Oregon State right-hander Kellan Oakes (20) celebrates after an inning-ending strikeout against USC on Sunday, June 1. Oakes earned the win over the Trojans, allowing one hit and striking out four in 1.2 innings of relief. Courtesy photo: Emma Calimag-Sisson/Oregon State Athletics

For three-straight days, Oregon State baseball showed up to its own ballpark, Goss Stadium at Coleman Field in Corvallis, with its feet to the fire and facing elimination.

And for three-straight days the Beavers managed to not only put the fire out, but turn it lose on whatever team they faced and whoever toed the rubber or stood in the batters box.

The Beavers tour de force through the losers bracket of the 2025 Corvallis Regional was without, a shadow of a doubt, the best and most-complete baseball Mitch Canham’s team had strung together for the first time since they stepped foot on a baseball diamond in 2025.

Sure, Oregon State entered its own regional as the top-seeded team and one that, as a top-8 seed in the 64-team field, was in line to host a Super Regional if it took care of business. And, sure, the expectation for any team in the same position as the 2025 Beavers come postseason play is to win these games. But the fashion in which Oregon State did it — a ruthless dismantling akin to a hungry apex predator hunting — was simply jaw dropping. Beyond just being impressive, the four-straight wins the Beavers rattled off were historic, too.

When the dust had settled and Oregon State emerged from the losers bracket victorious, the program became the first in over a decade (2014 Louisiana) to rally from a game one loss and advance to a Super Regional.

No. 9 Florida State, who breezed through its own Tallahassee Regional in three games, will be the next team to fill the visiting dugout of Goss when the Corvallis Super Regional begins next weekend. Before then, get up to speed on the most-important takeaways from Oregon State’s five-game frenzy at home.

Trent Caraway: Folk Hero

Since sophomore third baseman Trent Caraway stepped onto Corvallis’ campus last season as a true freshman, the expectations were laughably high. The high school shortstop who rewrote California baseball factory JSerra Catholic High School’s record book could have been playing professional baseball from the day he got his high school diploma, lauded as a top-100 draft prospect in the 2023 Major League Baseball draft. Instead, he chose to take the college route.

His freshman season was injury-riddled, having his finger broken after a bunt attempt against Utah in the early months of the 2024 campaign and missing over two months of the season. The injury affected his feeling in the broken finger even after he returned in May of 2024 for Oregon State’s postseason push and lingered into his summer in the Cape Cod League. The early months of the 2025 season made Caraway look like a mortal, finishing out the regular season with a batting average just a tick over .250 and a team-high 11 fielding errors in the hot corner. The body of work was that of  a serviceable, bottom of the order college baseball player who might have a position change to deal with in his near future.

Caraway, a self-described “gamer”, did what gamers do when the pressure is on — play their best. And in the Corvallis Regional, Trent Caraway went from serviceable to a folk hero, looking like the player scouting reports and preseason hype had believed in all along.

“(Caraway) getting hot brings a lot of energy to the rest out the guys (and) really extends our lineup,” Canham said. “You can obviously see it. He’s an extremely special hitter, he’s scary.”

The sophomore was named the Corvallis Regional’s MVP and the all-regional selection at third base, putting together a triple-slash line of .529/.667/1.471 with nine hits in 17 at-bats, 10 RBIs, seven walks and just five strikeouts. He also played an error-free third base in seven chances across the five games, helping turn a double play, too.

Of his nine hits, six went for extra bases, while five were home runs. Yes, in five games over four days Trent Caraway hit five home runs. The effort was an Oregon State postseason record, with no prior Beaver ever hitting five bombs in a single postseason, let alone a single regional.

Calling someone a folk hero is the most hyperbolic this article will get.

It’s the kind of stuff people say about athletes who transcend, or at least blur, the lenses of what actually occurred. Babe Ruth pointing to the outfield before hitting a home run, Wilt Chamberlain’s highly-argued 100-point NBA game or Bo Jackson’s 4.13 40-yard dash all fit the bill. While college baseball doesn’t have the eyes on it those others mentioned do, Caraway’s Corvallis Regional fits the bill. And for the future historians attempting to document long-since past feats of athleticism who stumble upon reports of a 20-year-old infielder hitting three home runs and still being pitched to, its hard to blame you for wanting to turn your nose up and blame wind or a short fence for it, or perhaps deny it completely.

But happen it did, and goodness was it laughably impressive.

It would be shocking if the Seminoles, or any other team in America for that matter, would be willing to pitch to Caraway again this postseason, but his improvements in the walk department and ability to run the bases (five-for-six on steal attempts) are big additions to the tool belt of the “scary” Trent Caraway.

“I think it’s just believing in myself,” Caraway said of the hot streak. “I think I have the talent, it’s just doing it. Trusting what I can do and going out on the field and having fun and competing in front of the best atmosphere in college baseball.”

Deepest Bullpen in America?

Oregon State’s very well might be.

The Beavers could’ve scored as many runs as they would’ve liked, but the simple fact of the matter was that teams do not often survive losing game one of a regional because they won’t have the arms to go five games of distance on that short of rest. Oregon State managed to survive a game one blow up from its starter, respond with four-straight wins and still, somehow, have arms left in the tank at the end of it all.

In 22.2 innings pitched, Oregon State’s bullpen let up four runs. Three of those (a three-run homer by Saint Mary’s Brian Duroff) came in the 6-4 loss to Saint Mary’s, while the other (a solo blast) came in the bottom of the ninth of Oregon State’s 20-3 win over Saint Mary’s. The Beavers bullpen, essentially, gave up three meaningful runs all weekend on 17 total hits while striking out 28 opposing batters.

Junior right-hander AJ Hutcheson was the first to really set the tone for the Beavers, pitching five scoreless innings in the Friday loss to Saint Mary’s. The submariner picked up for starter Eric Segura, who was chased off after recording just one out, and got the Beavers to the sixth-inning trailing by just one. And at the end of it all, with the season on the line in a game seven, redshirt freshman James DeCremer gave a remarkable five scoreless innings (a career-high) to prevent Oregon State from having to get too deep into the weeds on the “can we use ‘x’ pitcher again?” game.

Other right-handers, like junior Kellan Oakes and freshman Zach Kmatz, were stellar in their relief stints. Oakes racked up a total of four innings across two games (The loss to Saint Mary’s and the win over USC), punching out six total and earning the win against the Trojans without allowing a run. Kmatz performed similarly, with the freshman finishing off the first game against USC with a three-inning save. The freshman allowed three hits, but recorded his first six outs via the strikeout, finishing with seven total.

Tacking on DeCremer’s five innings and a 4.1-inning start from right-hander Wyatt Queen, the Beavers had nine different relievers appear in a game, with each one recording three or more outs. Mix in starters Eric Segura, Dax Whitney and Ethan Kleinschmit and the Beavers’ pitching staff looks as nasty as ever.

“And we didn’t even see (freshman right-hander) Zach Edwards throw,” Canham said, grinning. “That guy throws cannon balls.”