Oregon State Wins, Keeps First Place in Pac-10

TEMPE, Ariz. - Oregon State overcame a four-run deficit and the No.5-ranked Beavers held onto first place in the Pacific-10 baseball race with a 9-8 win over No. 17-ranked Arizona State on Sunday afternoon at Winkles Field/Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. OSU (35-13 overall, 12-6 Pac-10) is now two games ahead of ASU and Southern California, pending the outcome of USC's game later Sunday at UCLA.

The Beavers now go to Washington State next Friday through Sunday before returning home to finish the season against UCLA from May 26-28.

On a hot Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 2,544, the Beavers trailed 7-3 after three innings but eventually tied the game at 7-7 in the fifth inning. OSU got the winning run in the top of the ninth on a pair of two-out errors, reaching base on shortstop Andrew Romine's throwing error, stealing second, then scoring when second baseman Seth Dhaenens misplayed Mitch Canham's sharply hit ball to the right side.

"I can't tell you how impressed I am at how our guys came out here after the way we lost the first two games, stand in the 102-degree heat and win this game after nothing was going right for us early," OSU head coach Pat Casey said. "To see Gundy (closer Kevin Gunderson) come out and do that against a team that's playing as well as anybody in the country is just unbelievable. This is a tough place to play ... I told (assistant coach) Dan Spencer before the game that I thought the team that won this game today could really have a shot at winning the championship in this league.

Less than a day after taking the loss in the Beavers' 6-3 defeat on Saturday night, Gunderson earned the win to even his season record at 2-2. In 2 2/3 innings, Gunderson allowed one run on two hits and no walks, striking out two and he retired the Sun Devils in order in the ninth.

"Gundy doing that is a credit to his character," Casey said. "I tried to tell him Saturday night that the sun doesn't shine one the same dog every day. He's done it every stinking time out, and sometimes it's going to happen that way."

Darwin Barney, batting in the leadoff spot for the first time this season, was 3-for-5 with a double and two runs batted in as the Beavers collected 14 hits. Chris Kunda was 2-for-5 with a double and one RBI, John Wallace was 2-for-5 with one RBI and Bill Rowe was 2-for-5 for the Beavers, who avoided having their first three-game losing streak of the season.

Sunday, 5/14										R	H	E
Oregon State	1	2	0	1	2	3	0	1	1	9	14	1
Arizona State	0	5	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	8	10	4