Oregon State Baseball: Beavers Open Series With 4-0 Win Over Grand Canyon University

The Beavers opened their road series against Grand Canyon with a 4-0 victory that also got Kevin Abel (1-1) his first win of the season. In a pitching duel the Beavers arms came out on top, as Abel and the relief squad held the Antelopes scoreless.

After a scoreless first, Joe Casey started the second with a solo home run to give the Beavers the first lead of the game. That was all the scoring there would be for awhile as the game turned into a defensive duel while the Beavers struggled to find hits.

Kevin Abel was up to the challenge, allowing only 3 hits in his 5.0 innings pitched. Able threw 11 strikeouts against 1 walk, though he did hit three batters. It’s another impressive outing for Abel; he’s racked up 18 strikeouts only two starts into 2021.

The Beavers’ hitting finally woke up in the eighth, with a Jake Dukart double jump starting some offense. A Troy Claunch walk followed by a Joe Casey single loaded up the bases. Kyler McMahan then singled to score Casey and Claunch. Its the 12th game in a row that McMahan has gotten a hit.Jacob Melton scored one more with a single, giving the Beavers all the runs they’d need in their 4-0 win.

Game 2 of series will tip off tomorrow at 5:00 PM PT. Assuming last week’s rotation repeats, Cooper Hjerpe should get the start. GCU will be live streaming the game so be sure to check it out.