Oregon State stays alive; UNC advances

Daniel Turpen and Joe Paterson combined on a five-hittter, Shea McFeely homered for the second straight game, and Oregon State stayed alive in the College World Series with a 5-0 victory over Rice on Wednesday night in Omaha, Neb.

The Beavers (47-15) forced another game against the Owls (57-12), with the winner of tonight’s matchup advancing to the championship series against North Carolina.

Turpen (3-0) gave the Beavers their third straight impressive start when facing elimination. The sophomore right-hander, who made only 11 previous appearances this season, scattered five hits over a career-high 6 2/3 innings.

Paterson threw 2 1/3 hitless innings to seal the victory, Oregon State’s third straight. The solid pitching performance followed Jonah Nickerson’s seven strong innings Monday in a win over Georgia, and Mike Stutes’ six-plus innings in the victory over Miami.

North Carolina 6, Cal State Fullerton 5: Jay Cox homered twice and made a great catch in the ninth inning to help the Tar Heels move into the championship round with a win over the Titans.

North Carolina, which defeated Fullerton 7-5 in 13 innings Friday, won a rematch that featured 27 hits in what was an anticipated pitchers’ duel between Carolina’s Daniel Bard and the Titans’ Wes Roemer.

Bard (9-3), a first-round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox, gave up a career-high 12 hits in six innings.

Roemer (13-2) allowed six runs on 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings, the shortest of his 30 career starts. The Big West pitcher of the year gave up three home runs.

After allowing three home runs in 16 regular-season starts, Roemer surrendered six in four NCAA tournament starts.