Oregon State remains in the hunt in CWS

It’s one down and three to go for Oregon State.

The Beavers, seeded third nationally, stayed alive in the College World Series on Monday, beating Louisville, 11-4, after a seven-run fourth inning broke open the game.

Oregon State won national championships the last two times it played in Omaha, in 2006 and 2007, and Coach Pat Casey’s first title team did it the hard way.

The Beavers (51-12) face the same challenge as that 2006 team, having to win four straight games after losing their CWS opener to reach the best-of-three final. Next up is Indiana on Wednesday.

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Trey Porter drove in the go-ahead runs in the eighth inning, and Mississippi State took control of its bracket in the CWS with a 5-4 victory over Indiana.

The Bulldogs (50-18) need one win to reach next week’s best-of-three final. They’re off until Friday, when they’ll play Indiana (49-15) or Oregon State.

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A contrite Chad Johnson apologized for showing disrespect to a judge when the former NFL star slapped his attorney on the backside in court last week and was released from jail after only a week instead of 30 days.

Broward County (Fla.) Circuit Judge Kathleen McHugh accepted Johnson’s apology and cut back his jail term for a probation violation to the seven days he had served since the rear-swatting.

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Former Oklahoma State starting quarterback Wes Lunt is transferring to Illinois, returning to his home state after giving the Fighting Illini little consideration when he was in high school.

The highly regarded Lunt will have to sit out this fall under NCAA transfer rules, but when he’s available in 2014 could be an instant upgrade for a struggling Illinois program.

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About 325 former Penn State football players and coaches have signed a statement supporting the lawsuit filed by the family of former coach Joe Paterno and other former players seeking to overturn NCAA sanctions against the football program for the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.