Oregon State Baseball: Beavers Take Down DBU 5-4, Final Game Set For Tomorrow

The Beavers took down host team TCU to stay alive in the Fort Worth regional, but they would need two wins over Dallas Baptist to advance to the Supers. They got the first tonight, as the Beavers triumphed over the Patriots in a close fought game that nearly went to extra innings. Oregon State prevailed 5-4 and will face DBU in the deciding game tomorrow afternoon.

Dallas Baptist showed off their power early in the first, when Austin Bell blasted a two run homer over the right field wall to give the Patriots a 2-0 lead. It didn’t take long for the Beavers to strike back. Justin Boyd hit a double in the bottom of the second, and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. A Troy Claunch ground out got Boyd home and put the Beavers on the scoreboard.

Dallas Baptist held onto that lead until he bottom of the fourth, when Ryan Ober hit a solo home run over right center to tie the game up. After an Andy Armstrong double and a passed ball to Jake Dukart Oregon State had two runners in scoring position. The Beavers were close to taking the lead, but a well timed double play ended the inning with the teams tied 2-2.

The game didn’t stay tied long, with Dallas Baptist’s Ryan Wroblieski hitting a solo homer on the first pitch of the fifth inning. After a single and a hit batter got a pair of runners on, Brock Townsend’s day was ended, and Will Frisch came in to close out the inning and avoid any more runs.

The Beavers next shot at taking the lead came in the bottom of the sixth. With one out down, Andy Armstrong and Jake Dukart singled back to back. On Dukart’s single a throwing error from the right fielder allowed both runners to advance an extra base, and then Kyle Dernedde walked to load the bases. Thought brought Wade Meckler to the plate, and he walked on 5 pitches to score Armstrong and tie the game. Justin Boyd then walked to score Dukart and the Beavers had the lead, 4-3.

Joey Mundt took over for the Beavers on the mound and threw three quick strikeouts to take care of the seventh. He went three up three down in the top of the eighth as well with a line out, strike out and fly out. The Beavers were now just three outs away from victory. Before that, the Beavers had an excellent shot at some insurance runs with Kyle Dernedde on third and one out, but Dernedde attempted to score on a foul out and was caught at home.

Jake Mulholland came in to close out the ninth. He worked one quick out with a ground ball, but then DBU’s Ryan Wrobleski hit a big double to put the tying run at second. River Town then popped up for the second out. The Beavers then switched to Mitch Verburg to get the final out. The first batter he faced would be one of DBU’s best, Jackson Glenn. Glenn hit a single to center field, scoring Wrobleski and tying the game 4-4.

The Beavers had one chance to avoid extra innings, and Garret Forrester delivered. The first batter to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, Forrester battled to a full count before blasting a ball down the right field line and over the wall. A walk off solo home run in the top of the ninth. Beavers win 5-4.

The final game of the Fort Worth regional between Oregon State and Dallas Baptist is set for tomorrow at 1:00 PM PT. The winner will advance to the Superregionals, held in a to be determined neutral site, against either Old Dominion or Virginia.