OMAHA, Neb. — Daniel Turpen has become the Oregon State baseball team’s big-game pitcher.

The junior right-hander has pitched in two of the most pressure-filled games in the program’s history and won both.

He has also pitched in front of the two largest crowds in College World Series history.

Turpen went eight innings in a 7-1 victory over UC Irvine on Wednesday night in Rosenblatt Stadium to send the Beavers into the best-of-3 championship series.

“We never got a break, and could never get him out of cruise control,” Irvine first baseman Taylor Holiday said. “He was never rattled.”

The crowd of 29,921 was the second largest in the CWS history. The largest was 30,335 in the same game last year when Turpen pitched the Beavers to a victory over Rice.

OSU needed that game to hold off elimination in 2006. He was a rarely used middle reliever at the time, and was forced into action because there was no one else to pitch.

“It’s exciting going out there before 29,921 people,” Turpen said. “It’s something I like to thrive on, seeing all those people out there watching you and expecting you to be a national champion, and play like a national champion.”

Turpen (10-1) has been in a similar role at the end of this season, after moving to the bullpen in the middle of April. He was the No. 3 starter to begin the season.

Before the game Turpen played the superstitious outdoorsman. He went fishing at a pond near the team hotel with teammates.

That was the procedure before every game so far, and it wasn’t going to change to challenge his karma. He caught a 10-pound carp and some small bass to begin his big day.

Coach Pat Casey was happy Turpen pitching well because he was ready to jump all over him for spending the morning in the sun.

“I thought about not going because I had to pitch, but I figured we were 2-0 going in before the game, so I had to go one more time,” Turpen said. “I felt good out there.

“I was ready to relieve or start, whatever they wanted me to do in this series.”