Oregon St. pounded another over-matched opposing pitching staff, pounding out a 14-6 win over Pacific in the third day of the Husker Classic in Tempe,AZ.
The Beavers did as they did yesterday against Nebraska, making an opponent that struggled to throw strikes pay for their poor pitching. Tiger starter Jake Jenkins only gave up 3 hits in 3 1/3+ innings, but walked 7 and hit a batter, and Oregon St. put 8 runs on the board as a result.
And as was the case against Nebraska, the relief pitchers brought on didn't do much better, and the opposition hitting couldn't provide much run support, at least as long as the game was still in doubt.
Pacific answered Oregon St.'s initial run with one of their own in the bottom of the second, but that was about as long as the game was in doubt, as the Beavers scored 3 times in the 3rd, and 4 in the 4th.
Oregon St. scored at least a run in each of the first seven innings except the second, and raced out to a 14-2 lead, before coach Pat Casey cleared the bench.
And that had the same affect as it did against Nebraska too, as mostly reserves for Pacific scored 4 runs against Oregon St.'s backups. Late inning experimentation has effectively blown up the staff ERA for the season already, but Casey has at least seen a lot of new faces on the field. So much so that the Beavers wound up batting out of order in the 9th inning, but the excursion into substitution irregularities wasn't appealed, and wouldn't have materially changed the outcome anyway.
Michael Conforto got Oregon St. started with an RBI double that scored Jeff Hendrix, who was back in the lineup after taking a day off for a hand that got stepped on in Friday's game to heal. Hendrix drew 3 walks, and later delivered a 2 run double in the 5th, and Conforto also had RBI hits in the 3rd and 7th innings to lead the Oregon St. offensive onslaught that pounded out 11 hits to go with 11 free passes (10 total walks and a hit by pitch).
Conforto finished with 3 hits and a walk, and 5 RBIs, and Hendrix had 2 RBIs and scored 3 times. Dylan Davis delivered 3 RBIs, and Andy Peterson drew 2 walks, had a hit, and scored 3 times, as the top of the Oregon St. order was almost unstoppable.
Meanwhile, junior Scott Schultz, making his first start since he was a freshman, went 7 innings in less than 100 pitches, to pick up the win. Schultz scattered 6 hits, but gave up only single runs in the second and fourth innings, and also struck out 3 against only 2 walks.
Freshman Chandler Eden made his Oregon St. debut, and had a good 8th inning, but the 9th turned into a bit of a mad scramble, as the Tigers made a little noise before another freshman, Trent Shelton eventually put the evening to an end.
Second ranked Oregon St. improved to 3-0, and will meet Pacific, who is now 1-2, again tomorrow morning, at 11 AM (10 AM PST) to wind up the long weekend in Tempe.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com