Oregon State Will Play MSU Friday

(KVAL)

OMAHA, Neb. (WCBI Sports/Associated Press) – Matt Boyd pitched a four-hitter and struck out 11 and Oregon State made a fourth-inning sacrifice fly stand for a 1-0 victory over Indiana in the College World Series on Wednesday night.

The Beavers (52-12) won the first 1-0 game at the CWS since 1985. They now face Mississippi State on Friday needing to beat the Bulldogs twice to reach next week’s finals.

The Hoosiers (49-16) went 1-2 in their first CWS appearance and were shut out for the first time this season. Indiana’s Aaron Slegers allowed seven hits in his first career complete game.

Boyd, who pitched his fourth complete game and third shutout this season, flummoxed the Hoosiers with his mix of fastballs and off-speed pitches. He faced the minimum through four innings. The senior left-hander held the Hoosiers hitless until Michael Basil looped a ball into short right field in the fifth. Basil moved to second on Dustin DeMuth’s bunt single, but no Hoosiers runner advanced farther.

The Beavers scored in the fourth when Kavin Keyes singled, went to third on Ryan Barnes’ double and came home on Jake Rodriguez’s sacrifice fly to right.

Boyd earned his first win in five starts since May 10 against Stanford. He had a loss and three no-decisions in between.

The Beavers played error-free defense behind Boyd, picked off runners in the first and third innings and turned a double play in the sixth.

Boyd, who was drafted in the sixth round by Toronto, took the loss in that game, allowing a run on two hits in an inning of relief of Andrew Moore.

Big Ten champion Indiana was the first team from the conference to make it to the CWS since Michigan in 1984. The Hoosiers were the first from the Big Ten to win a game here since the Wolverines beat Stanford in 1983.

But they struggled offensively, particularly against left-handed pitching. After batting .309, averaging 9.4 runs and hitting six home runs in their first five tournament games, the Hoosiers batted .211 and scored a total of six runs in three CWS games.