#23 Oregon State (34-17, 14-11) at Washington St. (25-25, 10-15) at 4:30 PM PDT at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman - ROOT Sports NW - KEJO 1240 AM & KPOJ 620 AM - Audio Stream on Beaver Nation Online, for a fee
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Oregon St. and Washington St. continue their series, with the middle game a late afternoon affair in order to be aired by ROOT Sports Northwest. Friday night, the Beavers got the best of the Cougars, and the home run derby, hitting 4 of the 5 round trippers, which produced a 10-2 win.
Oregon St. got off to a fast start on Michael Conforto's 3 run homer to right in the first inning, and Danny Hayes backed that up with a solo shot also to right that put the Beavers ahead 4-0 before the Cougars first came up to bat.
Hayes was hot, hammering another homer in the second inning. That one was down the right field line, and drove in 3 runs for a 7-1 lead. Ryan Barnes got in on the home run derby too, leading off the 6th with a solo shot to left.
Oregon St. starter Ben Wetzler wasn't sharp, walking 4 in the first inning, though he escaped with only 1 run scored. Wetzler again loaded the bases in the second, with a hit batter and a walk to blame, but escaped with no further damage done.
Wetzler pitched out of additional trouble after leaving 2 Cougars on base in both the 3rd and 4th innings, then led off the 5th by hitting another batter, then giving up a single. Wetzler then got 2 outs, but with 2 runners in scoring position, got pulled an out away from being eligible to get the win.
Cole Brocker got the strike out to get out of the inning, but in the 6th, gave up a solo homer to Taylor Ard, as the Cougars got in on the homer fest. That ended the evening for Brocker, and Matt Boyd came in and allowed only 1 hit over 2 2/3 innings to pick up the win, improving him to 4-0 for the season.
Meanwhile, the Beavers, who had missed 2 opportunities to add a run in the 5th, after loading the bases with 1 out, added a couple more runs in the 8th, including one on a sacrifice fly by Hayes that gave him a 5 RBI night. It was the second series opening game in which the Beavers had double digit runs.
Boyd then moved over to take an inning at first, while Scott Schultz closed out the game, with a put out by Boyd and a pair of strikeouts.
Washington St. starter Tanner Chleborad lasted 1 batter past Barnes' home run, and got the loss, after giving up 9 hits, and the 4 homers, as well as 4 walks, which dropped his record to 4-3.
Ryan Barnes and Joey Matthews, both of whom were injured in last week's Utah series, also returned to action against the Cougars.
Oregon St. pulled within 4 games of conference leading Oregon with the win, but remained in 6th place in the tightening Pac-12 race, as Arizona, UCLA, Stanford, and Arizona St. all also won, on a 100% chalk Friday evening that featured mostly lopsided wins, and most of them on the road as was the Beavers' victory.
The Wildcats walloped USC 11-1 in LA, the Bruins belted California 7-2 in Berkeley, and the Cardinal shut out Utah 6-0 in Salt Lake City. Only the Sun Devils had a close game on their hands, beating Washington 7-5, and that was in Tempe.
Oregon, who has the conference bye this week, beat Seattle 6-0.
Today, Oregon St. will go with freshman LHP Jace Fry (5-3, 2.19 ERA), and Washington St. will counter with sophomore RHP J.D. Leckenby (4-6, 4.37 ERA).
Fry pitched 9 innings in his last outing last Saturday in Utah, but didn't get a decision, leaving with the game the Utes eventually won 4-3 tied at 2 runs apiece. Fry allowed only 4 hits and 3 walks, and struck out 6. It was Fry's second consecutive 9 inning outing, having gone the distance in beating Stanford 4-2 a week before.
Leckenby got 2 outs deep into the 6th inning last Saturday at Stanford, giving up 12 hits and 3 walks, and as a result, 7 runs, including 2 in the 6th. The Cardinal were able to extend the 7-1 lead they had at the time Leckenby was lifted into an 8-3 win. Leckenby is not an overpowering pitcher, having struck out only 37 batters in his 12 starts, and just 2 Stanford batters.
Go Beavers!