Oregon State Baseball: Beavers Fall To Portland 7-2

After a rough series against Arizona State, the Beavers continued to struggle on a midweek trip up to Portland. The Beavers fell to the Pilots 7-2, a costly loss as the Beavers look to close out the season strong enough to guarantee a good seed in the NCAA Tournament. Oregon State drops 32-18 for the season.

After the Pilots scored a run off a wild pitch in the bottom of the first, the Beavers tied things up in the top of the second when a Greg Fuchs double scored Joe Casey. The Beavers grabbed the lead in the top of the fourth when a Justin Boyd line out scored Fuchs, putting OSU up 2-1.

The rest of the game was all Pilots. The Beavers managed just two more hits over the course of the game, one each in the eighth and ninth. In the meantime, Portland tied up the game in the sixth with a Brett Gillis single, and then in the bottom of the seventh turned on the gas.

After the first Pilot batter hit a fly out, relief pitcher Joey Mundt hit the next batter. Mundt then gave up a single, another single, a double and finally a walk. That sequence scored three for Portland, left two on the bases, and ended Mundt’s day. After a wild pitch from Bryant Salgado moved up the runners, a Sam Brown double added another two runs for Portland, giving them the 7-2 lead that would be the final.

Its a bad loss for the Beavers at a time they don’t need it. This was the Beavers easiest game left on the schedule, with tough series against #13 Arizona and #12 Stanford coming up. A great performance in those series should ensure a 2 seed in regionals for the Beavers, possibly even a distant outside shot at hosting if some of the teams ahead of them slip up. But a team that struggles as badly against Portland as Oregon State did tonight is not going to impress the NCAA.