Ducks, Beavers Baseball Seasons End in Dramatic Fashion at Regional Finals

Photo by Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Ducks and Beavers both see their seasons come to a close in the regional finals of the NCAA Baseball Tournament on Monday.

Oregon State’s magical run came to an end in their 8-5 loss to Dallas Baptist in the Fort Worth Regional. Beavers got out to a 5-0 lead and held that lead until things started to go south in the sixth inning. Reliever Bryant Salgado came in to replace Chase Watkins in the bottom of the sixth. Salgado has allowed just one earned run all season long before giving up a two-out single, followed by a two-run homerun that put Dallas Baptist on the board.

Right-hander Nathan Burns took the mound for Oregon State in the seventh inning, full of confidence from his previous outing. However, Burns would go on to walk the base loaded and was relieved by Joey Mundt. Mundt’s first pitched got away from him and sailed high at batter Andrew Benefield who connected with it and launched the ball over the fence for the go-ahead grand slam.

Dallas Baptist goes up 6-5 on a grand slam

— Oregon State Baseball (@BeaverBaseball) June 7, 2021

Beavers had an opportunity down 8-5 in the top of the ninth inning with two men on base and the tying run at the plate, but Andy Armstrong grounded out and Oregon State’s season would come to a close.

As for the No. 14 ranked Oregon Ducks, they held a 7-6 lead over LSU in the bottom of the eighth inning in what was a dramatic back-and-forth game. LSU scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth, which included a go-ahead balk. Oregon put together a ninth inning, but the Tigers were able to hold off the Ducks 9-8 and stamp their ticket to the Super Regional against No. 3 ranked Tennessee on Saturday.

Tough pill to swallow with the way the season ended, but @CoachWazUO proud of the collective effort all season long. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/AVaWgq1ELW

— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) June 8, 2021