Bottom of order puts OSU on top.

Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

OMAHA, Neb. - Lonnie Lechelt, hitting .223 this season and .182 in the first three games of the College World Series, came to bat in the eighth inning with a runner on first and nobody out.

Obvious bunt situation? The sign never came from third-base coach Marty Lees.

`When he didn't give it to me, he instilled some confidence in me and it paid off,' Lechelt said. The North Carolina relief pitcher `gave me a good pitch where I like to hit.'

The result was a double, Lechelt's second of the game, as the Beavers posted an 11-4 victory Saturday night in the opener of a best-of-three series for the national title.

The pair of doubles tied the record for extra-base hits in a game of the final series, shared by many others, but more than that, it was a demonstration of OSU's depth. Lechelt batted ninth Saturday, as he has throughout the CWS.

Right in front of Lechelt was Jordan Lennerton, who hit a two-run homer in the second inning to give OSU the lead. It was Lennerton's second homer of the College World Series, half of his hits in 16 at-bats at Rosenblatt Stadium.

`I was just looking for a fastball,' Lennerton said. `He threw me one belt high in the middle of the plate. I knew I got a good piece of it, but I wasn't sure how far it would go because it was going against the wind.'

Lennerton was one of seven Beavers who drove in runs, and OSU's dozen hits came from eight different players. There were also three sacrifice flies for OSU, which ties a College World Series record for a game.

`Once everybody starts rolling, it keeps going through the lineup,' Lechelt said.

OSU's hitters who were seventh, eighth and ninth in Saturday's lineup were a combined 5-for-10, and reached base a total of seven times. Joey Wong, the No. 2 hitter who batted .272 during the regular season, had two more hits Saturday to raise his average in Omaha to .467. Leadoff man Chris Hopkins, a .257 hitter in the regular season, also had two hits Saturday and is at .353 in Rosenblatt Stadium.

Where does an opposing pitcher get a breather?

`That's really helped,' Lechelt said. `Usually there's a hole in your lineup, but right now there's no hole in the (OSU) lineup. There's no easy out ... so pitchers, they have to focus all the time.

`When you're always putting pressure on a pitcher like that, he can get mentally tired and that's when they can make mistakes.'

That was never made more clear than when OSU scored four runs in the seventh inning without a hit. There were four walks, and consecutive batters put down bunts that led to wild throws to first for errors.

`We've got a lot of team speed, so we can steal a lot of bases and we put down a lot of bunts,' Lechelt said. `They make those errors because we put a lot of pressure on the defense.'