With Oregon State in LSU baseball’s regional, a budding rivalry could be renewed

The memories started coming back to two longtime coaches. Unfortunate injuries. Sudden adjustments. Doubles into the gap. Clutch pitching. All the small decisions they made while trying to win.

Paul Mainieri and Pat Casey coached thousands of games during their respective careers at LSU and Oregon State. And in the midst of so many to sift through, they remembered the ones between their teams well.

“When I hear the name Oregon State,” said Mainieri, LSU’s former coach, “I think, ‘You better not take those guys lightly.’ ”

Before the Baton Rouge regional this weekend, LSU and Oregon State have played seven games against each other, all in the postseason. They could face again as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, with the chance to reach a super regional.

The matchup would add another chapter to this memorable and somewhat random recent history. The LSU and Oregon State campuses sit more than 2,500 miles apart. The schools don’t share many connections. But since their first meeting in 2012, LSU hasn’t faced another team in the NCAA tournament more often.

“Kinda creating a little bit of a rivalry,” Casey said.

The first games came during the 2012 Baton Rouge regional. LSU was a national seed hosting for the first time in three years, and Oregon State had to travel across the country. Casey, who had already won two national titles at Oregon State, remembered the electricity generated by the crowd.

LSU and Oregon State met on the regional’s pivotal second day. Kevin Gausman threw a season-high 127 pitches over eight innings in a 7-1 win, giving LSU control of the bracket.

Oregon State had to play twice the next day. It knocked out UL-Monroe. Then it faced LSU. The Tigers pulled ahead 3-0 in the first inning, and Casey inserted sophomore reliever Scott Schultz. He lasted a career-high 8 ⅔ innings while Oregon State took a one-run lead into the ninth.

There, pinch runner Jared Foster scored on a double past diving Oregon State center fielder Max Gordon, an image Casey can still see. Tie game, 5-5. Extra innings. And in the 10th, LSU shortstop Austin Nola scored the winning run on a wild pitch.

“We’d been on the field for four hours the game before in that heat and humidity,” Casey said. “Our guys laid it on the line.”

Five years later, LSU and Oregon State collided at the 2017 College World Series. They were two of the best teams in the country. Oregon State entered with a 55-4 record and 22-game winning streak. LSU had surged to win 17 straight games and the Southeastern Conference tournament.

In the top of the third, LSU starter Eric Walker felt his right forearm tighten. He had to leave and later underwent Tommy John surgery. Mainieri thought Walker, who had a 3.48 ERA that season, may have been LSU’s best pitcher down the stretch.

“It really knocked us for a loop,” Mainieri said, “and we ended up getting hammered by them.”

While LSU reeled, Oregon State pitcher Bryce Fehmel went eight innings in a 13-1 win. Fehmel kept the hitters off balance by throwing curveballs in unexpected counts and sneaking his fastball through when LSU anticipated off-speed pitches.

After LSU avoided elimination, it faced Oregon State again a few days later for a spot in the finals. The Tigers needed to win on back-to-back days against the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. Oregon State had to once with a lineup that featured four future Major Leaguers.

Despite the previous loss and the Beavers’ talent, former LSU pitcher Zack Hess said the team felt confident. It had gone through a difficult SEC schedule. It responded to a challenge from Mainieri to start playing better with a month left in the regular season. And ace Alex Lange was on the mound.

“He didn’t back down from that gauntlet of a lineup they had,” Hess said.

Though Lange walked a run home in the third inning, he rediscovered his command and pitched into the eighth. LSU freshman Josh Smith hit a solo homer to provide distance. Hess earned the save in a 3-1 win, snapping Oregon State’s streak.

The next day, Mainieri said LSU had been told Oregon State would start pitcher Drew Rasmussen, a first-round pick by the Tampa Bay Rays. The Tigers spent the time between games watching video of the right hander whose fastball touched 97 mph.

But 45 minutes before first pitch, Oregon State switched to Fehmel.

“Our guys weren’t going to let that kind of gamesmanship beat us,” Mainieri said. “We very quickly devised a new game plan, and we laid off some bad pitches.”

Fehmel wasn’t as sharp, allowing four runs in 2 ⅓ innings. LSU catcher Michael Papierski homered twice. Beau Jordan added another. And pitcher Caleb Gilbert nibbled around a generous strike zone.

“We couldn’t get base runners and we generally had great plate discipline,” Casey said. “And that didn’t help us that day.”

Gilbert allowed one run over 7 ⅓ innings, the first time he had pitched into the eighth inning in his life. Hess finished the game again — a moment he called “the highlight of my baseball career” — and LSU reached the championship round where it lost to Florida.

“It sticks in my side — and will stick in my side the rest of my life — that we didn’t pull it off,” Mainieri said. “But it shouldn’t diminish the quality and the impact of those wins against Oregon State because Oregon State has been one of the top teams in the country for a couple of decades now. You’ve got to have a lot of respect for them.”

A year later, the teams were in different places when they met again. Oregon State returned most of its players. LSU had turned over its roster.

When the postseason arrived, LSU had to travel to Oregon State for the regional. The Tigers were outscored 24-1 in their two games against the Beavers, the eventual national champions.

“We felt like we wanted to have that opportunity to play them again,” Casey said. “We did, and I don’t know that we could have played better baseball for two games than we played against them in the regional.”

Now five years later, the teams have been reunited. Mainieri and Casey both retired since the last matchup. This time, LSU is the national seed with a powerhouse lineup. Oregon State has to use a thin pitching staff without starters Jaren Hunter and Jacob Kmatz.

At some point over the weekend, they could add to their shared history.

“It’s a testament to how (good) both of those programs are, more than anything,” Hess said. “It lets you know the reason they’re playing so much is because they’re constantly in the postseason or getting deep into the postseason.”