LSU will face off with Oregon State on Saturday in the winner’s bracket of the Baton Rouge Regional in the NCAA Tournament. Oregon State defeated Sam Houston State 18-2 following LSU’s 7-2 win over Tulane.
The Tigers will take the field against the Beavers at 8 p.m. C.T., and the game will be televised on ESPN2.
Sam Houston got off to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but the Beavers scored 18 unanswered runs on 22 hits to secure the win.
With 22 hits, the Beavers obviously thrived at the plate.
Micah McDowell went four for four on the game with a home run, three singles and six RBIs. Travis Bazzana, who leads the team with a .379 batting average, went four for six with four singles. Gavin Turley went three for six with two doubles and six RBIs, and Garret Forrester went three for five. Similar to LSU’s offense, anyone is capable of catching fire.
On the mound, the Beavers also did not have to use many arms. Trent Sellers went 7.1 innings in the start, struck out five, and gave up two earned runs on three hits. Braden Boisvert and Victor Quinn pitched in relief for the last 1.2 innings, and only gave up two hits combined.
Thatcher Hurd and Ty Floyd are two possible candidates to get the start against the Beavers Saturday night. However, they are both right-handed pitchers, and Oregon State found a lot of success hitting off Sam Houston State’s right-handed starter, Coltin Atkinson.
Sam Houston State brought in a left-handed pitcher first in relief, and the hitting decreased for Oregon State significantly. This being said, the possibility of Javen Coleman, a left-handed pitcher, getting the start shouldn’t be ruled out.
For Oregon State, Jacob Kmatz would be the most likely candidate for the starting job against LSU if not for an injury. In the Beaver’s last Pac-12 regular season against UCLA, Kmatz was the Saturday starter. The sophomore, right-handed leads the team in innings pitched at 72.2 innings, a 4.71 ERA, and a 5-4 record.
Unfortunately for the Beavers, Kmatz picked up an injury and is not available to start, according to a report by The Gazette Times. Rhett Larson and AJ Lattery are two potential candidates to start.
Despite Oregon State being seeded below LSU, the win is most certainly not guaranteed. The Beavers are a similar team to LSU, but what will give the Tigers the edge is the home field advantage.
Saturday’s matchup will be an opportunity for the Tigers to prove themselves a lot. Despite being the No. 1 team in the country for a large portion of the season, the team has showed that they are certainly beatable and have flaws. But a win over a talented Oregon State team can show critics that they aren’t pretenders.
