Oregon State starter Kevin Abel (23) walks with catcher Troy Claunch during the Beavers' home-opening game against BYU on Thursday, March 4, 2021, at Goss Stadium in Corvallis. Claunch was named to the Pac-12 all-conference first team on Thursday, June 3, 2021.

By the time he throws his first pitch at Lupton Stadium on Friday, it will have been 1,072 days since Kevin Abel’s legendary performance that helped Oregon State capture the 2018 College World Series title.

In context, that feels like an eternity ago. Pat Casey was still at the helm of the program. Mitch Canham was managing in the Seattle Mariners organization, then stationed at Single-A Modesto. Abel was still a baby-faced freshman who had just cemented his place in college baseball history.

A little less than three years later, so much has changed. But as Oregon State begins its postseason journey this weekend at the Fort Worth regional, the Beavers will lean on Abel to carry them once again.

“All you can really ask for is an opportunity to get back to Omaha,” Abel said. “I think we’ve got a good shot at it. It’s the first one to 11 wins. It’s a race at this point.”

It’s been an up-and-down season for the redshirt sophomore right-hander. After a series of elbow surgeries derailed his 2019 campaign, and the coronavirus pandemic nullified his efforts to make a healthy return in 2020, this season was supposed to be Abel’s long-awaited encore to that magical postseason showing.

There have been glimpses of that same pitcher. The competitive drive, the sharp fastball and the knee-buckling changeup are still there.

But, much like Oregon State’s season as a whole, Abel’s performances have been sporadic.

He is 3-4 with a 3.42 ERA and his 106 strikeouts over 79 innings are tied for the most in the Pac-12. But his 53 walks are also the most in the conference, as are the 17 batters that he has hit.

But even with those blemishes on his 2021 resume, there is still nobody else the Beavers would rather have on the mound this Friday.

“Kevin has been there and done that,” Oregon State catcher Troy Claunch said. “There’s gonna be no surprises for him. The moment is not gonna be too big when he steps on that mound. He’s gonna have that cool, calm, collected look he’s always had. I think our younger guys are just gonna feed off of it.”

If his most recent start was any indicator, Abel may be rounding into form at the perfect time.

At Stanford last Friday, Abel tossed a complete game and surrendered just one run to the No. 9 Cardinal while holding them to four hits.

He struck out seven and walked just three, and the lone run that he allowed came via a solo homer by Brock Jones, one of the best hitters in the Pac-12.

Abel’s regular season finale ended in a loss — he was outdueled by Stanford ace Brendan Beck, who became the first Pac-12 pitcher to throw a shutout this season.

But the result was still encouraging. It was Abel’s longest outing of the season, and he needed just 106 pitches to get through the evening.

“I think we finished on a great note to end the regular season,” Abel said.

“Pitched it pretty well this weekend and then the bats turned on on Sunday. It showed that we’ve got a lot of depth. We can run it for a three-game set, or four, if we need to. We have that kind of depth.”

The postseason experience that Abel — as well as other Oregon State veterans — carries could be a major factor for the Beavers this weekend. Jake Mulholland was the closer on the 2018 World Series team, and Andy Armstrong and Claunch both played pivotal backup roles on that team.

“Having the older guys is very valuable,” Canham said. “Having been down that road before. Sometimes when you go into a new environment and you haven’t experienced that situation, the postseason. The game can get sped up on some guys. Different locations you’ve never been to. Different atmosphere. It’s literally at the point where if you win you stay, if you lose, you go home. … It’s postseason time and everyone is fully charged. It doesn’t matter how your legs are feeling or how your arms are feeling, you’re gonna go out there and give everything you possibly have.”