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OSU Baseball: Beavers Open Weekend With 5-3 Win Over Cal

After a shaky start, Trent Sellers secures a big win for the Beavers.

COLLEGE BASEBALL: MAY 25 Pac-12 Baseball Tournament - Washington v Oregon State Photo by Zac BonDurant/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

After being swept by Stanford last weekend, the Beavers needed a big bounce back series to get back in the Pac-12 race. They got off to a good start Friday night, taking down California 5-3. The Beavers improve to 14-8 overall, and 2-5 in conference play, while the Bears fall to 9-9, and 1-6 in the conference.

Oregon State, and starting pitcher Trent Sellers, got off to a rough start Friday, as Cal put up two runs in the top of the first. Sellers allowed two singles and two walks before a sac fly and two strikeouts ended the inning.

The Beavers got a run on the board in the bottom of the second when Travis Bazzana walked with the bases full, but Cal got a run back in the top of the third with a solo home run from Peyton Schulze. With Cal up 3-1, it seemed the Beavers were facing another costly Pac-12 loss.

Things turned around in the bottom of the fourth. Tanner Smith opened the inning with a single, and then a Kyle Dernedde walk and a Micah McDowell single loaded the bases with no outs. A Travis Bazzana single scored Dernedde and Smith to tie the game 3-3. Travis Bazzana then stole second to give the Beavers a pair of runners in scoring position, and then a wild pitch allowed McDowell to reach home. Finally, an error from Cal’s third baseman Dom Souto allowed Bazzana to score, giving the Beavers a 5-3 lead.

That would be the last scoring of the game, as both pitching units locked down the rest of the game. After his shaky start Sellers improved to pick up his third win of the season, giving him a 3-2 record. He pitched for 6.0 innings, allowing 5 hits and 3 earned runs, but striking out 11 California batters over that span. When he finds the zone he finds the zone.

Ryan Brown picked up his fourth save of the year, coming in as the closer in the eighth inning. He allowed hit hits or runs and struck out one Golden Bear.

Game 2 between Cal and OSU is set for Saturday afternoon, with first pitch set for 1:35. The Beavers could secure their first conference series victory of the season.