Easton Talt’s final collegiate at-bat came in hostile territory.
With Oregon State down 4-1 on the scoreboard with two outs and no baserunners in the bottom of the ninth, the senior outfielder faced a tall order to rally the Beavers out of elimination against the Oregon Ducks in Game 6 of the Eugene Regional.
On a 2-0 count, Talt finally made contact, but the ground ball bounced into the waiting glove of Ducks infielder Brayden Jaksa, who scampered to first base for the easy out.
The rowdy PK Park crowd of 4,278, already on their feet, erupted. A mass of green jerseys rushed the field. The Ducks were off to the super regional in Austin, Texas. And the Beavers were headed home.
“At the end of a year, there only can be one winner,” Oregon State Head Coach Mitch Canham said postgame, “and everyone else is stuck with those feelings of separation for a little bit, but still never forget about the proud moments.”
The Ducks defeated the in-state rival Beavers Sunday evening, 4-1, to advance in the 2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament. In the double-elimination regional, Oregon State needed to win to push the final to Monday, while Oregon just needed a single victory, which the Ducks managed.
“It does feel good to beat those guys (Oregon State), just because they’re 45 minutes down the road,” Oregon senior Drew Smith said, “but yeah, it’s just a great win.”
Oregon State got on the board first, with Talt landing an RBI single in the second inning that scored sophomore Adam Haight.
On the mound, the Beavers started junior right-hander Wyatt Queen, who had played as recently as OSU’s Friday loss to Washington State, where he tossed 38 pitches.
Queen added 63 more to the weekend Sunday across 4.2 innings, logging a season-high seven strikeouts. He gave up a tying run in the third, but finished with a game ERA of just 1.93.
“Queen, doing what he did after throwing 40 pitches two days ago,” Canham said. “Incredibly dominant.”
The game remained tied until the Ducks blew the scoring open in a productive seventh inning that gave them the game-winning lead. Senior Isaac Yeager, pitching in relief of Queen for OSU, loaded the bases, with the Beavers substituting in senior closer Albert Roblez to get out of the jam with just one out.
But with the crowd blaring down on him, Roblez gave up two RBI walks and a single, giving the Ducks a 4-1 lead.
For Roblez, who also threw 40 pitches on Friday, the weekend marked the first career appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the senior transfer.
“The older guys … I wanted them to get us to that final game, and they pitched their hearts out, and they’ve been nails all stinking year,” Canham said. “Roblez gives the best hugs in the whole world, and that guy had tears in his eyes because of how much this group and this season meant to him. Just like him and everyone else, they’re a part of this family forever.”
Despite putting up 10 runs earlier in the day in an elimination match win over Washington State, the Beavers struggled to muster offensive production against the rested Ducks, failing to score any more runs after their first.
“I think it’s a privilege to be in these situations,” OSU freshman left fielder Josh Proctor said. “To be hurt, to be tired like this – that’s the best thing you can ever experience, like you’re in playoff baseball. You got to love all the bad things that come with it, and it just makes you feel alive.”
Despite losing by three runs, the Beavers finished with the same number of hits as the Ducks: seven.
“Mental game,” Oregon Head Coach Mark Wasikowski said when asked what separated the two teams. “(The Ducks) understood how valuable it is, and I think that’s what carried our team through.”
The Oregon players also credited the PK Park crowd for helping the Ducks gain the win.
“I felt them on every single pitch,” Oregon starter Miles Gosztola said. “I almost felt like they carried me through some of that ballgame. When fatigue started to set in, it was amazing to be a part of.”
The Beavers managed two baserunners in the eighth inning, but weren’t able to capitalize and save their season.
But after the game, Canham made sure to focus more on the players than the result.
“Obviously, the end of the season is always extremely difficult, not from wins and losses, but from people,” Canham said in his opening statement. “And I’ll put it like this: When we’re leaving the gate, my little ones come over to me, and my daughter is bawling her eyes out, and I said, ‘It’s OK, sweetie,’ and she goes, ‘No. … I don’t get to see Easton Talt anymore, I don’t get to see (seniors AJ Hutcheson and Jacob Krieg) anymore.’”
“And so you know, they reminded me of something more special than baseball: the people. And that will always be the case.”
With the loss, the Beavers, D1Baseball.com’s No. 8 team in the nation, finished the year with a 45-14 record and the best team ERA in Division I, even after ace Dax Whitney’s midseason injury. OSU fought until Day 3 of the regional round, but fell short of the goal the team talked about all year: The College World Series, which the team reached the year prior.
“This team was great,” Proctor said. “We knew we could compete at the best level, and we knew we could make it to Omaha. That didn’t happen, but we definitely had the talent. But yeah, all we can do is just get at it next year.”