Coming off a 16-0 victory over Portland on Tuesday, the Beavers found themselves on the opposite end of the spectrum Friday afternoon, as Loyola Marymount got past the Beavers easily for a win in the San Diego State Tournament. Final Score: Loyola Marymount 13, Oregon State 3.
The Beavers, who led the nation in fielding percentage for much of the season last year, committed three errors on Friday, taking their season total to 11. This was their third game of the season with three or more errors, a rare commodity for Oregon State in recent history.
Loyola Marymount got their bats going early in the first, when they scored three runs on OSU starter Jorge Reyes. A double by Kyle Sprake, followed by a single by Andy Preston produced one run, and put one on with one out for the Lions. Angelo Songlo, Ollie Enos, and Ryan Wheeler hit back to back to back singles, driving in two more runs for the Lions. They wouldn't be able to produce any more runs on offense for five innings, but their bats would wind up exploding again in the final four innings.
Down 0-3, Oregon State struck back in the bottom of the fourth. Joey Wong led the inning off with a double, extending his hitting streak to seven games. He advanced to third on a wild pitch by Loyola Marymount pitcher Mike Kenney. John Wallace walked, putting the Beavers in a first and third situation with no outs. Jason Ogata lined out to the second baseman and Jordan Lennerton struck out looking, putting two quick outs on the Beavers. However, a 2-RBI single by Daniel Robertson drove in Wong and Wallace, cutting the Lion lead to 1 run. the Beavers tied the game on a double by Drew George. Daniel Robertson scored on the play, but George wasn't as lucky. According to the boxscore, he was thrown out at third "7-6-4-6-1", leading me to believe that he was trying to stretch his double into a triple when reality caught up with him. Nonetheless, the Beavers were able to tie the game at 3 after four innings.
Loyola Marymount scored one run in the top of the sixth before they broke it open in the top of the seventh. In that inning, the Lions moved runners around the bases like it was a pinwheel. Three consecutive errors by the Beavers with the bases loaded resulted in three runs, as did two singles and a walk. All with the bases loaded.
Up 10-3, the Lions manufactured three more runs in the top of the ninth as they cruised easily to a 13-3 win.
Mike Stutes moved to 1-2 on the season with the loss. He threw five innings, allowing four runs on nine hits. He struck out six and walked one. Eight Beaver pitchers threw in the game, including Kraig Sitton, Mark Grbavac, Blake Keitzman, Taylor Starr, Reed Brown, Alex Besaw, and Kyle Foster.
Next up for the Beavers is San Diego. That game is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Saturday.
GO BEAVERS!
--JB--