What I Saw at Joe Etzel Field
Unlike the first game between these two teams earlier this month, this game stated out colse for the first three innings. But in the fourth, the Beavers strung together five straight hits before Portland even recorded an out, and the Beavers finished the inning with a 4-0 lead. The game would stay quiet from there, with Oregon State adding to their lead in the eighth and the Pilots getting their only run in the bottom half of the ninth. But when it was all over, the Beavers had a 6-1 win, their 30th win of the season.
LINESCORE:
Oregon State – 000 400 020 – 6 8 1
Portland – 000 000 001 – 1 5 0
WP: James Nygren (7-1)
LP: Owen Jones (3-5)
Top Hitters
Oregon State:
- Kavin Keyes, 2 RBI
- Danny Hayes, RBI
- Jared Norris, RBI
Portland:
- Colin Feldtman, RBI
Records:
- Oregon State: 30-8
- Portland: 14-23
In a Nutshell:
With the score tied at 0 after the 3rd Inning, Ryan Barnes opened up the 4th with a ledoff single. That would be the first of five consecutive singles for the Beavers, giving Oregon State a 3-0 lead. Tyler Smith ended the streak with a strikeout, but the Beavers added to their lead with another RBI Single by Ryan Dunn.
Ryan Dunn tries to check his swing in the 9th Inning. Dunn finished the game 1 for 4 with an RBI.
The inning ended with Brian Stamps grounding into a double play, but the Beavers were still happy to have a four run lead.
Brian Stamps watches a strike. Stamps finished the day 0 for 4 at the plate.
In the Bottom of the 6th, Craig Smith got aboard on a Single after a Portland strikeout to begin the inning. That would mean it was the end of the day for James Nygren, but Ben Wetzler came in and quickly recorded the final two outs to get the Beavers out of the inning.
Ben Wetzler stares down the runner at 1st before making his first pitch of the game.
After the mini-threat by the Pilots, the game stayed quiet until the 8th, when Oregon State added two more insurance runs. The inning began with a Garrett Nash single, and Nash scored on a RBI Double by Jared Norris. Norris came around to score on back to back sacrifices, the first a groundout and the next a fly out, to give Oregon State a 6-0 advantage.
Portland's only run came in the Bottom of the 9th on a Colin Feldtman RBI Single to score Kramer Scott. However, the game would end on the next play on a Riley Henricks fly out for out number three.
Portland's 1st Base Coach
More notes after the break
Random Bullets:
- About 95% of the 605 people tat attened Tuesday's game were dressed in Orange and Black. Not a big surprise at all, but you would think that Portland would have ha a little better turnout for their biggest game of the season.
- Nygren continued to look good. I was very surprised to see him on the mound after starting for the Beavers on Thursday night, but he looked just fine. It will be interesting to see if he's on the bum Sunday against UCLA as well.
- Brian Stamps had a rough game, which was disappointing since he's my favorite player, but I still got his autograph after the game so that was cool.
Overall, this was a solid win for the Beavers. It was especially nice to see after losing to Washington State on Saturday. The Pilots aren't great, but they certainly aren't bad either. They have wins over Oregon and Hawaii (Twice) to their credit.
Now it's off to Los Angeles for a three game series with UCLA. The series begins at 6:00 PM on Friday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Go Beavers!