OMAHA, Neb. — Hunter Renfroe hit a three-run homer off the back wall of the left-field bullpen, and Mississippi State advanced to the College World Series finals with a 4-1 victory over Oregon State on Friday.
The Bulldogs (51-18) beat the Beavers for the second time in the CWS and will play for the first time in the best-of-three championship round that starts Monday against North Carolina or UCLA.
Oregon State (52-13) went 2-2 in its first CWS appearance since winning back-to-back national titles in 2006-07.
Renfroe's homer off freshman left-hander Andrew Moore (14-2) was only the third in 11 CWS games and put the Bulldogs up 4-0 in the fifth.
Kendall Graveman (7-5) worked the first 5 2-3 innings, allowing one run on four hits. Ross Mitchell and Jonathan Holder finished, with Holder getting the last two outs for his 21st save of the season and school-record 30th of his career.
It's the sixth straight year a team from the Southeastern Conference has reached the finals.
The Bulldogs built on a 1-0 lead after Moore retired their first two batters in the fifth. Adam Frazier and Alex Detz singled before Renfroe, the No. 13 overall pick by San Diego in the recent draft, drove Moore's 3-1 breaking ball for his first home run since May 4 and 16th of the season.
Moore gave up four runs on nine hits in 4 2-3 innings, his shortest outing of the season. Jace Fry pitched 3 1-3 innings of two-hit shutout relief, but the Beavers' offense couldn't crack Mitchell and Holder.
