Home Uncategorized Beavers show they are “Abel” with third CWS Title

Beavers show they are “Abel” with third CWS Title

by Ryan Cole

Beavers show they are “Abel” with third CWS Title

After a thrilling come from behind victory in Game 2 of the College World Series, the Oregon State Beavers were riding high as they took the field for the deciding third and final game of the 2018 baseball season. They knew it wouldn’t be easy against a resilient Arkansas Razorbacks team that had beaten them in Game 1 and nearly again the night before. However, led by Freshman pitcher Kevin Abel, the Beavers showed that they were just that. More than “Abel” to finish off their third College World Series title in program history defeating the Razorbacks 5-0.

See what had happened was…

In front of a sold-out crowd at TD Ameritrade Ballpark in Omaha, Nebraska on Thursday night, the Freshman right-hander Abel dominated. He retired the final 20 batters he faced in a complete game, two-hit, 10 strikeout performance. The two hits allowed by Kevin was the first time in College World Series history that a pitcher allowed two or fewer hits in a complete game shutout. After stranding the bases loaded in the third inning, he was in complete control the rest of the night. This was heart-breaker for Arkansas after they had come so close the night before, but blew it on a popup which could have ended it. Beavers’ Catcher, Adley Rutschman was the offensive star of the game as he went three for four with 3 RBI’s. He was also named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament as he set a record with 17 hits to go with a remarkable 13 RBI’s.

History was made!

The Beavers are the first team to ever have played five games to reach the College World Series finals before going on to win the championship against a team that was undefeated in their quest to the finals. They became only the 10th team in College World Series history to win the title when having lost their opening game of the tournament. Oregon State started out the College World Series with a loss, but recovered from the loser’s bracket to end up winning the title becoming the fifth team to do so. Since the College World Series went to a “best of three” format, the series has now gone to the deciding game 3, eight times.

One more thing to make note of, White Sox draft pick and the second baseman of the Beavers, Nick Madrigal went 0-19 in the tournament. With that being said, both these teams have tons of major league talent so watch out for Nick and others to make their way to minor league rosters in the future.

They’ll be back…

Despite the heartache due to the hard loss, the Razorbacks have nothing to hang their heads about. They fought hard and definitely will be back in the mix next year for another shot at their first-ever championship and Congrats to the Beavers on their third championship in team history.

Ryan Cole is a Writer for Couch Rider Report. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter

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