Arkansas-Pine Bluff (6-26-1, 5-10) at Oregon State (21-11, 6-6) at 2:05 PM PDT - Goss Stadium at Coleman Field, Corvallis, OR - KEJO 1240 AM & KPOJ 620 AM - Video and Audio Stream on Beaver Nation Online, for a fee
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Oregon St. continues their non-conference series against Arkansas-Pine Bluff of the Southwestern Athletic Conference with a Saturday afternoon contest.
The Beavers overcame an error assisted 3 run 6th inning by the Golden Lions, and another frustrating evening of not being able to deliver on opportunities to break the game open, and still rallied for a 5-3 win Friday evening in the series opener.
Oregon St. had picked up single runs in the second and third innings, and starter Ben Wetzler was breezing along, carrying a shutout into the 6th inning, when a rare error on shortstop Tyler Smith opened the door for 3 unearned runs when Arkansas Pine Bluff was able to wrap a pair of RBI singles around a sacrifice.
The Beavers tied it in the seventh when Ryan Dunn doubled to drive in Michael Conforto, and then took the lead when Dunn scored on a Dylan Davis sacrifice, after Ryan Gorton's single had moved Dunn over to third base.
It was the best sequence of plate work of the evening for Oregon St., who left at least 2 runners on base in their last 5 at bats, including twice leaving the bases loaded, and 14 total runners stranded for the game.
Wetzler had weathered the Golden Lions' uprising, and worked into the 7th inning before handing the game over to the Beavers' bullpen killer Bs.
Cole Brocker took over with a runner on third, and only one out. After getting a line drive out, Oregon St. coach Pat Casey turned to Matt Boyd, who finished off the inning, and then, staked to a lead, mowed down Arkansas St. in order in the 8th.
The Beavers got only one insurance run in their half of the 8th inning, when Max Gordon scored on a wild pitch. But Oregon St. got nothing more, despite having the bases loaded with 1 out.
It was more than enough for Tony Bryant, though, as the Beavers' closer set the Golden Lions down in order for his 8th save of the season, and 3rd in Oregon St.'s last 3 games.
Boyd got the win, improving his record to 3-0.
Stanten Jones, who took over for Arkansas Pine Bluff starter Redmond Floyd in the 5th inning, and gave up both the runs the Beavers scored in their 7th inning comeback rally, got the loss.
Despite not being able to deliver many big hits, as Arkansas Pine Bluff held them to only 5 hits, the Beavers used a combination of good plate discipline and errant Golden Lion pitching to draw a dozen bases on balls, plus putting 2 batters on after they were hit by pitches.
Beaver pitching also allowed only 5 hits, all by Wetzler, but only surrendered 1 walk, and it was the difference in the game.
In Friday Pac-12 action, Arizona held onto sole possession of first place, with a 4-3 win over visiting UCLA, and Oregon moved into second place, defeating Stanford 4-2 in 10 innings. Arizona St. moved ahead of Oregon St., with a 5-1 win over USC, while California edged Washington 7-6, and Washington St. downed Utah 9-2.
Neither Oregon St. nor Arkansas Pine Bluff named a starter far in advance of this afternoon's middle game of the series, but the Beavers settled on freshman LHP Jace Fry (2-2, 3.49 ERA) as game time approached.
The Beavers' next win will be the 600th at Oregon St. for head coach Pat Casey, so today could be a major milestone day.
Go Beavers!