The Oregon State baseball team’s trip to the Midwest began with visions of Omaha and the College World Series. Literally.
The Beavers drove past Charles Schwab Field after they arrived for a three-game series against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and coach Mitch Canham told his players to take a peek and savor the moment.
“Here it is boys,” Canham said. “This will be our home in a few months.”
Not if they have more performances like Sunday afternoon.
The Cornhuskers bludgeoned the fifth-ranked Beavers, 16-7, at Haymarket Park, using a stunning nine-run seventh inning to earn a series victory in front of 4,671 in Lincoln, Nebraska.
It was the Beavers’ worst loss of the season, surpassing the inexplicable no-show against Minnesota at the Round Rock Classic last month and the ninth-inning meltdown at Cal Poly last week.
The Cornhuskers (12-15) entered the weekend in a funk, sitting four games under .500 and lacking a win in a three-game series this season, thanks in large part to a dreadful offense that ranked 260th nationally in batting average (.246) and 252nd in runs scored per game (5.4). But Nebraska had a field day with Oregon State pitching, pounding the Beavers for 28 runs and 37 hits — including eight home runs — while amassing a .370 batting average in the series.
A large chunk of the damage came in the seventh inning on Sunday, when an ostensible OSU comeback victory slowly devolved into a disaster.
The inning started well for the Beavers (20-6), who used a Wilson Weber two-run homer and Easton Talt run-scoring double to take a 7-6 lead. It erased what had been a three-run deficit earlier in the game and sent veteran reliever Joey Mundt to the mound.
The 6-foot-4 right-hander started strong, striking out back-to-back Nebraska batters to open the inning, before everything fell apart. Mundt walked Case Sanderson on four pitches, plunked Cayden Brumbaugh and Dylan Carey to load the bases, and was pulled in favor of freshman right-hander Zach Edwards.
Then things morphed into a slow-pitch softball game.
Tyler Stone ripped a two-run single to center. Max Buettenback belted a three-run homer to right. Robby Bolin slapped an infield single. Riley Silva smacked an RBI single to right. Brumbaugh ripped a two-run single to left.
When it was all said and done, Nebraska had sent 13 men to the plate, scored nine runs, amassed five hits and taken advantage of six free passes (two walks and four hit batters) from a trio of OSU pitchers (Mundt, Edwards and James DeCremer).
Mundt (1-1), who gave up three runs, suffered his first loss of the season.
It was the worst inning for the Beavers’ pitching staff since March 29, 2024, when it allowed 10 runs in the fifth during a 17-4 defeat to the Trojans. The Cornhuskers’ 16 runs are the third-most by an OSU opponent in the Canham era, trailing only the 17 in that loss to the Trojans and the 25 surrendered in an unforgettable 25-22 defeat to UCLA in the 2022 Pac-12 baseball tournament.
It didn’t help that sophomore left-hander Ethan Kleinschmit labored through his worst outing of the season, allowing six runs on seven hits — including two homers — in four innings. But the loss was on the Beavers’ bullpen, which coughed up 10 runs, seven hits and six free passes. The only bright spot was sophomore right-hander Laif Palmer, who tossed two scoreless innings in relief of Kleinschmit.
In the end, it was the struggling Cornhuskers, and not the Beavers, who left the weekend with buzz and momentum. Nebraska not only earned its first win in a three-game series this season, but also earned its first series victory over a top-10 team since March 6, 2011, when it defeated No. 5 UCLA.
Note: The game, which started an hour late (at 11 a.m.) because of cold temperatures, ended after eight innings because of the Beavers’ travel schedule. It was determined that no inning could start after 2:15 p.m. so that the Beavers would have enough time to pack up and make it to the airport for their return flight to Oregon. The bottom of the eighth inning ended at 2:17.
Next up: Oregon State and UC Irvine open a three-game series Friday at 5:35 p.m. at Goss Stadium in Corvallis.
— Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | @freemanjoe.bsky.social | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.