Oregon State Baseball: Beavers Take Game 1 Against Utah, 6-2

A six run second was all the Beavers needed to take the win in game one of their series with the Utah Utes. While they didn’t score for the rest of the game, pitching locked down the Utes, giving OSU a 6-2 victory. That gives the Beavers a 20-6-1 overall record, and a 6-3-1 conference record.

After a quick first inning, things got interesting in the second. Matthew reached base with a single, and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. George Mendazona grounded out on the next at bat, but Utah pitcher Kyle Robeniol was injured on the play, allowing Gretler to reach home for the Beavers’ first run of the game.

Rubeniol left the game, and the Beavers continued to do damage. Preston Jones was walked, and advanced on a wild pitch. Kyler McMahan also walked, while Jones stole third. Another wild pitch scored Jones and advanced McMahan, which was followed by Beau Philip scoring McMahan with a single, and then advancing to second on an error by the shortstop.

Jake Harvey singled to score Philip, which brought Adley Rutschman to the plate. Adley then did his favorite thing in the whole wide world; hitting a two run homer. The Beavers finished the second inning up 6-0.

Things quieted down after that, as Utah’s pitching finally found a rhythm and Brandon Eisert continued to be deadly on the mound. Eisert got himself into a bit of trouble in the fourth and fifth innings, during which Utah managed to score a pair of runs on sac flies. Other than that, Eisert was excellent. He pitched six innings, recording 7 strikeouts while allowing 7 hits, 2 earned runs, and no walks. He got the win, and stands at 7-0 this season.

The Beavers were unable to find any runs for the rest of the game, but great fielding and relief pitching won the day, with the Beavers winning 6-2. Jake Pfennigs, Dylan Pearce, and Jake Mulholland each pitched 1 inning in relief, with none of them allowing any hits.

Other than his home run, it was a quiet night for Adley Rutschman, but he did contribute to a bizarre play to end the eighth. Dylan Pearce walked Utah’s Christian Almanza, but on the fourth ball, the ball got past Rutschman. After trotting to first base, Almanza broke into a run to try to make it to second, but Rutschman made the throw to end the inning. It was an impressive bit of fielding.

Due to a forecast of heavy rains on Sunday, that day’s game has bumped up to tomorrow, for a Saturday double header. The first game will get started at 12:05 PM. Check back then for more Beaver Baseball coverage.