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Oregon State has lost two consecutive game this season after dropping the finale against UCLA last weekend and the series opener against the Cal Golden Bears in tonight’s series opener. In a hard fought battle in Goss, the Beavs were unable to mount a last minute comeback after Cal took the lead late in the game tonight.
The game started off as a pitcher’s duel, with Brandon Eisert and Sean Sullivan swapping several scoreless innings in the game. The scoring finally began in the fourth inning, where both teams tacked on a run in the top and bottom half of the inning. This included an unorthodox balk to get the Beavs on the board in the fourth. A strange play, for certain, but a balk that Beaver Nation would happily take. Eisert would stick around to the end of the fifth before being replaced by Christian Chamberlain.
Balk brings in a run to tie it as we head to the 5th. #GoBeavs pic.twitter.com/rPugrYAE4k
— Oregon State Baseball (@BeaverBaseball) March 23, 2019
Cal and OSU would again swap runs in the seventh inning. This time, the Beavs responded with a big fly from Alex McGarry to notch the game up at two a piece. However, in the next inning, Cal would tack on one more run in the top of the eighth. Oregon State managed to load the bases the next half inning, but ultimately came away empty handed. After this failed rally, it seemed to take the wind out of the Beaver offense, who went rather quietly in the ninth to end the game.
Yeah, he got ahold of that one!https://t.co/0MRZMF9Nnf.#GoBeavs pic.twitter.com/sD1GNqQABV
— Oregon State Baseball (@BeaverBaseball) March 23, 2019
Oregon State offensively had some good responses in this game, but walking away from a bases loaded situation doomed the team’s chance at a win tonight. Pitching was a mixed bag tonight, as Eisert was solid throughout his appearance but Chamberlain but wasn’t as on point as his usual self. He allowed one earned run and two total runs over his brief appearance that lasted just over two innings. We also briefly saw Mitchell Verburg and Jake Mullholland appear in tonight, and pitch well, outside of one wild pitch to allow the go-ahead run.
Look for Oregon State to get back on track against Cal tomorrow night. First pitch will be at 5:35 PM PT, with Bryce Fehmel presumably getting the start for the Beavs.