Final Score: Oregon St. 8 Utah 3
Oregon St. head coach Pat Casey, still searching for some offensive spark, inserted Beau Day into the lineup as the designated hitter against Utah, and the decision really paid of. Day went 4 for 4, driving in 2 runs and scoring, and the 6th ranked Beavers rolled past visiting Utah for an 8-3 win that ensures another series win, something Oregon St. has done in each of their 4 conference weekends so far this season. Day was joined by Tyler Smith and Dylan Davis with 2 RBI days.
Andy Peterson got things going, singling and then moving to second in Oregon St.'s first at bat. Peterson moved on to third on a wild pitch, and score to put the Beavers up 1-0 on Ryan Barnes' double.
Utah would even things up in the 4th inning when Braden Anderson led off with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice, and scored on Trey Nielson's single.
But the Beavers took the lead for good in the bottom of the 4th inning, and Day got it started with a single. Day moved to second when Nate Esposito walked, and scored the go ahead for good run on Smith's double, which also scored Esposito.
Oregon St. blew the game open an inning later, scoring 4 times to take a 7-1 lead. Peterson got things rolling again, leading off with a single and stealing second. Michael Conforto's single set the table for Davis' 2 run double that ended the day for Ute's starter Dalton Carroll.
Kavin Keyes would drive in Davis, and Day followed with an RBI single that delivered Keyes.
Oregon St. starter Andrew Moore gave up an RBI double to T.J. Bennett in the 6th, and Utah scored another run in the 7th, on a couple of singles and a sacrifice that ended Moore's day, but Max Engelbrekt got the Beavers out of the inning, and after Day singled to drive in Davis in the bottom of the inning, Brandon Jackson took over and brought the win home, pleasing most of the crowd of 2,164 that turned out on a chilly spring afternoon.
Overall, the Beavers banged out 13 hits throughout the top 7 spots in the order.
"We struggled offensively yesterday," Casey said, "but today was a different day. We got contributions form the entire lineup, and when you couple that with Andrew, that's tough to beat."
Jackson improved to 7-1 for the season, while Carroll dropped to 3-3 with the loss.
Oregon St. improved to 27-6 for the season, and 9-2 in the Pac-12, but still trails Oregon by a half game, after the Ducks claimed a series clinching 10-4 win at California.
Utah dropped to 14-16, and 4-10 in conference, dropping the Utes into last place by a half game, after Washington upset Stanford 11-3.
The series concludes with a noon game tomorrow.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com