Favorites and Predictions
Series overlook
Last season Oregon State had the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament with an incredible 56-4 record and went into the bracket final needing a win to get back to the College World Series final for the first time since winning back-to-back in 2006-07.
The Beavers dominated LSU 13-1 in the first matchup of the CWS, but the Tigers advanced to lose to Florida by beating OSU 3-1 and 6-1 in back-to-back games.
It seemed the demons of 2017 had returned to Omaha after North Carolina beat the Beavers to open the CWS, but Oregon State battled back to eliminate Washington, the Tar Heels and Mississippi State in consecutive games.
Arkansas is back to the College World Series for the first time since 2015, but the Razorbacks are making their first finals appearance since 1979.
The Arkansas bats have pummeled opponents all tournament and in the CWS the Razorbacks went 3-0 with an 11-5 win against Texas, 7-4 against Texas Tech and 5-2 against defending champions and No. 1 overall seed Florida.
Coaching matchup
For 24 seasons Pat Casey has been leading OSU and for the third time he’s led the Beavers to the College World Series final.
Both trips have ended with titles for Casey and OSU.
Dave Van Horn leads the Diamond Hogs into the College World Series final for the first time since he took over in 2003.
Van Horn has led Arkansas to five CWS and he also led Nebraska to two, but until this season he hadn’t led a team to the final series.
Advantage: Oregon State
Pitching matchup
The Beavers arguably have the best ace in the nation in Luke Heimlich and if not for a very big off field issue he would’ve been drafted very high instead of being undrafted.
He struggled against UNC in the opener, but fellow pitchers Kevin Abel, Brandon Eisert and the rest of the Beavers staff bailed him out and got OSU into the final.
During the tournament OSU starters have an ERA of 3.52 with 52 hits and 13 walks while striking out 46.
While Arkansas has been know for its hitting this tournament, the pitching has been stellar all season.
The Razorbacks had five pitchers drafted including all three starters lead by Blaine Knight (3rd round, Baltimore Orioles). He is the ace of the staff at 13-0 with a 2.88 ERA, 96 strikeouts and 24 walks.
During the tournament, the Razorbacks have an ERA of 3.59 with 30 hits, 14 walks and 35 strikeouts.
Advantage: Arkansas
Batting matchup
Half of the Oregon State lineup was drafted in earlier this month including infielders Nick Madrigal (No. 4 overall, Chicago White Sox), Cadyn Grenier (No. 37, Baltimore Orioles) and Mike Gertler (10th round, Pittsburgh Pirates) and outfielders Trevor Larnach (No. 20, Minnesota Twins) and Steven Kawn (5th round, Cleveland Indians).
The Beavers have the third best hitting team in the nation at .323 and during the tournament they are averaging 9.7 runs per game.
Arkansas also had five hitters drafted with outfielder Eric Cole (4th round, Kansas City Royals), catcher Grant Koch (5th round, Pittsburgh Pirates), shortstop Jax Biggers (8th round, Texas Rangers), second baseman Carson Shaddy (10th round, Washington Nationals) and catcher Zack Plunkett (37th round, Arizona Diamondbacks).
The Razorbacks hit .302 during the season, the 11th best in the nation, and in the tournament they are averaging 8.3 runs per game.
Advantage: Oregon State
Prediction
When you look at the stats, both during the tournament and the season overall, Arkansas and Oregon State have little separation.
The Razorbacks look to have a better staff overall, at least MLB scouts believe so, and good pitching always seem to slow down good hitting.
But the Beavers don’t have good hitting, they are a great hitting team and looking for redemption from last season.
With solid pitching to boot, Oregon State takes the title.
