CORVALLIS -- Kevin Abel took a two-hitter into the ninth inning, Steven Kwan and Cadyn Grenier homered, and Oregon Staterolled into its seventh super regional with a 12-0 victory over LSU to win the Corvallis Regional at Goss Stadium on Sunday night.
The Beavers (47-10-1), as the No. 3 national seed, will host No. 14 seed Minnesota in the best-of-three super regional starting Friday or Saturday, with the winner advancing to the College World Series. The Golden Gophers (44-13), winners of the Big Ten regular-season title and the conference tournament, beat UCLA 13-8 on Sunday to advance to their first super regional.
The pitching-depleted Tigers (39-27), who burned through three available arms in a 9-5 win over Northwestern State to stay alive, were no match for a second turn at OSU's potent lineup.
Starter Devin Fontenot (3-1) exited in the second inning after 54 pitches -- 46 coming when the Beavers batted around in the first -- and three LSU relievers fared no better.
The Beavers outscored the Tigers 26-1 over two regional games and recorded their seventh shutout of the season. LSU finished as the national runner-up last year.
Abel was brilliant through eight innings, allowing on an infield single in the third and a pinch-hit single in the eighth. He exited in the ninth after a leadoff single on his 114th pitch to a standing ovation from the crowd of 3,915.
Abel struck out eight, walked one and allowed just one runner as far as third base. He also had 12 flyball outs, with the hardest hit ball off Abel coming in the fourth on a smash to left-center that Kwan ran down and caught one step before crashing into the fence.
Kwan also hit a leadoff home run, his second, into the right-field bleachers to spark a three-run first inning for OSU. Michael Gretler added an RBI single and Jack Anderson was hit by a pitch to drive in a run.
The Beavers went up 5-0 in the second on Trevor Larnach's bases-loaded walk and Kyle Nobach's fielder's choice. It could have been worse, as OSU left the bases full for the second inning in a row.
Cadyn Grenier hit his fifth homer, and OSU's 57th of the season, for a 6-0 lead in the third. Nobach drove in two runs during a four-run sixth inning and added an RBI double in the eighth for the final run.
-- Ron Richmond for The Oregonian/OregonLive