CORVALLIS, Ore. — Kyle Nobach had three hits and four RBIs, and the No. 3 national seed Oregon State beat LSU 12-0 Sunday in the NCAA Corvallis Regional.
The Beavers (47-10-1) will host Minnesota in the best-of-three super regional round. The Golden Gophers defeated UCLA 13-8 Sunday night to advance out of the Minneapolis Regional.
“I think our offense has been doing a pretty good job all year long. We’ve had stretches where we hit some balls right at guys, but we feel confident from the top of the order to the bottom of the order,” Beavers second baseman Nick Madrigal said.
LSU (39-27) did not have the help of two of its starters at the regional. Right-handers Ma’Khail Hilliard and AJ Labas were both out over the weekend because of shoulder issues.
Steven Kwan homered to spark a three-run first inning for the Beavers. Michael Gretler added an RBI single, and another run scored when Jack Anderson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. LSU walked in another run in the second, and Cadyn Grenier scored on a fielder’s choice to make it 5-0. Grenier added a solo homer in the third.
The Beavers got four more runs in the sixth to take a 10-0 lead. Nobach hit a two-run double while Jack Anderson and Zak Taylor each added RBI singles. Oregon State’s final two runs came in the eighth.
Kevin Abel (4-1) pitched eight shutout innings, allowing just three hits with eight strikeouts. Devin Fontenot (3-1) pitched an inning of relief in the loss, allowing five runs on three hits.
“We knew that they were up against it with arms, and that we had to force their hand a bit, and we knew we were going to be aggressive when we had the chance,” Beavers coach Pat Casey said.
The night before, Oregon State beat LSU 14-1. The Tigers topped Northwestern State 9-5 earlier Sunday in the double-elimination regional at Goss Stadium.
“We could have liked to have been a little more competitive, but they deserved it. They’ll advance and our season ends,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri.
LSU eliminated Oregon State from the 2017 College World Series in the semifinal round.
