Beavs Beat The Cougs On A Walk-Off Walk

A match-up of two of the hottest teams in the Pac-12 came down to the wire in Corvallis, as the #1 Beavs needed a late rally to hold off the upset minded Cougars.

A sold out Goss stadium was on edge today as the Washington State Cougars looked primed to pick up an upset victory in game one of the series. The Beavs and Cougs matched runs early in the contest, as OSU picked one up in the 2nd before the Cougs answered with one of their own in the 3rd to tie the game up at one. Following a series of scoreless innings the 6th inning saw the Cougs get to OSU starter Luke Heimlich. Washington State laced 4 hits off the junior lefty en route to scoring two runs to take a 3-1 lead. Oregon State struggled to get much going offensively until the 8th when a lead off walk to Nick Madrigal and a bunt single by Steven Kwan put OSU in position to cut the lead to one with a sac fly off the bat of Adley Rutschman. Luke Heimlich pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the ninth to keep OSU within one run and set up another walk-off in Corvallis.

Designated hitter Trevor Larnach led the inning off with a line drive up the middle to get the tying run on base. Pinch runner Eliot Cary reached second base on a Michael Gretler bunt before Andy Atwood walked to put the game winning run on first. Freshman Preston Jones flew out to a diving right fielder to bring Nick Madrigal up with 2 down. Madrigal worked the count and drew his 3rd walk of the game, loading the bases for Steven Kwan. The center fielder elected not to hit another grand slam, instead settling for a bases loaded walk that tied the game at three a piece. With the bases loaded again, Kinesiology major and right fielder Jack Anderson came up to the plate...

The win is OSU’s 43rd on the season, including 10 straight. Luke Heimlich picked up his 9th victory on the season with his complete game effort. The two teams will go toe to toe again tomorrow as either Jake Thompson or Drew Rasmussen will take the hill for a 1pm first pitch.