#10 Indiana (2-4) vs. #2 Oregon St. (4-2) / Surprise Stadium / Aramark Big-10 Pac-12 Challenge Tournament in Surprise, AZ / 11 AM MST (10 AM PST) / No TV / KEJO 1240 AM / KPOJ 620 AM
Game Notes / Indiana Game Notes
Oregon St. will attempt to bounce back from yesterday's 8-7 loss to Michigan St., which produced the Beavers' first losing streak since last April, and their first multi-day losing streak since 2012, today in their 3rd game in the Aramark Big-10 Pac-12 Challenge.
The Beavers hadn't lost 2 games in a row since lasts April 20, when Washington, who also just happens to be Oregon St.'s opponent tomorrow, took both ends of a soggy Saturday double header in Seattle that loosely resembled baseball.
But that was one bad wet day, and Oregon St. bounced back to beat Washington the next day. The last time the Beavers have had a losing streak that lasted more than a day was back in late April and early May of 2012, when Oregon St. lost the last 2 games of their weekend series at USC, and then lost the Friday night opener to the following weekend's Stanford series.
Yesterday, a grand slam home run by Michigan St.'s Joel Fisher, and a game winning pair of runs that scored on a play with an Oregon St. error, and then a wild pitch was too much for the "Surprised" Beavers to overcome, despite Dylan Davis' home run, the first of the year for OSU.
And look who's waiting. It's defending Big-10 Champion Indiana, the team Oregon St. eliminated from the College World Series last June.
Beaver Nation will recall that game as the pitching duel of a generation, when Oregon St. All-American Matt Boyd out-dueled Indiana All-American Aaron Slegers for the 1-0 win. Hoosier Nation recalls that day as well, and would love a Beaver pelt to exact a small measure of revenge for it.
Indiana opened the season ranked high in the top 10 in all the polls, but dropped the last 3 of their opening weekend 4 game series at Texas Tech, before beating Washington 8-2 Friday night.
Last night, it took 15 innings, but Utah finally beat the Hoosiers 5-4, pushing the winning run across on a single to left with 2 outs.
Indiana burned through 8 pitchers in the process, which could well become a factor today. The Hoosiers were able to hammer out 9 hits in the game and two thirds long contest that ended just over 13 hours before the first pitch time for today's game.
Leadoff hitter Casey Rodrigue was the only Hoosier with more than 1 hit, a pair of singles.
Oregon St. will send senor RHP Scot Schultz (1-0, 2.57 ERA) to the mound today. Schulz worked 7 innings last Sunday, and then turned a 14-2 lead over to the Beaver bullpen, in what would turn out to be a 14-6 win over Pacific.
Schultz threw 94 pitches, giving up 6 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs in his first start since his freshman campaign.
Indiana's decision about who to counter with was a game day decision, after last night's roster-wringing affair. The Hoosiers have chosen to go with sophomore LHP Will Coursen-Carr (0-1, 10.38 ERA). Coursen-Carr, who was the 2012 Indiana High School Player of the Year, went 5-0 last season with a 1.93 ERA in 17 appearances, 11 of them starts. He started last Sunday in the last game against Texas Tech, and worked 1 1/3 innings, giving up 7 hits and 2 walks, with no strikeouts, which resulted in 5 Red Raider runs, all earned.
After pulling up lame with a strained hamstring while doubling in yesterday's game, Jeff Hendrix will sit at the start today, with Nick Rulli, who took over for Hendrix, getting the start in center field.
Here's today's Oregon St. lineup:
2B - Andy Peterson
3B - Caleb Hamilton
LF - Michael Conforto
RF - Dylan Davis
1B - Kavin Keyes
DH - Gabe Clark
C - Logan Ice
CF - Nick Rulli
SS - Trever Morrison
P - Scott Schultz
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com
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