Cardinal Clamp Down on OSU 6-0

Stanford came out ready to go after Oregon State took the game away late last night and took it to OSU starter Luke Heimlich early. They got it started with a 1 out single and then a fly out that moved the runner over. From there Heimlich struggled with his command, walking the next batter and giving up a double to the 2nd baseman Nico Hoerner. That made it 2-0 but Heimlich was still unable to find his groove and allowed a four pitch walk to the next man up. One more base hit brought in another run and that finally ended the inning for the Beavers.

They looked to respond quickly to the Cardinal offensive burst and Madrigal was the first to get another going when he got a double on a borderline error. KJ Harrison walked to add to the threat but Logan Ice and Billy King were unable to bring home the runners and the 1st inning came to a close with the Beavs in a 3-0 hole.

Things stayed quiet until the top of the 4th when Logan Ice cranked out a stand-up double to open the Beaver half of the inning. They were unable to even advance him though and the threat harmlessly fell aside.

The game really started going by quick after that first inning and even with the Beaver extra base hit in the 4th it continued on at a breakneck pace. That came primarily on the back of the starting pitchers. Chris Castellanos was the Cardinal starter and he confounded the Beaver hitters, scattering a handful of hits and never letting the Beavers get comfortable. After Heimlich's rough start he was able to handle the Stanford hitters as well, no longer facing any serious threats and only allowing three hits from the 2nd to 6th innings.

The Cardinal decided that was long enough without action though when Diekroeger was able to lead off with a single and he was advanced with a sac bunt. From there the Stanford hitters cracked two extra base hits off of Heimlich to chase him from the game. Tommy Paul came in and allowed a base hit that scored one more but got out of the inning after that but the damage was done and OSU was down 6-0 in a game where the offense could not get it going.

OSU was able to get two on with one out to chase Castellanos, but were still unable to breakthrough. The bottom of the 8th saw two runners on with two outs, but in a repeat the Beavers could not bring home a runner. Oregon State could not even do that much in the closing frame to fall in the second game of the series. The all-important series deciding game will come tomorrow at 1:05 pm, with a chance for the Beavers to rebound strong from their struggles today.