Audibly, it was Goss Stadium. Visibly, it was still the University of Oregon’s PK Park.
The No. 2-seeded Oregon State Beavers were the designated home team to start Game 1 of the NCAA Baseball Tournament’s Eugene Regional Friday afternoon.
But despite the sound of a chainsaw blaring through the rival Ducks’ home speakers after 16 strikeouts from the OSU pitching staff, the Beavers couldn’t hang on to win, falling to No. 3 seed Washington State, 3-2.
“I don’t think anybody on our program is shocked,” Washington State Head Coach Nathan Choate said postgame. “I know there’s a lot of other people that are shocked, but I think our program (and) our players are not shocked.”
With the loss, the Beavers drop to the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination regional.
Oregon State jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a Jacob Galloway RBI double in the second inning. However, Washington State tied it up in the fourth after OSU starting pitcher Ethan Kleinschmit hit two batters in the frame; the Cougars’ Max Hartman would score after an OSU throwing error while he stole third base.
“Guys hold their ground, they crowd the plate,” OSU Head Coach Mitch Canham said of WSU’s batting lineup postgame. “But it’s one of those things, typically the team that gives up less free bases has a really good chance of winning the game.”
The Beavers responded in the fifth inning with an Easton Talt sacrifice fly scoring senior first baseman Jacob Krieg, giving OSU a 2-1 lead. Krieg earned the start for the Beavers, bumping the team’s usual first baseman, Ethan Porter, to designated hitter.
“His practice work has been really good,” Canham said of Krieg, calling the senior one of the best defensive first basemen in the country.
Kleinschmit hit a career-high three batters Friday afternoon, but didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning.
A Hartman single that put runners on first and second base after a leadoff walk. Kleinschmit’s second hit came at the next at-bat, an RBI single from WSU’s Matt Priest that tied the game at 2-2.
Kleinschmit managed one more strikeout, his ninth of the game, before being pulled to a standing ovation from the Oregon State-heavy crowd. Kleinschmit finished with one earned run across 5.2 innings after pitcher Wyatt Queen got the inning’s last out in relief.
Queen’s hot streak lasted through a scoreless seventh inning, but he gave up three hits, including what would be a game-clinching RBI double from WSU’s Dustin Robinson, to open the eighth.
With no outs and the bases loaded after Oregon State intentionally walked the Cougars’ Ryan Skjonsby, the Beavers substituted in closer Albert Roblez on the mound. Roblez would finish the rest of the game for OSU, logging five strikeouts, no hits, and no runs across two innings.
But even after cycling through the top of the batting lineup in the eighth inning, the Oregon State offense couldn’t get hot, solidifying the final score after a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth.
“Just keep swinging,” OSU third baseman Paul Vazquez said of the Beavers’ offense. “We know we have the capability to do it, so it’s not pressure or anything.”
Washington State starting pitcher Nick Lewis lasted all nine innings for the Cougars, earning just one strikeout but not issuing a single walk. He finished the game with two earned runs and six hits.
“I thought (Lewis) had another quality pitching performance,” Canham said. “(He) eliminated free bases as well – it’s something that on our side we had far too many of those. … It’s not overpowering if you’re looking at the numbers, but he executes pitches and he wanted the ball throughout the entirety of the game.”
The Beavers aren’t out of the tournament yet; they’ll play the loser of Friday’s matchup between No. 1 seed Oregon and No. 4 seed Yale on Saturday at 1 p.m. in a loser-goes-home matchup at PK Park.
It’s not an unfamiliar situation for the highly-ranked Beavers, who also dropped their first regional matchup in 2025, a postseason where the team advanced all the way to the College World Series.
“We did it last year, backs against the wall,” Kleinschmit said. “I mean, (we) didn’t get to host the regional, so everyone’s already doubting from the start, but I think we’re just ready to go, continue to play baseball.”
“That just brings it closer together,” Vazquez said of OSU joining the loser’s bracket. “At this point, you’re fighting to play baseball one more day, so you just have a lot of fun doing it.”