Omaha, NE – Wes Rea's two-out, two-run double in the eighth vaulted Mississippi State to a 5-4 victory over Oregon State, while Joey DeNato spun a four-hit shutout as Indiana blanked Louisville, 2-0, Saturday as the 2013 College World Series got underway at TD Ameritrade Park.
With the Bulldogs trailing 4-3 after seven innings in the opener, Alex Detz and Hunter Renfroe reached on one-out singles to begin the rally. Beavers reliever Matt Boyd bounced back to strike out Brett Pirtle, but Rea came through with a clutch hit into the right-center field gap to plate both runners and put Mississippi State ahead.
Oregon State threatened against Bulldogs closer Jonathan Holder in the ninth, getting the tying run to second with one out on a single and a walk. After Dylan Davis struck out, Danny Hayes belted a deep fly ball to right that Renfroe hauled in just in front of the fence to end the game.
Holder and winning pitcher Ross Mitchell combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of starter Kendall Graveman, while Rea and Adam Frazier each went 2-for-4 to help the Bulldogs advance to Monday's winners bracket against Indiana.
Oregon State, the No. 3 national seed in this year's NCAA tournament, will take on Louisville in an elimination contest also scheduled for Monday.
Mississippi State scored three times in the second inning to erase an early 2-0 deficit, but the Beavers drew even on Kavin Keyes' RBI triple in the fourth and went in front an inning later.
Andy Peterson singled with one out in the bottom of the fifth, took third on a Michael Conforto double and came home on Davis' groundout to give OSU a 4-3 edge.
Conforto finished 4-for-4 with an RBI double in the loss, while OSU starter Andrew Moore worked 7 1/3 innings and was charged with four runs allowed on six hits.
In the nightcap, DeNato kept Louisville's offense off balance throughout the contest, with the junior southpaw striking out eight and walking three in a 136-pitch shutout.
Indiana staked the left-hander to a 1-0 lead in the first, as Will Nolden worked a leadoff walk and Kyle Schwarber followed with a single up the middle.
Nolden got picked off at third before Sam Travis struck out, but Scott Donley came through with a two-out single to center to score Schwarber for a 1-0 lead.
Nolden walked again to start the third and Schwarber followed with a single before Travis walked to load the bases.
Cody Ege took over for Louisville starter Chad Green and got Donley to foul out, but Michael Basil followed with a base hit through the left side of the infield.
Nolden scored easily on the play, but left fielder Coco Johnson fired a strike to the plate to nab Schwarber and keep the margin at 2-0.
Louisville nearly cut the lead in half in the bottom half when Cole Sturgeon singled to right with two outs for the team's first hit, but Sutton Whiting, who walked and moved to second on a wild pitch, was gunned down at the plate by Nolden to keep the Hoosiers ahead 2-0.
The Cardinals threatened again in the eighth when Adam Engel ripped a two-out double to left, but DeNato induced a groundout from Sturgeon to end the frame before retiring the side in order in the ninth to secure the victory.
Sturgeon registered two of the four hits for the Cardinals, who hadn't been blanked since the first game of the year, when they dropped a 2-0 decision to Indiana.
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