Oregon State (23-11, 6-6) at University of Portland (20-10, 7-5) at 3:05 PM PDT - Joe Etzel Field, Portland, OR - KEJO 1240 AM & KPOJ 620 AM - Audio Stream (no video) on Beaver Nation Online, for a fee
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After completing a 3 game sweep of Arkansas Pine Bluff with a 16-1 win Sunday, Oregon St. hopes to head north for a Monday makeup of their March 27 rainout at the University of Portland. Unfortunately, the Beavers and Pilots picked another day with a 100% chance of rain in the forecast to try to get in the game on the all real grass and dirt Joe Etzel field.
Sunday's win was never in doubt, and the Beavers had 2 of their 3 4 run innings in the first 4 innings, opening a 10-0 lead before the Golden Lions finally capitalized on leadoff hitter Jacob Whitney getting hit by a pitch, and got a run out of a passed ball, a hit, 1 of only 2 Oregon St. starter Taylor Starr allowed, and a sacrifice.
It made little difference, as the Beaver relievers Scott Schultz, Cole Bayliss, and Carlos Rodriguez combined to no hit Arkansas Pine Bluff the rest of the way.
Meanwhile, the Beavers were on a hitting spree, led by Michael Conforto, who went 4 for 4, with 4 RBI's, which increased his Pac-12 leading total to 50, and 2 runs scored. Joey Matthews went 3 for 3, with 2 RBIs and another run scored, and overall Oregon St. pounded out a season high 18 hits in 8 innings.
It might have been even more lopsided had the Golden Lions not turned 4 double plays.
It was the second consecutive win for Starr (3-1), who missed essentially all of the last 3 seasons with multiple elbow surgeries. Arkansas Pine Bluff's Michael Newby (1-6) suffered the loss.
Oregon St. coach Pat Casey got 5 position reserves into the game, including Nick Rulli, who got his first RBI as a Beaver.
It was the Beavers' 5th win in a row, with the weekend sweep coming on the heels of taking both ends of a 2 game series in Reno against Nevada last week.
Portland is coming off a 4-3 10 inning win over Pepperdine in Malibu, after having dropped the first 2 games of their West Coast Conference weekend series.
The Pilots built a brief 3-0 lead in the top of the 5th, only to see the Waves answer with 2 runs of their own later in the inning, and then tie the game in the bottom of the 8th. Portland went back ahead for good when Cody Lenahan singled to score Turner Gill in the top of the 10th, but had to turn a double play to end the game with the would have been tieing run crossing the plate.
Oregon St. beat Portland 8-2 when the teams met at Goss Stadium on April 3rd, as Ryan Gorton got 2 hits and struck out 4 while taking a stint on the mound. That win extended the Beavers' win streak in the series against the Pilots to 13 games, dating back to 2004.
The Pilots opened a 1-0 lead in the first at bat of the rain delayed game, as an attempt at a start for Riley Wilkerson went awry right from the start. But the Beavers rallied for 2 runs in each of the 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th innings, and Schultz, who took over for Wilkerson, got his second win of the year. Overall, Oregon St. hammered out 15 hits against a half dozen Portland pitchers.
Both Oregon St. and Portland will pick starters close to game time, and the Beavers decided to go with RHP Dan Child (3-2, 2.71 ERA).
Child's last outing was the second game against Nevada, last Tuesday, when he went into the 6th inning, leaving with the Beavers leading 7-2, having given up 5 hits and 3 walks, and 2 earned runs. Oregon St. of course lost that lead, but recovered to pull the game out, winning 10-7 in 10 innings after Conforto connected on his second 3 run homer of the game.
Go Beavers!