Oregon State Baseball: Beavers Even Series With 6-4 Win Over ASU

The Beavers snapped out of their recent funk with a much needed 6-4 win over Arizona State. Oregon State improves to 24-8-1 overall, and 9-4 in the Pac-12. The win evens up the series heading into Sunday’s final game.

After nothing in the first for either side, Alex McGarry doubled in the second to get the Beavers a runner in scoring position. A grounder from Jake Harvey advanced McGarry, and then a second grounder from Andy Armstrong brought him home to give the Beavers a 1-0 lead.

During the next inning, singles from Joe Casey and Adley Rutschman got the Beavers set up once again. Ryan Ober smacked a double to get the Beavers a run, and then an Alex McGarry grounder scored one more. Arizona State got one back off a solo homer from Gage Workman, but the Beavers exited the third up 3-1.

In the top of the 5th, the Beavers added a fourth when an Alex McGarry single scored Adley Rutschman, putting the Beavers up 4-1. After that, things got weird.

After pitching a great game for 5 innings (striking out 4 and only allowing 2 hits) Bryce Fehmel had a bit of a meltdown. The first three batters in the sixth, Trevor Hauver, Spencer Torkelson and Hunter Bishop, each hit a home run, tying the game. Fehmel got the next batter to ground out for the first out of the inning, and then Dylan Pearce came in to clear off the bases, which he managed with a pair of strikeouts.

In the seventh it looked like the Sun Devils would take the lead, After Dylan Pearce gave up a single, Christian Chamberlain came out to the mound. Chamberlain walked his first batter, but then knuckled down, and got three outs with a straight set of grounders.

In the top of the eighth, George Mendazona and Andy Armstrong reached base with a pair of singles, and then Tyler Malone was walked to load the bases with two outs. Joe Casey went to the plate, and found himself in an absolute battle with ASU pitcher Brady Corrigan. Joe worked a 3-2 count over an 8 pitch at bat, before launching a single to right field, scoring 2.

Arizona State almost struck back, getting runners on second and third with one out, but after a fly ball, ASU’s Myles Denson seemed indecisive when making the run to home plate, allowing himself to be caught on the base paths for an unlikely double play.

The Beavers may have been able to do more damage in the top of the ninth, with Ryan Ober on third with one out. But then what appeared to be a squeeze play went awry when ASU pitcher Blake Burzell pitched well outside the strike zone, and Jake Harvey’s bunt range. Ober tried to jump over the Sun Devils’ catcher, but was out at home on an attempted steal.

Fortunately, Jake Mulholland came on in relief, and cleaned things up nicely with a line out and pair of strikeouts to seal the win for the Beavers, 6-4. Mulholland got the save, his fifth, while Christian Chamberlain got the win. His record for the season is 3-3.

Joe Casey was the hero tonight, with his 2 RBI in the eighth giving the Beavers the win. He had 2 hits and a run tonight, along with one BB. Ryan Ober had a big night, with 3 hits and a run. Adley Rutschman, Alex McGarry and George Mendazona each had 2 hits tonight, in a much better performance for Oregon State batting compared to last night.

The rubber match between OSU and ASU will be tomorrow at 12:30 PM PT. Check back with Building the Dam for coverage.