Final Score: Washington 4, Oregon State 3 (Box score)
There was about a two inning period in Friday's 6-4 Oregon State win at Safeco Field where the Beavers felt comfortable. For the rest of the weekend, the Beavers sputtered, as they lost their third series of the past four weekends to the Washington Huskies.
The lone Beaver victory of the weekend game in Safeco Field, like I mentioned, but the Beavers couldn't finish off the Huskies after building a 6-0 lead. Five free passes in the eighth inning helped the ‘Dawgs score four runs, necessitating the need for Kevin Rhoderick to come out of the bullpen to save the game.
On Saturday, a lack of confidence by starting pitcher Greg Peavey led to nine quick runs by the Huskies. Two home runs, one of them being a grand slam, helped Washington build the quick lead. From the third inning on the Beavers played the Huskies to a 6-6 tie, but the opening-inning onslaught proved to be the difference, as UW won by nine runs to force a Sunday rubber game.
The Beavers struggled to find a groove in Sunday's game. Michael Miller doubled to start the third inning, was bunted to third, and driven in on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Ortiz. In the fifth, Adalberto Santos singled to left field and drove in Joey Wong from second, and in the seventh, Romero singled to score Santos from third.
The Beavers would leave eleven runners on base in the game.
Michael Miller again hit in the leadoff spot, going 1-for-5 with a run scored. Joey Wong went 2-for-3 with a run, and Adalberto Santos led the team with a 2-for-4 performance with a run scored and an RBI.
Jorge Reyes went four innings to start the game, giving up three of Washington's runs on three hits. He walked six, and struck out five. Following Jorge, Ryan Gorton pitched an inning and two thirds and only gave up one hit. Kraig Sitton, Sam Gaviglio, and Josh Osich also pitched in the game.
The Huskies scored the eventual winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning, after Oregon State finally tied the game in the top of the seventh. After Caleb Brown singled to lead off the seventh for the Huskies, Aaron Russell doubled to left center field to drive home Brown.
The loss dropped the Beavers to 29-14 on the year and 12-9 in Pacific-10 Conference play. The Huskies, meanwhile, improved to 23-24 and 12-9 in league games.
The Beavers now return home for a five game homestand that begins with two midweek games against Gonzaga on Tuesday and Wednesday.
--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)