Beaver Fever strikes, and now they are Omaha-bound
The Beavers celebrate their 14-10 victory over Florida State to claim the Corvallis Super Regional title and send them on to the College World Series (courtesy Karl Maasdam)
CORVALLIS — Something contagious was going around the Oregon State dugout at Goss Stadium early in Sunday’s finale of the Corvallis Super Regional.
In the bottom of the first inning, after spotting Florida State a 2-0 lead, Trent Caraway got it started with a single, Aiva Arquette followed with a walk, and their teammates couldn’t help but catch what was going around.
Beaver Fever.
When the smoke cleared, the Beavers had sent 11 men to the plate, bashed a pair of homers and scored seven runs, and the Seminoles didn’t know what hit them.
Two innings later, Oregon State did it again, tacking on six more runs for a 13-3 lead, and the visitors from the ACC were dazed, confused and down for an eight-count.
“It is definitely contagious,” Caraway said of the blitzkrieg that propelled the Beavers to a 14-10 victory, securing the Super Regional championship and a spot in next week’s College World Series. “When we are all hitting, we are dangerous. No one can compete with us.”
For the first three innings, the Beavers were all hitting. It was like batting practice, “and that stadium was absolutely rocking,” coach Mitch Canham said. “It was about setting a tone early, and our guys didn’t take the foot off the gas pedal.”
Actually, they did let up. The Beavers (47-14-1) scored a run in the fourth on a solo homer by Tyce Peterson, then went scoreless the rest of the way. Florida State (42-16) kept chipping away, enough to make the denizens of Beaver Nation — and surely the OSU coaches — a bit nervous in the closing innings.
But when Nelson Keljo punched out Florida State shortstop Alex Lodise on a called third strike to end the game in the ninth, it was Mardis Gras time at Goss.
“Oma-ha!” the fans chanted. The players swarmed together on the infield, then took a victory lap around the stadium, celebrating with the cheering fans in the left- and right-field stands as well as those standing and clapping and dancing in the seats behind home plate and along both baselines.
Had there been a roof over the park, the bedlam would have blown it off.
“Omaha is in the Beavers’ blood,” declared Canham, who as an All-America catcher helped lead Oregon State to back-to-back titles in 2006 and ’07 and is now coaching the seventh OSU team to make it there since 2005.
After rallying from a 4-1 ninth-inning deficit to win 5-4 in 10 innings Friday, then scoring only one run on Saturday, the Beavers came out with barreled bats on Sunday. They smacked 12 hits, including a school postseason record five home runs.
“Really good team on that other side,” Florida State coach Link Jarrett said graciously afterward. “They played better than we did.”
Nearly an hour after the final pitch, Canham was still marveling at his players’ resilience, not only from Saturday’s tough 3-1 loss that evened the best-of-three series at a game apiece, but at the 2-0 deficit the Beavers faced before they came to the plate for the first time Sunday.
“We go down two runs in the first and these guys respond in such an incredible way,” Canham said with a smile. “If you are surprised, shame on you.”
With redshirt freshman right-hander James DeCremer making only his third start of the season, Florida State got off to a good start when Max Williams crushed a pitch to right-field for a two-run homer.
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Then came the first Beaver barrage, chasing Florida State left-handed Wes Mendes.
Five hits, three walks and a hit-by-pitch. A towering three-run homer to left-center by junior outfielder Canon Reeder, who had been pinch-hit for in the ninth inning of Saturday’s loss.
Canon Reeder prepares to deliver a three-run homer in Oregon State’s seven-run first inning (courtesy Karl Maasdam)
“That is something I will remember for the rest of my life,” said Reeder, a graduate of Bend’s Summit High. “It was a good feeling to get a few runs across for the boys.”
Right-fielder Carson McEntire followed Reeder’s blast with a skyscraper solo shot down the left-field line. It was the redshirt freshman’s first appearance in the postseason.
Trent Caraway (44) greets Carson McEntire after the freshman ripped a first-inning solo shot in his first appearance in the postseason (courtesy Karl Maasdam)
That’s right: McEntire hadn’t played at all in Oregon State’s first seven Regional and Super Regional games. But he got the start Sunday, partially because he bats right-handed and partially because left-handed Easton Talt had whiffed four times in Saturday’s contest. Canham sent nine right-handed batters at Mendes and knocked him out before the first inning was over.
“You are up two, and feeling good going into the bottom half,” Jarrett said. “Then you walk out of there and are down 7-2.”
Oregon State added a half-dozen more in the third, batting around for the second time in three innings. Caraway airmailed a grand-slam to left-center, his seventh round-tripper of the postseason. After Arquette singled to center, Gavin Turley sent one halfway up the batter’s eye in deep center, a shot that was measured at 422 feet, for his 19th four-bagger of the season.
Peterson led off the fourth with a fifth OSU homer, a solo shot to left, and the Seminoles — shellshocked for the second time in three days — trailed 14-4. They didn’t quit, pounding out 17 hits, including three home runs. But the visitors ran out of rally time at the end.
“We found ourselves in too big of a hole,” Jarrett said. “It wasn’t for lack of fight, but when (an opponent) hits that many balls over the fence, it is hard to overcome it. There were two innings we could not escape. The game revolves around the big inning. Those (two) were the difference in this series.”
The Beavers made the most of their opportunities Sunday, leaving only three runners on base.
“The Florida State pitching staff was pretty good Friday and Saturday, but we pushed a lot of runs across today,” Reeder said. “There was never a doubt that our bats were going to do their thing.”
It wasn’t a pitcher’s day, but Canham paid tribute to true freshman Zach Kmatz, who entered in the sixth when things were beginning to get hairy and restored order with 2 2/3 strong innings of relief.
Freshman Zach Kmatz threw 2 2/3 strong innings of relief (courtesy Karl Maasdam)
“Kmatz has thrown some really big innings and gotten some quick outs for us this year,” Canham said. “It has been fun watching him develop. When you are out there in the big moments, those pitches aren’t easy to make.”
OSU used five pitchers, who were expertly managed by senior catcher Wilson Weber in his final outing at Goss.
“Wilson was taking all the mound visits,” Canham noted. “He didn’t need anyone else to go out there. He is our general on the field.”
Florida State was a College World Series team a year ago, winning a pair of games in Omaha. Jarrett believes the Beavers are capable of doing some damage there this year.
“They are a really talented team,” said the third-year Florida State skipper, who coached Notre Dame to the CWS in 2022. “They have good arm talent. They have good young guys. They know how to use them. They are physical. They play with good energy and emotion. When they get going, you can sense that. That is one of the reasons why they capitalized on those big innings.”
Jarrett was asked about Oregon State’s independent status and road-heavy schedule.
“That probably toughens you a little bit,” he said. “That galvanizes you as you go. They are a tough team and … they are a mature group.”
Since losing 6-4 to unsung Saint Mary’s in the opener of the Corvallis Regional a week ago, Canham has maintained that the Beavers were meant to do it the “not-easy way.” Oregon State is 5-0 in elimination games this postseason, including 4-0 in the Regional.
Oregon State’s 2025 team will represent the school in Omaha for the seventh time since 2005 (courtesy Karl Maasdam)
“We thrive when our backs are against the wall,” Reeder said. “We have shown that throughout the season. That is what we do, for sure.”
“This is the way it was supposed to happen,” Canham said. “I am overwhelmed with emotion.”
He choked up when asked about sharing a moment with his predecessor, Pat Casey, after the game. In his response, Canham mentioned Dan Spencer, Casey’s pitching coach during the time Mitch played at OSU (now head coach at Linfield), and Jack Riley, Casey’s predecessor as the Beavers coach.
“Case has been such a great mentor to me, he and Dan Spencer,” Canham began. “I talk to Spence once a week. They are guys who turned my life around when I was here as a student-athlete. I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am right now if it weren’t for Case and Spence and everyone else who took care of me when I was here.
“I cherish every moment I get to spend with Case. He shows up and everyone is on the edge of their seat listening to his every word. He inspires me to want to do great things. I want to complete the job that Jack Riley and Case started here. I never want to let them down.”
Seated next to Caraway and Reeder at a post-game media availability, Canham told the players they are regarded as “superheroes” in Beaver Nation for what they have accomplished this season.
“You guys are going to be remembered forever in this area, for the joy you gave people who watched you play,” Canham said.
Coach Mitch Canham with Corvallis Super Regional championship trophy
“You have to take a second to embrace it,” Reeder said. “For what we have been through this season, it has been tremendous. To be in the position where we are, we have to step back and appreciate what we have done.
“But we are just getting started, man.There are eight teams left, and we want to be the last one standing.”
Oregon State will face another ACC school, Louisville (40-22), in its first CWS game either Friday or Saturday. The Cardinals beat Miami in the Louisville Super Regional, besting the Hurricanes 3-2 in Sunday’s Game 3.
On the same half of the bracket are Arizona and Coastal Carolina. On the other side: Arkansas, LSU, UCLA and Monday’s winner of Duke vs. Murray State.
The CWS games are at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha. None of the OSU contingent has played there except Zach Taylor, the team’s director of player development, who was first baseman on the last Beaver team to claim a national championship in 2018. Then the stadium was known as TD Ameritrade Park. During Canham’s playing days, the CWS was held at old Rosenblatt Stadium.
When the Beavers were in Nebraska for a three-game series with the Cornhuskers in late March, Canham had the team bus drive by Schwab Field.
Canham had the audacity to declare, “This will be our home in a few months.”
“We took a slow drive past it,” Reeder said. “Everyone was looking out the window and soaking it in. We didn’t want to get too deep into it, because we had a job to finish still. But it gave us a little taste of what is to come.”
Now the Beavers will get to go inside and attempt to finish the job. In Canham’s mind, and that of his players, that is the way this remarkable season is supposed to end.
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