OMAHA — Freshman Jorge Reyes led Oregon State to within one win of its second straight College World Series title with another strong pitching performance and the Beavers beat North Carolina, 11-4, in Game 1 on Saturday night.
North Carolina, which won three straight elimination games to set up a rematch of last year's championship series, needs to win twice to keep Oregon State from becoming the first back-to-back national champion since Louisiana State in 1996-97.
Reyes (7-3) gave up eight hits and three runs in 6 1/3 innings to win for the second time in the CWS and third time in the NCAA tournament.
The Tar Heels (57-15), who have come from behind to win five games in the NCAA tournament, couldn't rally against Oregon State (48-18), which is 41-0 when leading after seven innings. And the pitching problems that plagued North Carolina early in the tournament appeared to return.