Oregon State ace pitcher Luke Heimlich, on the eve of the start of the NCAA baseball tournament super regionals, has been identified as a registered sex offender by The Oregonian.

According to the paper, Heimlich, 21, had to register as a sex offender after arriving at the university, stemming from a guilty plea in 2012, when he admitted to sexually molesting a 6-year-old female family member in Puyallup, Washington, when he was 15 years old.

The Oregonian, while doing a routine background check on Heimlich for a feature story, discovered Heimlich was cited for failing to update his sex offender registration status in April.

Heimlich, who was projected to be an early-round pick in the Major League Baseball draft next week, did not respond to the paper for comment. According to the Oregonian, OSU athletic director Scott Barnes would not say when the school knew Heimlich was a registered sex offender, and a Oregon State spokesman told the paper that the university receives lists of offenders from Oregon State Police "on a regular ongoing basis" and then checks those names against its student database.

The spokesman told the paper that information is then shared only on an "educational need to know" basis.

The left-hander has helped anchor the pitching staff for the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, compiling an 11-1 record with a 0.75 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 118⅓ innings this season.

He is ranked as the No. 43 overall prospect by Baseball America.

MLB spokesman Michael Teevan said the league had no comment.

The victim's mother told The Oregonian that she's "appalled that the college he's going to would even have him on their team."

OSU president Ed Ray issued a statement Thursday calling the account "disturbing" and that the school "does not condone the conduct as reported."

Ray said students who are registered sex offenders are not allowed to live in student residence halls or work with minors.

Oregon State opens super regional play against Vanderbilt on Friday, needing just to win the best-of-3 series at home to advance to the College World Series.

Beavers coach Pat Casey could not comment on the case. On Friday, Heimlich did not start against Vanderbilt; Jake Thompson took to the mound against the Commodores.

Heimlich ultimately pleaded guilty in 2012 to one count of molestation between February 2011 and December 2011, a period during which he was 15. Prosecutors dismissed the other charge as part of a plea bargain. He had to enter a diversion program, go through two years of probation and attend sex offender treatment for two years. He also had to register as a Level 1 sex offender beginning in August 2012.

He finished his probation and court-ordered classes in fall 2014, around the time he moved to Corvallis, Oregon, to attend Oregon State. However, Heimlich was cited April 3 for failing to update his registration, as required by state law. The charge was dismissed because of "insufficient evidence of Defendant's knowledge of Oregon reporting requirements," according to court documents obtained by The Oregonian.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.