On the second day of the FSU Tournament, the Beavers took on Gonzaga and Fresno State in a doubleheader, coming away with a 4-2 victory and a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat. The Beavers are now 2-1 on the young season.
In the first game, the Beavers got two hits a piece from the duo of Carter Bell and Jordan Poyer to lead Oregon State.
The Beavers made Gonzaga starter Tyler Olson sweat from the very beginning, as Oregon State loaded the bases and eventually brought in a run to gain an early 1-0 advantage.
The Beaver lead was short lived though after Gonzaga tied the game up at one in the second inning with an RBI Single by Royce Bolinger. The run was set up by another Oregon State fielding error and followed by a double by Maxx Garrett, but Garrett was gunned down at the plate on the same scoring play to prevnt any major damage from being done.
Freshman Ben Wetzler got the start for the Beavers in an absolutely sensational first career game. Wetzler only gave up one run (unearned), one hit batter, four hits, two walks, two wild pitches, and had eight strikeouts. Ben went 4.1 innings and contnued a weekend of good pitching for the Beavers after Sam Gaviglio's performance on Saturday.
After tying the game at one, the Beavers went on to score a run in each of the third, fourth, and fifth innings to gain some seperation from the Zags. In the top of the third, the Beavers recorded two quick outs, but Andrew Susac got aboard on a walk to spark the rally. Susac advanced to second on a Wild Pitch, third on a base hit, and reached home on a Luke Acosta single.
In the fourth and fifth innings, both runs began off of leadoff walks. Garrett Nash scored Jake Rodriguez on a Sacrifice Fly in the fourth inning to give the Beavers a 3-1 advantage, and Susac scored on a Wild Pitch in the fifth to seperate the Beavers even further.
After the fifth inning, Gonzaga's pitching staff began to settle down and the Beavers' pitching remained solid up until the ninth inning. Needing at least three runs to force extra innings, Gonzaga got a leadoff walk followed by a base hit to chase reliever Scott Schultz. But trusty Matt Boyd threw two pitches and got a double play ball to bring Oregon State one out from victory. Gonzaga did make the score 4-2 on the double play, but Ryan Dunn came in to save the game for the Beavers, throwing three pitches and getting Steven Halcomb to fly out to end the game.
Game Two recap after the break
The second game was played like the last half of the first game, with the pitchers dominating. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, when Brennan Gowens led off the inning with a home run to give Fresno State a 1-0 lead.
The Diamond Dogs added to their lead in the next inning on a Danny Muno RBI Single, but Freshman starter Sam Booser was not intimidated and got out of the inning with minimal damage. The Beavers finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh, when Parker Berberet led off the inning with a double. Berberet got home after back to back ground-outs, but Danny Hayes struck out to end the Oregon State rally.
Oregon State's pitching held strong in the bottom half of the seventh, despite Coly Baylis hitting the leadoff batter. In the top half of the eighth, the Beaver Offense went quietly, and all hope seemed lossed when Garrett Webber led off the bottom half of the inning with a double. But Matt Boyd came through clutch, getting a strikeout, groundout, and fly out to five Oregon State one last chance in the ninth.
The Beavers recorded two quick outs to start the inning, but they did get the tying run aboard on a walk. But the excitement was for nothing, as Jared Norris struck out to give Fresno State a 2-1 victory.
Next up for the Beavers is the final game of the FSU Tournament against the same Fresno State Bulldogs tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:05 PM Pacifc and you can listen to the game on KKOD 1550 in Portland. Fresno State is 2-0 on the season.
Go Beavers!