MOY Semifinals, 2 vs. 3

by Jake Bertalotto on Jul 21, 2008 12:30 AM PDT Comment 1 comment

The last semifinal matchup:

(2) Football upsets #2 Cal: The Beavers optimistically traveled down to Berkeley with the memory of a 2005 upset in the back of their helmets. With the Bears ranked #2 in the country and talks beginning to talk about National Championships, the Beavers stunned the Bears, or the Bears stunned themselves, in a roller coaster game that ended on this play:

(3) Ryan Ortiz's Grand Slam Defeats UCLA: With the Beavers needing a huge boost to get them into the post-season, Oregon State found themselves down three in the bottom of the eighth. With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Ortiz hit the first pitch he saw from pitcher Brandon Crawford sharply down the right field line. UCLA right fielder Raul Duran knows he should of caught the ball, but he dropped it, and it was ruled foul. What's funny is that Ortiz was arguing the call on his way back to the plate, oblivious to what he was about to do.

With a 0-1 count, Ryan took Crawford deep to left to end what would become one of the most clutch at-bats in recent Beaver memory. The grand slam put the Beavers up 8-7, and doused UCLA's hope for a series win.

Vote! The semifinal polls will close this Thursday. If there's not a clear cut winner by then, well, we'll figure it out.

Poll

Moment of the Year Semifinals, 2 vs. 3

OSU defeats #2 Cal (Football)

31 votes

Ryan Ortiz's Grand Slam defeats UCLA (Baseball)

1 votes

32 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 1 comment

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Comments

I am a huge football fan, but

We can’t have all football in the finals can we?!

I’m a huge football fan and not really sure the grand slam was as big as beating Cal, but going with it because I can’t only vote for football! To rationalize it for myself more the Cal game actually seemed bigger for Cal than for the Beavs, hmm like I wasn’t yelling during that clock count down though and feeling good for the next week!

But I was there for the Ortiz grand slam and it was awesome, especially after the UCLA taunting the game before. Plus it was great in how Ryan hit one previously in the game to almost the same spot and it didn’t clear the fence and felt like a big tease. Then he gets up to bat with the bases loaded and FINALLY something going on for the Beavs in the game, and he comes oh so close to fouling out on a great attempt by the Bruin right fielder, then smacks it out after that, and Bruin fans go quiet and Beavs do their own little rubbing in.

Plus at the time it all looked to save the post-season hopes for the Beavs, but I guess that’s another story…

I also think it does show the big time potential of Ortiz for the next season.

-RVM

by rvm on Jul 21, 2008 9:50 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs