OMAHA, Neb. -- Bunting by the Oregon State Beavers played a huge role in Game 2 of the College World Series championship series at TD Ameritrade Park on Wednesday night.
The Beavers benefitted from a pair of bunts by nine-hole hitter Preston Jones and Caydn Grenier to score a go-ahead run and take a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning against the Arkansas Razorbacks.
A bunt backfired in the following inning, however, as pinch hitter Jack Anderson tried to lay one down with runners on first and third and no outs against Razorbacks reliever Kole Ramage.
Michael Gretler reached to lead off the inning on third baseman Casey Martin's throwing error. Tyler Malone stroked Ramage's next pitch into right-center field to chase Gretler to third.
On an 0-1 count, Anderson bunted a little pop-up to the first base side of the mound. Ramage got a good break on the ball, caught it a few inches above the ground and immediately pivoted toward third. His throw to Martin was right on the bag and Martin made a swipe tag of Gretler, who had wandered too far off the bag on contact.
Early hook
Bryce Fehmel became the sixth Oregon State starter in seven games who failed to make it out of the fifth inning at the College World Series.
Fehmel was pulled after walking Heston Kjerstad to lead off the third inning. The right-hander's three starts in Omaha lasted 4, 3 2/3 and 2 innings. Pitching on four day's rest against the Razorbacks, Fehmel gave up an earned run on one hit, three walks and a hit batsman. His lone wild pitch led to the run in the second inning.
Pitchout play
The Razorbacks had an inkling Kyle Nobach would be on the move or just showed great intuition during a steal attempt in the second inning.
Catcher Grant Koch came out of his stance to grab an outside pitch from Kacey Murphy to right-handed hitting Preston Jones and easily threw Nobach out on the pitchout.
Shin-dig?
Arkansas first baseman Jared Gates went trotting to first after being hit by an 0-2 pitch in the second inning as the Razorbacks struck for the first run. Replays appeared to show Gates trying to get his front leg, his right, out of the way, and the ball just glancing off his left shin or upper foot.
Oregon State Coach Pat Casey argued the call, but after a brief huddle the umpiring crew allowed Gates to stay at first.
Kwan gone
Oregon State submitted two different versions of its lineup with Steven Kwan included before putting in a final starting group that did not include the center fielder with the ailing hamstring.
Kwan was originally listed as the leadoff batter, then he was dropped to the nine hole, then taken out in favor of Preston Jones in the ninth spot, with second baseman Nick Madrigal batting first.
Big crowd
Game 2 of the College World Series championship series drew an announced attendance of 25,580, most of them wearing Razorback red, to TD Ameritrade Park. The total draw for the series was announced as 314,159.
It was the 13th time the College World series has drawn a total attendance of 300,000 or better.
99 hits
Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman's eighth inning single was his 99th hit of the season and his 13th of the College World Series. His 99 hits tied the school record originally accomplished by Jacoby Ellsbury in 2005.
Going for 13
Oregon State's Trevor Larnach and Adley Rutschman became the first teammates in College World Series history to notch 13 hits each.
Larnach got his 13th hit with a first inning single Wednesday. The right fielder had six extra-base hits heading into game 2 of the finals. Rutschman's 13th came in the bottom of the eighth after he hit a solo home run in the fourth inning to tie the game 1-1.
HBP tally
Oregon State's Luke Heimlich hit his 19th and 20th batters of the season Tuesday and it came at an inopportune time for the Beavers' ace.
Heimlich plunked Arkansas nine-hole batter Jax Biggers to load the bases, and leadoff man Eric Cole to force in the go-ahead run during the Hogs' four-run fifth inning. Heimlich also walked a batter, gave up singles to Jared Gates and Grant Koch and suffered an error during the fateful fifth. Prior to the Hog rally, he had five strikeouts and had only allowed one hit.
"I think he obviously was commanding his pitches. I thought he was doing really well," Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman said after Tuesday's game. "Just a couple bad breaks. Things happen."
Going low
Oregon State, which averages 7.7 runs per game, had scored one or fewer runs in only two games this season before falling 4-1 to Arkansas on Tuesday.
USC pitched the only shutout of the season against the Beavers in an 8-0 decision on May 20 in Los Angeles. Six days later, UCLA beat the Beavers 4-1 in Corvallis, Ore.
Oregon State has been held to three or fewer runs only eight times and is 4-4 in those games.
Home, woe
Home teams fell to 3-11 at the College World Series after Oregon State's 4-1 loss to the Razorbacks on Tuesday. The only victories by the home team had come in the opening round -- Mississippi State's 1-0 victory over Washington and Arkansas' 11-5 victory over Texas -- and in Oregon State's 12-2 victory over Mississippi State in the first game of the Bracket 1 finals last Friday.
Around the horn
• Carson Shaddy's go-ahead RBI single in the fifth inning was Arkansas' first two-strike hit of the series according to ESPN. The Hogs had been 0 for 31 prior to that.
• Tom Hart of ESPN interviewed Bill Bakewell and Kevin McReynolds, key performers on the 1979 Arkansas team, during the sixth inning and the exchanges were played on the video board at TD Ameritrade Park.
• Fans, the majority wearing Razorback red, were reportedly lined up at the general admission gate by 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Sports on 06/28/2018