Oregon State’s Jonah Nickerson allowed only two hits in 7 2/3 innings as the Beavers (48-15 overall) beat Rice 2-0 in Thursday’s game at Rosenblatt Stadium, advancing to the championship series of the College World Series.

Jonah Nickerson allowed only 2 hits during 7 2/3 innings in Thursday's game against Rice.

Oregon State will play No. 9 North Carolina in a best-of-three series for the national championship series that begins Saturday at 4 pm. The championship continues Sunday at 4 pm, and if a third game is necessary will conclude Monday.

OSU head coach Pat Casey said Nickerson, the right-handed pitcher from Oregon City, did an outstanding job considering Nickerson had pitched 7 innings on Monday.

The first and third games will be televised on cable’s ESPN, and the second game will be shown on ESPN2.

Score by Innings                    R  H  E

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Oregon State........ 010 010 000 -  2  3  0

Rice................ 000 000 000 -  0  2  0

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DP -

Oregon St.

1. LOB -

Oregon St.

5; Rice 4. 2B - Rowe; Savery. HBP - Rowe. SH -

Graham. SF - Canham. SB - Luna.

Oregon State                   IP  H  R ER BB SO

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Nickerson, Jonah  W,13-4...   7.2  2  0  0  3  9

Gunderson, Kevin  S,19.....   1.1  0  0  0  0  1

Rice                           IP  H  R ER BB SO

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Eddie Degerman  L,13-2.....   4.2  3  2  2  3  5

Bryce Cox .................   4.1  0  0  0  0  6

WP - Degerman. HBP - by Cox (Rowe).

Umpires - HP: Randy Harvey  1B: Joe Burleson  2B: Perry Costello  3B: John Kleis

Start: 7:08 pm   Time: 2:29   Attendance: 19161