Oregon State Baseball: Late Game Collapse Leads to 12-4 Loss To Arizona

The Beavers late season struggles continue to mount, as they lost 12-7 in their series opener against the Arizona Wildcats. After a close fought six innings, Arizona’s offense exploded in the late game to blow out the Beavers. Oregon State drops to 32-19 overall, and 14-11 in conference play.

Oregon State got the first run of the game in the bottom of the second, though they did so without getting a hit. After Ryan Ober walked, he advanced to second and then third on a pair of ground balls. He then scored on a wild pitch from Wildcat starter Chase Silseth.

Arizona answered quickly, tying the game in the top of the third with a home run from Donta Williams. They took the lead in the top of the fifth when Beaver starter Kevin Abel ran into some trouble. Abel walked the first three batters he faced in the inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, Abel managed to get a strikeout, before giving up a single that scored two runs for Arizona. The Wildcats grabbed one more run on a fly out before Oregon State managed to end the inning.

Down 4-1, the Beavers answered back in the bottom of the fifth when Justin Boyd opened the inning with a triple. A Wade Meckler single scored Boyd, though that would be the only run the Beavers grabbed in the fifth. In the bottom of the sixth, they built on that momentum.

A Troy Claunch single opened the frame and extended his hitting streak. After Ryan Ober was hit by a pitch, a big Jake Dukart double scored both runners to tie the game up. It seemed for a minute that the Beavers had a shot at taking down a top 25 team, but it didn’t last.

Arizona grabbed the lead back in the top of the seventh when reliever Nathan Washburn struggled, walking three batters before being pulled. Mitch Verburg then gave up a 2 run single, giving the Wildcats a 6-4 lead.

Things got worse in the eighth. Arizona’s Tyler Casagrande led things off with a solo home run. The Beavers then grabbed two quick ground outs, but then a single and a pair of walks loaded the bases. A double from Branden Boissiere scored three, and then a home run from Jacob Berry scored two more. A six run inning gave us the final, 12-4 Wildcats.

The Beavers will look to bounce back in game two tomorrow, with first pitch set for 6:00 PM PT. The game will be aired on the Pac-12 Networks.