The Beavers are going to Omaha. Good lord that is fantastic to write. Oregon State will be returning to the College World Series after a come-from-behind victory against a tough Minnesota Golden Gophers team. From the beginning of the game, it was evident that this would be a tight game, as the electric freshman pitcher Patrick Fredrickson weathered an impending Beavers rally to just one run after Oregon State put two runners on with just one out. Bryce Fehmel and Fredrickson dueled throughout the entirety of the game and propelled an intense matchup between two titanic baseball programs. Beavers Bite First! Trevor Larnach blasts one to right and brings Grenier home. Top 1 | Org St. 1 | Minn 0 pic.twitter.com/T88qcr4qvZ — NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) June 10, 2018 The tight pitching matchup would continue until the third inning; when Minnesota took advantage of Fehm to tie up the game. Minnesota would tack on another run in the following fourth inning to take the lead. However, this lead would be short-lived, as Steven Kwan drove in Kyle Nobach to tie the game at two a piece in the fifth. Then, Minnesota struck again to reclaim the lead in the bottom of the fifth. This 3-2 score would persist throughout several more innings until Kyle Nobach laced a single to drive in Trevor Larnach in the eighth inning to tie the game at three each. At that point, Oregon State smelled blood. The Beavs managed to retire the Golden Gophers with no score in the bottom of the eighth before a game-changing, and season-changing, ninth inning. Oregon State managed to load the bases quickly in the ninth. Then, with two outs, Adley Rutschman delivered the biggest hit of the season for Oregon State with a two-RBI single to give Oregon State a 5-3 lead. The Beavs would then reload the bases only to drive in another run on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. That 6-3 lead would be all the Beavers needed, as Jake Mulholland made quick work of the Gophers offense in the bottom of the ninth to punch Oregon State’s ticket to Omaha. Rutschman DELIVERS in the 9th! Grenier HOME Kwan HOME@BeaverBaseball leads 5-3!! !#RoadToOmaha pic.twitter.com/3fdGvF0YhT — NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) June 10, 2018 On the biggest stage of the season, Oregon State delivered one of its most convincing wins. Not a win where they pummeled a team into submission, but a come from behind victory against a quality opponent. A win such as tonight’s is what championship teams are able to do on any given night. Tonight is a great night for Oregon State and should be celebrated as such. Say it with me: “we’re going to Omaha.” However, come Monday, get ready. For Oregon State has a date scheduled with the University of North Carolina Tar Heels next Saturday.<doc-sep>One of the most controversial prospects in draft history was not selected by an MLB team. Oregon State left-hander Luke Heimlich did not land with any team in the 40 rounds of the 2018 MLB Draft. On talent, Heimlich was considered potential late first-round pick. He's an advanced southpaw who posted a 2.34 ERA with 365 strikeouts in 360 innings and four years with the Beavers. Heimlich's performance and talent is undeniable, and he is the kind of polished college hurler who tends to climb the minor league ladder quickly. There is more to the story, however. Heimlich is a convicted sex offender who pleaded guilty to a felony count of molesting his 6-year-old niece when he was 15. His hand-written guilty plea included the words: "I admit that I had sexual contact with my niece." The charges stemmed from incidents in 2009 and 2011. The New York Times has more details: As part of a plea deal, reached when Heimlich was 16, one of the charges was dropped and he was placed on two years' probation, took court-ordered classes and had to register for five years as a Level 1 sex offender, a designation the state of Washington uses for someone considered of low risk to the community and unlikely to become a repeat offender. Heimlich also had to write a letter apologizing to his niece. Heimlich's case might never have been made public if not for the fact that, years later, while pitching for Oregon State, he failed to update his whereabouts for a state registry of sex offenders, which led to a police citation, which in turn tipped reporters to his case. Controversial Oregon State lefty Luke Heimlich went undrafted. Getty Images Furthermore, Heimlich steadfastly denies molesting his niece, despite the guilty plea and legal proceedings. Here's more from the New York Times: "I always denied anything ever happened," he said. "Even after I pled guilty, which was a decision me and my parents thought was the best option to move forward as a family. And after that, even when I was going through counseling and treatment, I maintained my innocence the whole time." There was no interaction with his niece that he could imagine would have been misinterpreted, he said, adding, "Nothing ever happened, so there is no incident to look back on." In recent days several MLB team executives told reporters, including Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, they would not personally draft Heimlich, but did expect to hear his name called at some point. MLB teams -- and pro sports teams in general -- have shown they will overlook ugly legal situations when it can benefit them on the field, but Heimlich still couldn't find a team willing to use a draft pick on him in 2018.<doc-sep>Luke Heimlich, the Oregon State pitcher who pleaded guilty to molesting his 6-year-old niece when he was a teenager, was not selected in the first 78 picks of Major League Baseball's draft on Monday. Heimlich, 22, was slated to be a high-round pick in the 2017 draft but his arrest as a 16-year-old was revealed by the Oregonian just days before the draft. He went undrafted and returned to Oregon State for his senior year. However, the Texas Rangers indicated recently they have removed Heimlich from their draft board, while other organizations have refused to address whether they are considering the left-hander. Heimlich signed a seven-page guilty plea in a deal that enabled him to avoid jail time. In a recent Sports Illustrated interview, he denies molesting his niece, a claim vigorously refuted by family members. MORE The draft continues Tuesday with rounds 3-10 and concludes Wednesday with the final 30 rounds. Heimlich went 15-1 with a 2.42 ERA this year for Oregon State, which will play host to Minnesota next weekend in the super regionals of the NCAA playoffs.<doc-sep>
Oregon State pitcher Luke Heimlich went undrafted for the second consecutive year, as MLB teams’ fear of backlash over selecting a player who pleaded guilty as a teenager to molesting a child outweighed the potential of his on-field excellence. The 22-year-old Heimlich, a left-hander regarded as one of the nation’s best amateur starters, was projected to be an early selection last year until a story in The Oregonian revealed his admission to molesting a 6-year-old female relative when he was 15. In recent interviews, Heimlich contended he was innocent and had received poor legal advice. XXX While the Baltimore Orioles discussed signing Heimlich after no team drafted him in 2017, he returned to school and has led the Beavers to the Super Regionals, one step short of the College World Series. He will be ineligible to sign with a team as an undrafted free agent until after Oregon State’s season ends. Luke Heimlich went undrafted in the MLB draft for the second straight year. (Icon Sportswire) Executives across baseball expected Heimlich to be chosen among the 1,214 selections made over 40 rounds. A number of teams sought advice from MLB officials on how to handle the fallout should they select him, according to sources. The specter of criticism spooked a number of executives from putting Heimlich on their draft boards in the first place. “I’m afraid of the backlash,” a GM said before the draft started. “I like the player. I just can’t rationalize it.” Heimlich’s attempts to repair his image in speaking with The New York Times and Sports Illustrated, plus allowing the Portland Tribune access to medical records for a story that painted him as rehabilitated, did not persuade teams to look past his past – at least thus far. Perhaps his argument – that much of his family, friends and coaches stand behind him; that he has paid his debt; and that he is in fact innocent – will convince an organization to take on the complications of signing him. More from Yahoo Sports: