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Oregon State will take on Pac-12 foe Utah in 2 months in Salt Lake City in a conference series, but the Beavers and Utes will get an early look at each other this morning, with a non-conference contest in Surprise, AZ.
First pitch is actually in the afternoon, just after noon AST, but that's 11 AM PST.
There's no video of what's been a lot of competitive, if not necessarily elegant, baseball, too bad, and surprising given the games are in the Spring Training home of the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers. Got to figure there's a "hot port" if someone had bothered to bring even a go-pro camera. Missed opportunity by the teams.
There are supposed to be live stats available, and Jay Reese's radio call streamed.
Live Stats - [Updated Link]
Oregon State (2-1) pulled out an 8-7 win yesterday afternoon against Minnesota, after the Golden Gophers had handled Utah (1-2) 9-3 yesterday morning.
The Beavers held onto their #5 spot in this week's D1baseball.com rankings despite their loss Saturday. Oregon moved up to #9, after a weekend sweep of San Diego State, who the Beavers will host in a month.
Both California & UCLA slipped down, to #13 & #14, after both the Bears and Bruins lost 2 of 3 games in their opening weekend series, at Duke and vs, #10 North Carolina, respectively. It was a rough start for the conference's top teams, as USC also lost 2 of 3 to North Dakota, and the Trojans are down to #23.
Oregon State will start sophomore LHP Luke Heimlich today, as they continue to search for consistent pitching. Heimlich made 2 starts last season, but was mostly one of the Beavers main bullpen pitchers, making 27 relief appearances. He went 2-5, with 4 saves and a 3.61 ERA.
Utah will counter with sophomore LHP Josh Lapina (0-0, 5.40 ERA). Lapina got in in relief in the 7th & 8th inning of the Utes' opener, a 6-1 loss to Minnesota , where a balk and wild pitch set the plate for an RBI producing double.
Otherwise, today's lineup is more settled.
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Caleb Hamilton moved up in the order, and the only surprise is the first appearance of yet another of the freshmen, as Andy Atwood is today's designated hitter, interestingly at the very bottom of the order.
Oregon State has dominated Utah to a degree rarely seen of late, having won 16 of the last 18 meetings.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com