CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Wilson Weber, Trent Caraway and Tyce Peterson all homered to back a strong start by Ethan Kleinschmit and No. 8 overall seed Oregon State avoided elimination in the Corvallis Regional with a 20-3 romp over Saint Mary’s on Sunday.
The Beavers (43-13-1) need to beat No. 3 seed USC twice — Sunday night and again on Monday — to move on to the super regionals. The Trojans (37-21) need one win to advance.
Saint Mary’s (36-26), which handed Oregon State a stunning 6-4 loss on Friday night, was making just its second ever NCAA Tournament appearance. The Gaels’ only other tournament appearance came in 2016.
For the Beavers Sunday, Kleinschmit (8-3) yielded two runs on five hits and three walks in 7 2/3 innings — throwing 114 pitches. Joey Mundt got the final four outs.
Oregon State took a 1-0 lead in the second inning without a hit off Gaels starter Lukas Sarantos (3-1). Caraway walked on a 3-2 pitch, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on a wild pitch before he scored on a sacrifice fly by Canon Reeder.
The Beavers added two unearned runs in the third, No. 9 batter Peterson hit a solo home run in the fourth, and Caraway did the same in the fifth for a 5-0 lead.
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Saint Mary’s got within 5-2 in its fifth on RBI singles by Eddie Madrigal and Cody Kashimoto. Oregon State answered with a nine-run sixth to put it out of reach.
Sarantos allowed three runs — one earned — in 2 1/3 innings. Tai Gardini gave up Peterson’s homer and Noah Waldeck surrendered Caraway’s shot. Weber homered off Elliott Joslin in a six-run ninth.
Oregon State has played in eight straight NCAA Tournaments and 32 overall. The Beavers have made seven College World Series appearances — most recently in 2018 when they won it for the third time. They won back-to-back championships in 2006-07.
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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports