Oregon State Holds on to Defeat Titans, 3-2

Saturday’s victory over CSUF was the first time in the Beavers’ four CWS appearances that they won their opening game.

Scott Santschi hit his first homer of the season and had two runs batted in as defending champion Oregon State survived some nervous moments to defeat Cal State-Fullerton 3-2 in the College World Series on Saturday night.

Freshman righthander Jorge Reyes pitched six innings and allowed just one run on three hits to earn the win for OSU (45-18), outdueling Titan standout Wes Roemer.

Oregon State will now play fellow Pac-10 member Arizona State on Monday at 6:00 PM in the winners’ bracket game of their pool.

On Sunday, OSU will practice from 10:00 AM - noon at Bellevue East High School and then attend a steak feed before having the rest of the day free.

Monday’s game will be televised on ESPN2, and all of the Beavers’ CWS games can be heard on KEJO-AM (1240) in the Corvallis area, KUIK-AM (1360) in the Portland area, KKNX-AM (840) in the Eugene area, KBZY-AM (1490) in the Salem area, KICE-AM (940) in the Bend area, KMED-AM (1440) in the Medford area, KRNR-AM (1490) in the Roseburg area, KNPT-AM (1310) in the Newport area, KAGO-AM (1150) in the Klamath Falls area and KODL-AM (1440) in The Dalles area, and KTIX-AM (1240) in the Pendleton area.

Saturday’s victory over CSUF (38-24) was the first time in the Beavers’ four CWS appearances that they won their opening game, having suffered defeats in the first round in 1952, 2005 and 2006.

“It’s nice to win the first game,” OSU head coach Pat Casey said. “And to beat Wes Roemer – one of the best pitchers in the country – is good. We defended well in the infield ... I thought it was a pretty solid ballgame on both sides of the line.”

Reyes, Joe Paterson and Eddie Kunz combined to allow six hits as the Beavers began their bid to become the first repeat champion since Louisiana State in 1996-97.

“People asked me ‘Are you sure you want to do that?’” Casey said of starting the freshman Reyes. “But when we send them home for Christmas, we tell them they aren’t freshmen any more.”

Reyes allowed a pair of singles in the first inning, then a solo homer by the Titans’ Nick Mahin in the bottom of the third inning that cut OSU’s lead to 2-1. In his six innings of work, he walked two and struck out three.

“You can say all you want, but when you step up there, it’s something you’ve never experienced before,” Reyes said of his debut at Rosenblatt Stadium. “I felt lucky today. Whatever it takes to win, I was going to do it. It’s really nice to have the defense behind you; it’s one of the best defenses in the country. It’s nice to be able to throw strikes and not be afraid.”

It was the 43rd time in OSU’s 63 games this season that the Beavers allowed an opponent three runs or less, and the seventh time in their eight postseason games.

Roemer struck out seven to become the school's career leader. Otherwise, it was another disappointing CWS start for the Arizona Diamondbacks' first-round draft pick.

Mike Lissman homered deep into the leftfield bleachers in the first inning and Santschi singled in a run in the second to put the Beavers up 2-0.

Roemer retired the next 13 in a row and 15 of 17 before Santschi homered to right with one out in the seventh to make it 3-1.

It was Santschi's first home run since June 11, 2006, the day the Beavers swept a super regional against Stanford to set the stage for their first championship run in Omaha. Santschi has three career home runs, and two of them have come in the postseason.

“I just went up there looking for pitches to hit,” Santschi said of facing Roemer. “Something that was straight over the plate.”

The Beavers, holding a one-run lead, got two quick outs to start the ninth before the Titans made things interesting.

Evan McArthur hit a short fly, and shortstop Darwin Barney and left fielder John Wallace couldn't decide who would catch it. Barney peeled off at the last moment, leaving Wallace in an awkward position to make the play. Wallace took a step left, then lunged to his right, with the ball popping out of his glove.

Kunz came on and gave up a single to pinch-hitter Jon Wilhite, putting runners at the corners. Kunz then got pinch-hitter Joel Weeks to ground out to end the game.

The Titans, who got a home run from Nick Mahin in the third, were set up for a big inning in the eighth after Joe Scott singled and moved to third when Clark Hardman's hard hit up the middle deflected off Paterson's foot into right field.

With runners on first and third and none out, the Titans tried a safety squeeze play. Paterson fielded Josh Fellhauer's bunt and caught Scott in a rundown between third and home.

Hardman and Fellhauer moved up to second and third on the play before Mahin's sacrifice fly pulled the Titans to 3-2. Paterson got John Curtis to fly out to end the inning.

Reyes (6-3) allowed three hits and one run in six innings before giving way to Paterson to start the seventh. Kunz earned his 12th save.

Roemer (11-7), who came into the CWS off three straight complete games, worked eight innings. He struck out seven to run his career total to 365, one more than Adam Johnson (1998-2000).

Roemer, one of the country's most dominant pitchers for three years, is now winless in three CWS starts. He had a no decision and loss against North Carolina last year, getting worked over for six runs and 10 hits in 4 2-3 innings in the opener of the championship series.

The victory was OSU’s third straight over two seasons in Omaha, as the Beavers defeated North Carolina in the final two games of the 2006 championship series. In fact, Saturday night’s 3-2 score was identical to the score of the final game in 2006 when OSU beat North Carolina.