There was plenty of nervous energy at midnight in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Monday.

After back-to-back two-strike hits, the Sam Houston State Bearkats brought the potential winning run to the plate in the form of pinch-hitter Jake Tatom with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Despite breezing through the first two batters of the inning, Oregon State closer Ryan Brown ran into some trouble, and the Beavers were struggling to get that elusive 27th out. With the tying run on second, a single from Tatom would tie the game.

On a 1-1 pitch, Tatom laced a sharp line drive into the outfield, but playable for Brady Kasper. As the sophomore right fielder shifted over and squeezed the final out, there was a collective sigh of relief from the Beaver faithful at Alex Box Stadium. The Beavers held on for a 3-1 victory over Sam Houston State.

The result means the Beavers will live to see another day in their 2023 season and set up a rematch meeting with the regional host Louisiana State University Tigers, tomorrow morning in the Baton Rouge Regional.

Oregon State did all their damage with two outs in the fourth inning. With runners on the corners, third baseman Mikey Kane blooped a base hit to right field to tie the game at one. In the following plate appearance, Brady Kasper laced a liner to right field that plated two more runs.

After putting up a run in the first inning, Sam Houston State never scored again. Freshman right-hander Aidan Jimenez didn’t surrender a run in six innings of work and recorded six strikeouts.

After surviving the elimination game on Sunday night, it is still an uphill battle for the Beavers, who must beat the No. 5 ranked Tigers twice to advance to the NCAA baseball super regionals. The Beavers and Tigers will play at 11:00 A.M. on Monday and, if necessary, will play a winner-take-all game at 3:00 P.M, if the Beavers force a game 7.