Oregon State's 11-4 win Sunday against Stanford was the antithesis of Saturday's game, when it was the Cardinal that snapped their 12 game losing streak against the Beavers by jumping out to a 3-0 lead early, and then cementing the win late with a 3 run 7th, while effectively throttling their opponent's offense on their way to a 6-0 win.
The Beavers batted around in the bottom of the 1st, opening a 5-0 lead, with a NIck Madrigal triple and a 2 run homer by K.J. Harrison, below, his 7th of the season, the highlight plays.
Initially, it looked like the Beavers might have relegated the rest of the hot afternoon to inconsequential baseball, as Jake Thompson was dominant through the first 4 inning. But the inexplicable lineup move of the day, Oregon State head coach Pat Casey's decision to sit shortstop Trevor Morrison, in a game the Beavers had to have, came back to bite them, as so many unnecessary lineup tinkering moves do.
Madrigal, who got the start at short, made a bad throw for what should have been the second out of the inning, and Stanford suddenly having an extra out seemed to shake Thompson's confidence.
Three walks and three unearned runs later, it was a 5-3 game, and Oregon State pitching coach Nate Yeski had pulled Thompson, just shy of qualifying for what would have been an opportunity to get a W that would have been a tremendous confidence boost for the Beavers' "3rd starter" who has struggled of late.
Fortunately for Oregon State, Bryce Fehmel came on and cleaned up the inning, and the day and weekend for Oregon State, with another solid performance out of the bullpen. Fehmel picked up his second win of the weekend, and improved to 8-1 for the season, which ties him for the conference lead in wins.
Also of note, Morrison entered the game in the bottom of the inning, and manned short the rest of the way.
Oregon State got Fehmel some working room with 2 runs in the 6th, with a leadoff walk and a double by Christian Donahue setting the plate, and it was a good thing, as Stanford stayed alive, with their only real threat to Fehmel when Alex Dunlap doubled into the left field corner to score Tommy Edman in the 8th, pulling within 7-4.
The Beavers put an end to any anxiety, and claimed their 6th series win in a row over the Cardinal, when Billy King delivered a bases loaded 2 RBI single to start a 4 run inning, as Oregon State batted around again.
It was a good day for the Oregon State offense, that in addition to the 2 big innings, got 14 hits total against a half dozen Stanford pitchers.
10th ranked Oregon State improved to 28-12, and 10-8 in the Pac-12, dropping Stanford to 20-18, and 8-10 in conference, in the process. The Beavers will host Seattle Tuesday night, before heading to Tucson next weekend, for a critical series against Arizona. The Wildcats sit only 1/2 game behind the Beavers in the Pac-12 standings.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com