Yeah, yeah, yeah, we won the series, but darn. It should have been a sweep.
Whenever you walk thirteen guys and lose by three, it's quite obvious that you should have won. And that was really the story of this game.
You can look at whatever stats you want from this game, but I guarantee this game was decided in free passes to first base. Jorge Reyes went one and two thirds, walked two, and gave up seven runs. Osich walked three. Sitton and Peavey walked two each. And Taylor Starr walked four.
Oregon State's offense did everything it could to give the Beavers and advantage, but the pitching didn't hold up. After Jorge gave up three to the Sun Devils in the bottom of the first, Oregon State posted six runs in the top of the second. That three run lead vanquished in the bottom of the second, when Arizona State countered with five more runs, giving them an 8-6 lead.
Against a power team like Arizona State, every runner is crucial. Whereas a team like Oregon State needs to move runners around the bases to manufacture runs, Arizona State can get those runs via the long ball. That's why a home run can change the entire dynamic of the game if a runner is awarded first base in front of him. It changes a solo shot into a 2 or 3 run home run.
Sure, I'm happy with a series win. I'm ecstatic to tell you the truth. And I'm sure the OSU coaches and players are as well. But in the Pac-10 you need every win you can get, and our guys know that we easily could have had this one.
But that's baseball. We've dropped Sunday games to teams that we should have beaten, namely Washington and Pepperdine.
Arizona is next on the Pac-10 slate.
GO BEAVERS!
--JB--