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Oregon State got the game going with a bang thanks to the bat of KJ Harrison who boomed a shot over the left field wall for a solo home run to open the scoring. It was most of the offense for OSU in the early going as Cal starter Daulton Jefferies was engaged and threw a mostly blemish free game.
Drew Rasmussen started amid back concerns and started off just a bit shaky. He allowed a walk and made in an error in the first two Cal at bats of the game. He was able to escape out of that jam with some strikeouts and maintained his form for a two more innings.
When it came to the bottom of the fourth though it became more apparent that something was not quite right with the Beaver ace. He allowed a string of hits (helped by a Harrison error) that resulted in three runs before Pat Casey came out to the mound to visit with the sophomore. It became apparent that he was not up to his best stuff with the back issue and Scotland Church came into the game.
After the Rasmussen's injury filled inning the Beavers were already down 3-1, a tough margin when facing an arm like Jefferies. Scotland Church entered the game essentially cold off the bench, with some warm-up time added. He was left with an incredibly tough task, the bases loaded and one out. He was unable to throw strikes at first and walked in the first run. The next at bat was much better, but Cal hitter Aaron Knapp knocked in another run on a groundout and all the necessary damage was done with the score at 5-1 Bears.
The rest of the game was not as dramatic, Church allowed a run in the next inning and Ice would continue his hot streak with a homer in the 7th inning that made the final score 6-2, but Jefferies was too good and the Beavers dropped their first conference game of the year.
One bright spot was some time allowed for freshmen Jordan Britton and Christian Martinek on the mound. Britton came on first in the 6th and faced the minimum with three strikeouts. Martinek also showed well in his season debut. The big lefty would have also faced the minimum if not for an error on third baseman Cadyn Grenier, but it was still a good inning of work for the big fella.
Rough game for the Beavers, especially with the loss of Rasmussen, but another game comes tomorrow and hopefully Jake Thompson can continue his good work from the ASU game and help the Beavers deliver a win.