Final Score: Oregon State 8, BYU 4.
The Beavers kept their hot streak alive against BYU on Tuesday, where they clinched a midweek series sweep and kept their momentum going in preparation for this weekend's matchup with USC with a 8-4 win.
The Beavers move to 22-7 on the season with the win, and have now won 14 of their last 16 games. Oregon State is now 10-0 at Goss Stadium this year.
Tanner Robles got the start for the Beavers in his first outing since March 7. He had some soreness in his shoulder he had been trying to work out with pitching coach Nate Yeskie, but felt "good, for the most part" in his three innings of work and said it was "good to be out there again." The lefty gave up one run on two hits and threw 48 pitches. He struck out three batters, two of them coming as the first two outs of the first inning.
Michael Miller's three run home run in the second inning provided the spark Oregon State needed to overcome BYU getting on the board first-- from that point on, it was all Oregon State.
Ryan Ortiz went 2-for-3 in the game, driving in three runs. He drove in Brett Casey with a double to left center in the third inning, and Koa Kahalahoe knocked in Ortiz with a single to give the Beavers a 5-1 lead at the end of three innings.
The Beavers further advanced the lead in the fourth inning, when Stefen Romero hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to score John Tommasini from third. Later that inning, Ortiz doubled down the left field line, picking up his second and third RBI's of the game as he drove in Brett Casey and Joey Wong.
Trailing 8-1 after four, BYU scratched back with three rRuns in the sixth inning, but it wasn't enough. Ryan Gorton came out of the bullpen to pitch three innings, and although he gave up the three runs in the sixth, he allowed just one run in his first two innings of work. He allowed a leadoff home run to Kent Walton in that inning, which didn't help, and also gave up two doubles.
James Nygren came on to pitch the final three innings, only giving up one hit against the minimum nine batters, while striking out five. Those are great numbers for Nygren, who is excelling at a time when guys like Kevin Rhoderick are struggling to find consistency.
Max Schupe continues to take advantage of the opportunities given to him by the Oregon State coaching staff. He started the second game of the season against BYU on Tuesday, and went 1-for-2 with a run scored in the game.
Game one of the series against USC is scheduled to get underway at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. As I'm sure you all know, this will be a huge series for the Beavers!
--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)