#21 Oregon State (3-1) vs. Pacific (0-4) - 2 PM PST at Cunningham Stadium, San Diego University / KEJO 1240 AM and KPOJ 620 AM (Not streamed)
Oregon St. opens this weekend's 4 game set in San Diego in San Diego University's Cunningham Stadium, against the Pacific Tigers from the Big West Conference, the same circuit as UC Santa Barbara, the team the Beavers took 3 of 4 from on opening weekend.
The Tigers lost all 3 games in a back-and-forth series that visited their field in Stockton Saturday, and opened and closed in Berkeley Friday and Sunday, and then lost to second ranked Stanford Tuesday back in Stockton. Pacific took the Cardinal to 11 innings before falling 9-7.
Probable Starters are LHP Ben Wetzler (1-0, 5.06) for Oregon St. and LHP Paul Moeller (0-0, 5.40) for Pacific.
Wetzler went 5 1/3 innings+ in Oregon St.'s season opener against the Gauchos, and left with a 5-3 lead. He eventually got the win in the Beavers' 7-3 victory. All 3 runs were earned, and Wetzler gave up 6 hits, but had only one base on balls, against a single strike out.
Moeller gave up 1 hit in a scoreless inning of relief against California in the opener, in what was a 2-1 game at the time, before the Bears blew the game they eventually won 9-1 open. Moeller also finished the game on Sunday, giving up 2 hits and the last run in the Bears' 9-3 win before getting the last 2 outs.
The Tigers posted a 17-37 record last year, and went 9-15 in the Big West, finishing 8th in the 9 team conference.
The Beavers swept the Tigers in a 2008 series, and have won their last 5 games against Pacific.
Oregon St. should be able to out-talent Pacific, and pick up a win while still getting a lot of the newcomers into the action. It should be a good tune up for tomorrow evening's game at San Diego St. across town at the Aztecs' Tony Gwinn Stadium, which will begin at 6 PM PST, and be aired on "The Mountain" channel.
Here's the place to discuss the game, the prospects for the weekend, and size up how the Pac-12 fared on opening weekend.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com