In a battle of two nationally ranked teams, the San Diego Toreros beat Oregon State by the score of 10-5 on Saturday afternoon. The game was the second of the San Diego State tournament for the Beavers. With the loss, they're now 4-5 on the season and 0-2 in the tournament.
Chris Hopkins found himself in the leadoff spot for this game, a position he held for much of last year's season. However, Chris has been in a slump the last few weeks, causing Pat Casey to experiment with the lineup. Joey Wong hit in the leadoff spot for three games and did just fine, but it's good to see Hopkins back in the leadoff spot and Joey in the two hole.
Speaking of slumps, OSU first baseman Jordan Lennerton has had a tough time swinging the bat lately. After not starting against Portland, Jordan has yet to get a hit in his last eight at bats. He was 0-5 against San Diego on Saturday, and 0-3 against Loyola Marymount on Friday.
Jorge Reyes started the game on the hill for the Beavers. Jorge was roughed up by Georgia in his last outing, as he only piched for two thirds of an inning and gave up seven runs. Against the Toreros he went five and two thirds innings, allowing five runs on six hits, and striking out one. Only two of the five runs were earned however, as errors proved costly to the Beavers yet again. Blake Keitzman, Josh Keller, Kraig Sitton, and Mark Grbavac all pitched in the middle innings, and James Nygren finished up in the eighth. As the home team with the lead, the Toreros didn't come to the plate in the ninth.
Hopkins, who we talked about earlier, led the game off with a triple to right center. However, the next three Beaver hitters were retired in order, leaving Chris stranded on third. The Beavers were retired in order again in the second inning, and it was Hopkins' two out single in the top of the third that got things going for the Beavers again. Joey Wong followed with a bunt for a base hit, which extended his hitting streak to eight games. Jason Ogata's two out double scored Hopkins from second, giving the Beavers their first run of the game. With two on and two out, Jordan Lennerton struck out looking to end the inning for the Beavers.
Drew George's one out double in the fourth drove in John Wallace from first, then tying the game at 2-2. San Diego scored a run in each of the first two innings, but picked things up again in the bottom of the fifth.
With two on and one out, San Diego third baseman Victor Sanchez hit a routine double play ball to Joey Wong at shortstop that caromed off his mitt, scoring Kevin Muno. Anthony Strazzara hit a single later in the inning that scored two more runs, giving San Diego a 5-2 lead over the Beavers. Errors were again a big problem for the Beavers, who had three for the second game in a row. Four of San Diego's ten runs were unearned.
After San Diego scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth, Oregon State answered with three of their own in the top of the sixth. Daniel Robertson led off with a base hit, and John Wallace reached on an error. After Drew George was retired on strikes, the Toreros went to the bullpen for reliever Sammy Solis. Solis walked the first man he faced, John Tommasini, loading the bases for Erik Ammon. Ammon singled, driving in Robertson from third and reloading the bases. Leadoff man Chris Hopkins, who was 2-3 at the time, hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring another run. With two on and two out and two runs already across in the inning, Joey Wong hit a RBI single of his own. He would eventually be thrown out at second when Jason Ogata hit into a fielder's choice later in the inning, but the Beavers managed to tie the game at five.
San Deigo broke the tie in the bottom of the seventh when their first four batters of the inning all scored. Center fielder Josh Romanski led off with a single, then two consecutive walks by Josh Keller loaded the bases. The Beavers went to the bullpen for Kraig Sitton at that point, who gave up a two-RBI double to James Meador. The second batter Kraig faced, Anthony Strazzara, hit a sacrifice fly to left that scored another run, prompting the Beavers to go to the bullpen once again. Mark Grbavac came on in relief, and after giving up an RBI single that made the score 9-4 in favor of San Diego, he recorded the second and third outs of the inning.
San Deigo scored another run in the bottom of the eighth, giving them ten runs for the game. They went on to win 10-5, advancing themselves to 6-7 on the year.
The Beavers will look for their first win of the weekend Sunday against Santa Clara. That game is scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m.
GO BEAVERS!
--JB--