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#1 Oregon State Welcomes Northwest Rival Washington State To Corvallis

Old friends Marty Lees and Dan Spencer return to Goss.

Beaver Baseball | @beaverbaseball

The #1 team in the land puts their 9 game winning streak on the line as they host northwest rival Washington State.

How To Watch:

This weekends games will air on Pac-12 Oregon and Pac-12 Washington.

How To Listen:

The game will be broadcast on the Beaver Sports Network and Beaver Nation Online.

Find the radio station carrying the game in your area here.

The Beavers:

The Beavs are the consensus #1 team in the nation for the 8th consecutive week after a weekend sweep in Eugene that saw Beaver Nation take over PK Park and make it their own, as well as a dominant win over Portland on Tuesday. Friday’s win in Eugene marked the 1000th win in Pat Casey’s coaching career while also clinching the outright Pac-12 title for the Beavs. There was some concern in Beaver Nation after Saturday’s series finale saw both KJ Harrison (ankle) and Nick Madrigal (hand) sustain injuries, but all reports have indicated that both will be in the lineup this weekend versus the Cougars.

Last Friday saw the somewhat surprise return to the starting rotation for Drew Rasmussen. The redshirt sophomore pitched 3 solid innings before being removed as he neared his pitch count limit. Look for Rasmussen to get the Sunday start this week, and extended his pitch count a little higher as he prepares for post season play.

The Oregon State bats appear to be adjusting to the slightly warmer weather as the Beavs have hit 4 home runs in the past 4 games, with big swings from Adley Rutschman, Michael Gretler, Cadyn Grenier and Trevor Larnach. As temperatures continue to rise I would expect the somewhat dormant power numbers for OSU to continue to improve.

ICYMI: Just how good have the Beavs been this year? Our very own Marcus Russell broke down the records OSU is chasing this season

The Cougars:

The Cougars, led by former Pat Casey assistant coach Marty Lees, have won 4 straight Pac-12 series after a rather dismal start to the season. While the Cougars, who are one game over .500 at 24-23 (10-14 in Pac-12 play), will not be participating in the post season this year, they are looking to finish the season strong and continue to build some momentum for the years to come in Pullman.

Led by another former OSU assistant, Dan Spencer, the Cougars pitching staff has struggled this year. The cougars ranked 8th in the Pac-12 with an ERA of 5.01. Statistically the Cougs best pitcher is their #2 starter Cody Anderson, who leads the team with a 2.69 ERA and is tied for the team lead with 5 wins. The Cougar bats rank 5th in the Pac-12 with a team batting average of .277. Led by shortstop Andres Alvarez and outfield Justin Harrer the lineup features several consistent hitters batting above .300.

Here’s a look at the numbers for this weekend’s matchup:

Facebook- Oregon State Baseball

The Schedule:

(Game times and projected starting pitchers are subject to change)

Friday May 19th - 4:00 PM PT

LHP Damon Jones (3-3, 5.28 ERA) vs Luke Heimlich (8-1, 0.76 ERA)

Saturday May 20th - 1:00 PM PT

LHP Cody Anderson (5-2 2.69) vs Jake Thompson (11-0, 1.11 ERA)

Sunday May 21st - 12:00 PM PT

LHP Isaac Mullins (2-3 6.39) vs Drew Rasmussen (1-0, 1.50 ERA)

Conclusion

As long as OSU can capitalize on their opportunities this weekend they should pick up another series win and have a very good chance to sweep the rebuilding Cougars.