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The 2017 Oregon State baseball team now stands alone in the record book with the longest winning streak in program history. The Beavers defeated Stanford 7-0 on Sunday in the third game of the series, winning their 19th straight game and improving to 24-1 in the year. That season record also breaks the program record for best start to a season, beating out the 1962 team that started 23-1.
In the third inning, freshman catcher and Sherwood, Oregon native Adley Rutschman got the scoring going with a sacrifice fly to right field that drove in Zak Taylor. Oregon State carried that 1-0 lead into the sixth when Steven Kwan came up with an RBI single. The Beavers then turned in a four run seventh inning that included a two run homer from Rutschman, which was the first of his career. Cadyn Grenier tacked on an insurance run in the ninth with a solo home run.
Jake Thompson got his seventh start of the year for the Beavs and went for seven scoreless innings. Thompson also recorded six strikeouts on the day, bringing his season total to 49 on the season. The only pitcher on the Beavs’ staff with more is Luke Heimlich (55). Thompson’s record improved to 6-0 on the year. Max Engelbrekt came on and pitched the eighth inning. Junior Mitch Hickey threw the ninth and earned the save.
The win was also Oregon State’s ninth in a row this year against a Pac-12 team. This makes the Beavers the first team to win their first nine league games since 1999, when it was still the Pac-10. Overall, Oregon State has won 13 straight Pac-12 games dating back to last year.
Oregon State ends the road trip on Tuesday, April 4th at the University of Portland with a 6 PM game against the Pilots. After that, they’re back in Corvallis for a three game series with Utah beginning on Friday.