Open Thread: OSU vs. Cal, Game 1

The Beavers are headed to Evans Diamond on the campus of California-Berekely today for a Pac-10 series with the Cal Bears. The first pitch is schedued for 2:30 p.m., which conflicts with my schedule. I'm thinking that Evans Diamond doesn't have lights, since all three games of the series are scheduled for the afternoon.

On the mound for the Beavers is... Mike Stutes. The 6'1" senior has lowerd his ERA to 4.94 on the year over the course of his last two starts, thanks to four scoreless innings against Pepperdine and six innings scoreless innings against Washington. A run did score while he was pitching against Washington, but it was unearned. He's 2-3 on the year, with a no decision coming against Pepperdine. In that game, a rain delay postponed play until the next day, and Stutes didn't pitch on consecutive days. In his last outing against Washington, he went six innings, giving up zero earned runs and striking out six. In his two starts against California, Mike is 1-0 with a 0.75 ERA, 12.0 innings pitched, and ten strikeouts. Stutes has always been more dominant at home, with a 12-2 record at Goss and a 4-3 record on the road in just about the same number of starts.

On the mound for the Bears is... Tyson Ross. He picked up his fourth win of the season by throwing a career-high 8.0 innings with five hits, no runs, two walks and six strikeouts in Cal's 6-1 win over No. 5-ranked Long Beach State. On the year, Ross is 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA and has 21 strikeouts in 25.0 innings. Opponents are batting .129 against him. Ross now has 226 career strikeouts, good for sixth on the Cal all-time career strikeout list.

Last Season... The Beavers won the series 2-1. Mike Stutes picked up the win in Game 1 of the series, and Tyson Ross picked up the loss. The final score of the game was 1-0 in favor of the Beavers, who were ranked No. 9 in the nation at that time. Stutes and Eddie Kunz comined to throw a four-hitter. In the second game of the series, Cal righthader Alex Rollin and relievers Craig Benningson and Matt Gorgen combined to hand the Beavers their first shoutout in five years, beating the Beavers 4-0. Joe Patterson picked up the loss. In the third game of the series, Anton Maxwell picked up the win after he came in to relieve Daniel Turpen in the fourth inning. Grbavac and Kunz took care of the Bears from there, with Kunz earning his sixth save of the season. The Beavers won the game 5-3.

If you'll be listening to the game on the radio as it hapens or following it on Game Tracker, join in on the thread below. I probably won't be home until after the game ends, so I'll wrap things up then.

GO BEAVERS!

--JB--