Beavers Hang On For 9-8 Win Over Nevada

For the second day in a row, Oregon State managed to open up a lead over the Nevada Wolf Pack, and for the second day in a row they had that lead slip away from them. Once again they had to scrape away a win in the last inning, pulling out a 9-8 victory over Nevada to sweep the series. OSU improves to 19-5 on the season.

Today it was Nevada’s turn to jump out to an early lead. In the bottom of the first, a double, a beaned batter and a sac fly got the Wolf Pack two runners in scoring position. A single from Dario Gomez scored Nevada’s first run of the inning, and a double steal scored them the second.

The Beavers got one run back in the top of the second. Four back to back singles; from Greg Fuchs, Tanner Smith, Jabin Trosky and Kyle Dernedde, got the Beavers on the board. Nevada added a run in the bottom of the second, off of a Ryan Jackson single, to maintain a two run advantage. That didn’t hold long.

In the top of the third Garret Forrester was hit by a pitch to give the Beavers a baserunner. A Travis Bazzana double got Forrester in scoring position, and then another double, from Greg Fuchs, scored both runners and tied the game at 3 a piece.

Nevada took the lead back in the bottom of the fourth with a Tyler Bosetti single, but in the top of the fifth the Beavers appeared to take control of the game. Travis Bazzan led the inning off with a single, and then stole second. Nevada pitcher Boon Fay then walked the next three batters he faced to yield a run to the Beavers. A sac fly from Wade Meckler gave OSU a second run, and then a deep double down the left field line from Jacob Melton gave them two more. After a four run inning, Oregon State led 7-4.

The Beavers added an insurance run in the top of the sixth with a Jabin Trosky single to give them a four run lead. As it would turn out, they’d need all the insurance they could get. The 8-4 score held into the bottom of the eighth when the Wolf Pack went on a tear.

Brock Townsend gave up a pair of singles early in the inning, prompting Mitch Verburg to come in and try to get the final five outs of the game. Unfortunately, Verburg gave up a pair of doubles to Nevada’s Pat Caulfield and Josh Zamora, scoring three runs for the Wolf Pack. A pair of singles then followed, tying the game up at 8 each before Verburg managed to end the inning.

Oregon State was now facing extra innings for the second game in a row, but in the top of the ninth Wade Meckler hit a double to left center to get the Beavers going. He advanced to third on a wild pitch, and then a sacrifice fly from Jacob Melton got him home to give OSU a 9-8 lead. Ryan Brown came to the mound for the Beavers in the bottom of the inning, and quickly put down the side to give the Beavers the win.

Its been a tough pair of games for Oregon State, and they’re not going to get much time to rest. They’ll be back home at Goss on Friday for a series against the Stanford Cardinal. Stanford is currently 12-8 overall, and 4-5 in Pac-12 play.