OMAHA, Neb. – Buses and planes got the Oregon State Beavers around the country this baseball season, as the team without a conference traveled far and wide to play a competitive schedule in hopes of making it back to Omaha for the College World Series.
Thirty-four of their 58 games this season have been either on the road, where they are 13-7, or at neutral sites, where they are 11-3-1. All that time away from Corvallis, though, made the team’s bonds stronger.
“I just [saw] it as an opportunity to spend more time with the guys, kind of develop those relationships even more because even the waits that got long or the bus that didn’t show up on time or stuff like that, just sometimes you see it after the fact and you’re like, ‘Oh, this kind of sucks,’ but it’s more time getting there. Playing cards with the boys and just hotel time, too. I just saw it as a blessing this year,” said catcher Wilson Weber on the Beavers’ long road through a season-long non-conference schedule that took them to seven states from Texas to Hawaii, a sojourn the program was forced into when most of the programs in the Pac-12 joined other conferences after the 2024 season.
In Louisville, they’ll face a speedy team that likes to run every chance they get.
“They got a handful of guys, three guys over 30 bags, one guy is 51-for-52. There’s real speed there,” said Oregon State head coach Mitch Canham. “I’ve seen guys who are really quick to the plate and they still take bags off of them. I’ve seen guys have howitzers for arms behind the dish and they’re still getting bags off of them.”
Canham, a thoughtful student of the game, has a lot of respect for Louisville, who may not have made much of a splash in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, where they were ousted after one game by Pittsburgh.
“I know Louisville they do a lot of things really well. Watched a handful of their games already. Doing a bit a deeper of a dive on some of their hitters and situational stuff,” he said. “You could tell they deserve the right to be here is how they’ve gone about their business. They’ve played a lot of really good teams. We’ve got to make sure we’re ready to go out and compete.”
In the other dugout is a Cardinals team that has dealt with injuries, including losing starting catcher Matt Klein for half the year after he was hit by a pitch the second weekend of the season.
“On the offensive side, it’s great to have him in the lineup. You have a very strong bat in Matt Klein. It makes us as hitters feel a lot better about ourselves,” said Eddie King Jr., a senior outfielder carrying a .362 average, 17 homers and 60 RBIs into Omaha. “I feel it takes a lot of pressure off of batters. Just having him back is really key, and he’s like one of the biggest parts of the lineup, so I’m glad he’s back.”
Likewise, pitcher Patrick Forbes said that Klein has boosted the pitching staff since returning.
“Everybody feels comfortable throwing to Matt. We know he’s going to give it 100 percent when he’s back there. That’s all you can ask for,” Forbes said. “It’s great to have him back. I think it’s a big reason why the pitching staff has had a lot of success in the postseason.”
Recognizing the adversity that Oregon State has faced this season, Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell knows they’re going to be stiff competition.
“Even though they’ve been through something really bizarre with their league breaking up and not having a home, you knew they had a lot of talented kids,” McDonnell said. “So now you just took a team, really talented, who I think, like us, a different path to get here but a chip on our shoulder, I don’t know how you’re part of the athletic program and you don’t have a chip on your shoulder. There’s a reason they’ve done what they’ve done this year. … It doesn’t surprise I don’t think anybody in college baseball as to why they’re here and how good and dangerous they are.”
A year ago, pitching in high school in Idaho, freshman pitcher Dax Whitney knew that his first year at Oregon State would be somewhat different, given the circumstances. But on Thursday afternoon in Omaha, he recognized the significance of what the Beavers had accomplished in this different kind of season
“I think we’re more prepared than anybody to go do this thing. We’ve been handling adversity all year,” said Whitney. “We welcome it all the time. So I think we’re better trained than anybody in the country to go do this thing.”
Oregon State Beavers (47-14-1)
How They Got In The Tournament: Earned the No. 8 national seed based upon their RPI rating.
Regional Results: Lost to St. Mary’s 5-4, Beat TCU 7-2, Beat St. Mary’s 20-3, Beat USC 14-1, Beat USC 9-0 to win Corvallis regional
Super Regional Result: Beat Florida State 5-4 (10 Innings), Lost to Florida State 3-1, Beat Florida State 14-10
College World Series Appearances: 1952, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2025
National Championships: 2006, 2007, 2018
Louisville Cardinals (40-22, 15-15 ACC)
How They Got In The Tournament: At-large bid, No. 2 seed at Nashville Regional
Regional Results: Beat East Tennessee 8-3, Beat Vanderbilt 3-2, Beat Wright State 6-0
Super Regional Result: Beat Miami 8-1, Lost to Miami 9-6, Beat Miami 3-2
Results vs. Other CWS Participants: Beat Arizona 14-1 on February 16
College World Series Appearances: 2007, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2025
National Championships: None
TV – Every game of the 2025 College World Series will be televised live on ESPN.
Photo: Oregon State infielder Aiva Arquette (13) celebrates while scoring on an Oregon State outfielder Gavin Turley (1) home run during an NCAA regional baseball game on Friday, May 30, 2025, in Corvallis, Ore. (AP Photo/Mark Ylen)
