Just some quick things before I call it a day.
- Joey, Joey, Joey... Joey Wong entered the game in a pretty big slump, but still got the start that the two spot. You can tell that the OSU coaches have a lot of trust in Joey, because they left him in the game to hit in the bottom of the thirteenth inning with the winning run on third base. Joey was 0-6 in the game at that point, but he comes through with the game winning base hit through the right side.
- Pitching.... Pretty solid, I thought. Since this was a mid-week game and it's not nearly important as a league game, the coaches started a young pitcher, and stuck with some young guys for pretty much the whole game. Kevin Rhoderick, OSU's normal closer, was sensational, retiring all ten batters he faced. I understand the decision to take him out in the 12th inning though, because we really need him this week at Cal. That said, Blake Ketizman picked up right where Kevin left off, retiring three straight in the top of the 13th. Without the great pitching from the bullpen in the late innings, I doubt we win the game. The bullpen did a great job keeping Pilots off the basepaths, and giving the Beaver offense multiple chances to win the game in a number of different innings. The offense spoiled many opportunities to end the game, but the pitching kept giving OSU's hitters more chances.
- Defense... No errors. That's good.
- Offense... Not the best game. If it wasn't for Garrett Nash's grand slam in the second inning, I don't know if we could have found the offensive production against some very pesky UP pitchers. Pat Casey and Co. know that the Beavers didn't have the best hitting night, and they realize that 14 runners left on base is way to many. Seven of those runners were left on base between the ninth and thirteenth innings, which is crazy. It seemed like OSU had chances to score in almost every extra inning.
Anything else I missed?
GO BEAVERS! On to Cal!
--JB--