Final Score: Oregon State 10, Oregon 2. (Box Score)
John Wallace hit the first grand slam of his life in the fifth inning to turn a 2-2 tie into a 6-2 lead, giving the Beavers the separation they've lacked in so many games this season on one swing. The Beavers would pour on some additional runs in that fifth inning and later in the game to win their third Civil War game of the year.
The Ducks have now lost 16 of their last 18, and they fall to 12-29 on the year with the loss. It has now become apparent to me that the Ducks can't score runs to save their lives... they have a few guys who can pitch, but the bats just aren't there.
The Ducks did get two runs across in the fourth inning, when they were able to get three hits off of OSU starter Sam Gaviglio. The three hits and two runs that the Ducks picked up in the fourth was the only offense the Ducks were able to get against Gaviglio in his five innings of work.
The game seemed to provide a nice confidence boost for the Beavers heading into this weekend's series with Arizona State. I'm thinking it feels a lot better to have memories of an eight run victory over your arch-rivals than two straight series losses to USC and UCLA... we'll see if it translates into any wins this weekend.
Some Individual notes:
--Sam Gaviglio got just his second start of the season. He's now 6-1 on the season. He was basically dominant in the four innings other than the fourth, striking out six and walking none over the course of his five innings.
--Today's pitchers in chronological order were: Gaviglio, Grbavac, Nygren, Kidd. The Beavers only gave up five hits in the game, with three of them coming in the fourth inning when the Ducks scored their only two runs.
--John Wallace hit leadoff in the game, with Pat Casey flip-flopping Wong and Wallace for the Midweek game. I heard that Wallace has been battling a bee sting addiction-- he's picked up two on the road this season, but it didn't seem to bother him Tuesday night. He hit is first home run of the season-- a grand slam-- in the fifth inning. That turned a 2-2 game into a 6-2 game, and two additional runs (score: 8-2) in the inning didn't hurt. The grand slam was the first of Wallace's life, dating back to his little league days in Reno, Nevada.
"In that situation, with the bases loaded, I was looking for something I could elevate," Wallace said. "We've been struggling in the last few weeks hitting with runners in scoring position or even with the bases loaded."
"We've been in a lot of games where we just couldn't separate, so to be able to get four runs on one swing of the bat loosened us all up in the dugout and we were able to have some fun for the rest of the game."
--Joey Wong went 0-for-5 in the game. In the first inning, he stepped up to the plate to leadoff the game until John Wallace interrupted his pre-pitch routine to inform the OSU shortstop that in fact #35, not #1, was hitting in the leadoff spot. Then, Joey proceeded to ground out, fly out, reach first after striking out, get thrown out stealing second, ground out, and fly out. Geeze Joey, stressed about a big Organic Chemistry test tomorrow?
--Adalberto Santos's performance was perhaps as encouraging as anyone's in the game. Hitting from the DH spot, Adalberto went 2-for-3 with an RBI, possibly providing a spark that will make his bat a factor in the upcoming Arizona State series. The shoulder is definitely still bothering him, but like Mike Parker said on the broadcast, Santos can help out a ton on offense even if he is at 80 percent.
--Stefen Romero struck out looking with the bases loaded in the eighth. The Beavers were leading 10-2 at the time, but you gotta swing the bat, brotha! Dang Arizona boy... he doesn't know what the Civil War is all about. Romero went 0-for-4 on the night, striking out twice.
--Jared Norris went 2-for-3 in the game, getting a lead-off single in the second inning and eventually scoring, and doubling to left to drive in the fifth to drive in Ortiz and help tack on a few extra runs to the Beavers' big inning.
--Backup catcher Mike Chiarelli got to play in his fourth game of the year to give Ortiz an inning off in the ninth. He didn't get a turn at the plate, but he got a taste of what Civil War baseball is like (I guess that's valuable...) when he caught for Brad Kidd in the ninth.
--Carter Bell barehanded a bunt and threw out Danny Pulfer to end the game, a play Mike Parker was very excited about. Hopefully this only means good things about the future of Carter as the Oregon State third baseman of the future.
The Beavers are back in action on Friday, when Arizona State comes to town.
--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)
PS: If you're planning on going to the Spring Game and wouldn't mind writing a report for Building the Dam, send me an e-mail to the aforementioned address and let me know. Also, if you haven't already, add Building the Dam on Twitter!
PSS: Blazers win Game 5! Join the party over at BlazersEdge.com.