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Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Wednesday, June 13, 2018 OSU: Has outscored its opposition 49-8 through five postseason games Continued from 1B to say that with USC in here and Ian Kennedy on the mound and all the guys they had, it was awesome.” Andy Jenkins, a current assistant coach, hit for the cycle as OSU gutted out a 10-8 victory in the finale. The Beavers were back at the CWS for the first time since 1952. OSU won consecutive national titles in 2006-07 — defeating North Caro- lina in both finals — and also qualified for the CWS in 2013 and 2017. Casey has fond memories of all five trips, including the quick exit in 2005. “They are all different and they are all special,” Casey said. “Obviously ’05 was our first time, and we kind of shocked the world a little bit there.” The college base- ball world would not be shocked if OSU captures its third national title in 2018. The Beavers, who are 105-16-1 overall the past two seasons, have out- scored the opposition 49-8 through five postsea- son games. OSU did trail in Saturday’s 6-3 victory over Minnesota, but the offense came alive late to clinch the Corvallis Super Regional. “They have an out- standing lineup,” Golden Gophers coach John Anderson said. “They are going to give people trou- ble trying to pitch to that lineup for nine innings, we found that out. “It’ll be interesting to see how that offense plays in the big stadium, but they sure do put the ball in play and they grind out at-bats for you up and down the lineup.” OSU is hitting .320 as a team, the third-high- est mark in all of Divi- sion I, entering cavernous TD Ameritrade Park. The Beavers are tied for fourth nationally with a .981 fielding percentage. “(Adley) Rutschman does an outstanding job back there handling that staff and they are strong up the middle,” Anderson said. “If you’re going to be a championship team, you’ve got to be strong up the middle. And they are strong up the middle.” The Beavers’ starting rotation of Luke Heim- lich (16-1, 2.32 earned run average), Bryce Feh- mel (10-1, 2.87) and Kevin Abel (4-1, 3.58) has also impressed throughout the postseason. Heimlich struck out nine in 8⅔ innings of one- run ball as OSU defeated Minnesota 8-1 in the Cor- vallis Super Regional opener. Fehmel didn’t have his usual command but still limited the Golden Gophers to three runs in six-plus innings Saturday night. “Heimlich, he’s a pro pitcher,” Anderson said. “He’s the top left-handed pitcher maybe I’ve seen in my career based on how he pitched the other night. Fehmel is going to get you to try and expand the zone, use his three pitches and wants you to chase.” Abel worked eight shut- out innings against LSU, striking out eight with one walk. Bullpen members Dylan Pearce, Brandon Eisert, Sam Tweedt, Jake Mulholland and Chris- tian Chamberlain have combined to throw 7⅔ scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts in the NCAA tournament. “With Heimlich on the mound, they’ll be able to beat anybody in the coun- try,” Anderson said. “Feh- mel will go out there and he’ll force you to really try to put together a good at-bat … and the two left- ies I saw tonight (Cham- berlain, Mulholland) were pretty special. I like their chances, I really do, based on what I saw out there the last two games. “I wouldn’t count them out in Omaha, that’s for sure.” MARINERS: Maintain 1/2 game lead over Houston in AL West Continued from 1B Haniger lined an oppo- site-field solo shot off Jaime Barria (5-2) in the first. Trout tied it at 1 with his homer in the fifth off Seattle starter Mike Leake. That was the only run permitted by Leake, who gave up four hits while striking out four. It was Leake’s 10th win with the Mariners since they acquired him from St. Louis on Aug. 30 last year for infielder Rayder Ascanio. R O S T E R RESHUFFLING Angels: Barria was recalled from the minors to make the start, and Los Angeles optioned reliever Eduardo Paredes to Tri- ple-A Salt Lake. Paredes pitched in eight games for the Angels, compiling a 6.97 ERA. Mariners: To complete a trade with Boston for left-hander Roenis Elias, Seattle sent outfielder Eric Filia to the Red Sox. Filia began the season serving a 50-game suspension. He was hitting .426 at Dou- ble-A Arkansas. TRAINER’S ROOM Angels: 1B Jefry Marte (sprained left wrist) was in a splint after being placed on the 10-day disabled list. Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Marte will be re-evaluated later this week in Southern California. INF David Fletcher was pro- moted from Triple-A Salt Lake to replace Marte. . SS Andrelton Simmons (ankle) did some light baseball activities but is not running yet. . After fouling a ball off his foot Monday, Trout started in center field as usual. ... Relief pitcher Blake Wood (elbow) was transferred to the 60-day DL after Tommy John surgery. Mariners: Right- handed reliever Nick Vin- cent (groin) had to cut a 25-pitch bullpen session short Monday, and likely won’t attempt another one until this weekend at the earliest. . Seattle manager Scott Servais said reliever Juan Nicasio (right knee) felt better and some of the swelling in his knee has subsided. Nicasio has yet to throw off a mound. . Right-hander Dan Alta- villa (elbow) isn’t close to returning to baseball activ- ity, Servais said. UP NEXT Angels: Right-hander Garrett Richards (4-4, 3.26 ERA) shut out the Mari- ners for 6 2/3 innings on May 4 for his fourth win of the season. He has not won since. After dropping three consecutive decisions to close out May, Richards has given up just two runs in the past 12 1/3 innings. Mariners: Left-hander Marco Gonzales (7-3, 3.28 ERA) has allowed just three earned runs in his past five starts combined over a span of 33 1/3 innings. He has gone at least six innings in eight of his past nine starts. He does not have a deci- sion in three appearances against the Angels. AP Photo/Denis Tyrin, File The refurbished Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, Russia, where the opening match and final of the World Cup will be played when the soccer world gathers at 12 stadiums in 11 cities across the European portion of Russia start- ing June 14 for a 32-day, 64-match championship. Germany looks to become 1st repeat Cup champ in half-century By RONALD BLUM Associated Press MOSCOW — After rais- ing the World Cup eight miles from Copacabana Beach four years ago, Ger- many hopes to lift the trophy four miles from the Krem- lin on July 15 and become the first repeat champion in more than a half-century. The soccer world gathers at 12 stadiums in 11 cities across the European portion of Russia starting Thurs- day for a 32-day, 64-match championship. Much has changed since Die Mann- schaft humiliated the host Selecao 7-1 in the 2014 semifinals, then left Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium with a 1-0 extra-time win over Argentina on Mario Goetze’s 113th-minute goal. The United States will be missing from soc- cer’s showcase after seven straight appearances. Four- time champion Italy will be watching from home for the first time since 1958, its streak of 14 consecu- tive appearances ended by a playoff loss to Sweden. The Netherlands, which lost the 2010 final to Spain, missed out after slumping to third in its qualifying group. And Chile failed to qualify after consecutive Copa America titles. Iceland and Panama are World Cup debutantes, Peru is back for the first time since 1982, and Egypt ends an absence dating to 1990. Germany and Brazil are the pretournament favorites, and France is fancied behind them with a young roster . England will try to end more than five decades of hurt since winning its only major title on home soil in 1966. Mexico will try to advance past the second round for the first time since 1986, but El Tri opens against Germany and its likely second-round opponent is Brazil. There also has been a generational change within FIFA. Many of its lead- ers have moved from pent- houses to prisons follow- ing indictments by the U.S. Department of Justice that detailed kickbacks to be as much a part of soccer as free kicks. Expect controversy on a regular basis. FIFA’s Congress votes June 13 on the host of the 2026 tournament, and a joint bid by the U.S., Mexico and Canada is competing against Morocco — where most of the infrastructure would have to be built — on a bal- lot that includes a none-of- the-above option. Following the drug-test- ing scandal that engulfed the 2014 Sochi Winter Olym- pics, FIFA’s medical com- mittee chairman said no Russians will be involved in collection of urine and blood samples, which will be flown to Lausanne, Swit- zerland, for analysis. VAR will be the acronym of the moment: video assis- tant referees in soccer-speak, instant replay for most view- ers at home. And as soon as the final whistle of the tournament is blown at Moscow’s Luzh- niki Stadium, attention will shift to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, moved to Nov. 21 through Dec. 18 because of summer desert heat and compressed to 28 days because it is in the middle of the European club season. Gianni Infantino, who suc- ceeded the disgraced Sepp Blatter as FIFA president in 2016, has discussed increas- ing the World Cup field from 32 to 48 in 2022, four years ahead of schedule. Some of the top sto- rylines likely to dominate play in Russia: MESSI AND RONALDO Lionel Messi and Cris- tiano Ronaldo have split the last 10 FIFA Player of the Year awards, and this is likely their last chance to win a World Cup. Messi turns 31 on June 24, two days before Argentina fin- ishes the first round against Nigeria, and has lost four finals with the national team. Ronaldo, 33, helped Portu- gal win the 2016 European Championship for its first major title. BREAKOUT STARS? Brazil’s Neymar, England’s Harry Kane, Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, France’s Antoine Griezmann and Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne are stars who could lift themselves into Player of the Year contention with stellar World Cups. BACK TO BACK Italy in 1934 and ‘38, and Brazil in 1958 and ‘62 are the only teams to win con- secutive World Cups. Ger- many was 10-0 in qualify- ing, the only European team with a perfect record, and outscored opponents 43-4. PLAY IT AGAIN Following the first use of goal-line technology at a World Cup in 2014, FIFA has expanded off-the-field deci- sion-making. A video assis- tant ref can notify the ref- eree by headset of the need to reverse a decision if there is a “clear error” involving goals and their buildups, penalty kicks, straight red cards, and mistaken identity for red and yellow cards. ICE, ICE BABY Iceland at about 335,000 becomes the least-populous nation to appear in a World Cup, a mark that had been held since 2006 by Trinidad and Tobago at 1.3 million. MISSING Injured players miss- ing the tournament include Argentina goalkeeper Ser- gio Romero and midfielder Manuel Lanzini; France defender Laurent Kosci- elny; Serbia defender Matija Nastasic; Brazil right back Dani Alves; and England midfielder Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain. SPLIT SCREEN? The World Cup final starts two hours after the beginning of the Wimbledon men’s singles final. If Spain and Rafa Nadal are play- ing for titles, and the tennis isn’t decided in straight sets, which event do fans watch? SCOREBOARD Local slate LEGION BASEBALL Wednesday’s Games Hodgen Distributing vs. Hanford (BMCC field), 3 p.m. Pepsi Diamondjaxx at Hanford (WA), 4 p.m. Friday’s Games Pepsi Diamondjaxx at Walla Walla Griz Tourney, 4 p.m. Hodgen Distributing at June Jam Wood Bat Tourney (Yakima), TBD Basketball WNBA EASTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct GB Connecticut 7 1 .875 — Atlanta 5 4 .556 2½ Washington 5 4 .556 2½ New York 3 4 .429 3½ Chicago 3 6 .333 4½ Indiana 0 9 .000 7½ WESTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct GB Phoenix 8 3 .727 — Seattle 7 3 .700 ½ Los Angeles 6 2 .750 ½ Dallas 4 4 .500 2½ Minnesota 3 6 .333 4 Las Vegas 2 7 .222 5 ——— Tuesday’s Games Las Vegas 101, Indiana 92, OT Seattle 96, Chicago 85 Phoenix 75, Dallas 72 Los Angeles 72, Atlanta 64 Wednesday’s Games Las Vegas at New York, 4 p.m. Washington at Connecticut, 4 p.m. Baseball MLB AMERICAN LEAGUE East Division W L New York 43 19 Boston 46 22 Tampa Bay 31 35 Toronto 30 37 Baltimore 19 47 Central Division W L Cleveland 35 30 Minnesota 29 34 Detroit 31 37 Chicago 23 42 Kansas City 22 45 West Division W L Seattle 43 24 Houston 43 25 Los Angeles 37 31 Oakland 34 33 Texas 27 42 ——— Tuesday’s Games Pct GB .694 — .676 — .470 14 .448 15½ .288 26 Pct GB .538 — .460 5 .456 5½ .354 12 .328 14 Pct GB .642 — .632 ½ .455 6½ .507 8½ .391 17 Boston 6, Baltimore 4 N.Y. Yankees 3, Washington 0 Minnesota 6, Detroit 4 Tampa Bay 4, Toronto 1 Chicago White Sox 5, Cleveland 1 Cincinnati 5, Kansas City 1, 10 innings Houston 6, Oakland 3 Seattle 6, L.A. Angels 3 L.A. Dodgers 12, Texas 5 Wednesday’s Games Toronto (Happ 8-3) at Tampa Bay (Font 0-3), 10:10 a.m. Boston (Sale 5-4) at Baltimore (Ramirez 0-0), 12:05 p.m. L.A. Angels (Richards 4-4) at Seattle (Gonzales 7-3), 1:10 p.m. Washington (Fedde 0-1) at N.Y. Yankees (Gray 4-4), 4:05 p.m. Minnesota (Berrios 7-5) at Detroit (Boyd 4-4), 4:10 p.m. Cleveland (Bauer 5-4) at Chicago White Sox (Covey 2-1), 5:10 p.m. Cincinnati (Mahle 4-6) at Kansas City (Hammel 2-6), 5:15 p.m. Houston (Cole 7-1) at Oakland (Blackburn 1-0), 7:05 p.m. Texas (Hamels 3-6) at L.A. Dodgers (Maeda 4-4), 7:10 p.m. NATIONAL LEAGUE East Division W L Pct GB Atlanta 38 28 .576 — Washington 36 28 .563 1 Philadelphia 34 30 .531 3 New York 28 35 .444 8½ Miami 25 42 .373 13½ Central Division W L Pct GB Milwaukee 40 27 .597 — Chicago 38 26 .594 ½ St. Louis 36 29 .554 3 Pittsburgh 32 35 .478 8 Cincinnati 24 43 .358 16 West Division W L Pct GB Arizona 37 29 .561 — Los Angeles 34 32 .515 2½ San Francisco 33 34 .493 4 Colorado 32 34 .485 4½ San Diego 32 37 .464 6 ——— Tuesday’s Games N.Y. Yankees 3, Washington 0 Philadelphia 5, Colorado 4 Miami 3, San Francisco 1 Atlanta 8, N.Y. Mets 2 Milwaukee 4, Chicago Cubs 0 Cincinnati 5, Kansas City 1, 10 innings San Diego 4, St. Louis 2 L.A. Dodgers 12, Texas 5 Arizona 13, Pittsburgh 8 Wednesday’s Games N.Y. Mets (deGrom 4-1) at Atlanta (Soroka 1-1), 9:10 a.m. Chicago Cubs (Montgomery 2-1) at Milwaukee (Chacin 5-1), 11:10 a.m. Pittsburgh (Taillon 3-5) at Arizona (Greinke 5-4), 12:40 p.m. Colorado (Anderson 3-1) at Philadelphia (Pivetta 4-5), 4:05 p.m. Washington (Fedde 0-1) at N.Y. Yankees (Gray 4-4), 4:05 p.m. San Francisco (Suarez 2-4) at Miami (Smith 5-6), 4:10 p.m. Cincinnati (Mahle 4-6) at Kansas City (Hammel 2-6), 5:15 p.m. San Diego (Lauer 2-4) at St. Louis (Weav- er 3-5), 5:15 p.m. Texas (Hamels 3-6) at L.A. Dodgers (Maeda 4-4), 7:10 p.m. NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament College World Series At TD Ameritrade Park Omaha Omaha, Neb. (Double Elimination) Saturday’s Games Game 1 — Oregon State (49-10-1) vs. North Carolina (43-18), 12 p.m. Game 2 — Washington 35-24) vs. Missis- sippi State (37-37), 5 p.m. Sunday’s Games Game 3 — Arkansas (44-19) vs. Texas (42-21), 11 a.m. Game 4 — Texas Tech (44-18) vs. Florida (47-19), 4 p.m. Soccer MLS Tuesday’s Games No games scheduled. Wednesday’s Games Atlanta United FC at Columbus, 4:30 p.m. Orlando City at Montreal, 4:30 p.m. D.C. United at Toronto FC, 5 p.m. Seattle at New York, 5 p.m. Chicago at Colorado, 6 p.m. New England at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. FIFA WORLD CUP GROUP A W T L GF GA Pts Egypt 0 0 0 0 0 0 Russia 0 0 0 0 0 0 Saudi Arabia 0 0 0 0 0 0 Uruguay 0 0 0 0 0 0 —— Thursday, June 14 At Moscow Russia vs. Saudi Arabia, 8 a.m. (FOX) Friday, June 15 At Ekaterinburg, Russia Egypt vs. Uruguay, 5 a.m. GROUP B W T L GF GA Pts Iran 0 0 0 0 0 0 Morocco 0 0 0 0 0 0 Portugal 0 0 0 0 0 0 Spain 0 0 0 0 0 0 —— Friday, June 15 At Saint Petersburg, Russia Morocco vs. Iran, 8 a.m. At Sochi, Russia Portugal vs. Spain, 11 a.m. GROUP C W T L GF GA Pts Australia 0 0 0 0 0 0 Denmark 0 0 0 0 0 France 0 0 0 0 0 Peru 0 0 0 0 0 —— Saturday, June 16 At Kazan, Russia France vs. Australia, 3 a.m. At Saransk, Russia Peru vs. Denmark, 9 a.m. GROUP D W T L GF GA Argentina 0 0 0 0 0 Croatia 0 0 0 0 0 Iceland 0 0 0 0 0 Nigeria 0 0 0 0 0 —— Saturday, June 16 At Moscow Argentina vs. Iceland, 6 a.m. At Kalinigrad, Russia Croatia vs. Nigeria, Noon GROUP E W T L GF GA Brazil 0 0 0 0 0 Costa Rica 0 0 0 0 0 Serbia 0 0 0 0 0 Switzerland 0 0 0 0 0 —— Sunday, June 17 At Samara, Russia Costa Rica vs. Serbia, 5 a.m. At Rostov-on-Don, Russia Brazil vs. Switzerland, 11 a.m. GROUP F W T L GF GA Germany 0 0 0 0 0 Mexico 0 0 0 0 0 South Korea 0 0 0 0 0 Sweden 0 0 0 0 0 —— Sunday, June 17 At Moscow Germany vs. Mexico, 8 a.m. Monday, June 18 At Nizhny Novgorod, Russia Sweden vs. South Korea, 5 a.m. GROUP G W T L GF GA Belgium 0 0 0 0 0 England 0 0 0 0 0 Panama 0 0 0 0 0 Tunisia 0 0 0 0 0 —— Monday, June 18 At Sochi, Russia Belgium vs. Panama, 8 a.m. At Volgograd, Russia Tunisia vs. England, 11 a.m. GROUP H W T L GF GA Colombia 0 0 0 0 0 Japan 0 0 0 0 0 Poland 0 0 0 0 0 Senegal 0 0 0 0 0 —— Tuesday, June 19 At Saransk, Russia Colombia vs. Japan, 5 a.m. At Moscow Poland vs. Senegal, 8 a.m. 0 0 0 Pts 0 0 0 0 Pts 0 0 0 0 Pts 0 0 0 0 Pts 0 0 0 0 Pts 0 0 0 0
