After a successful Surprise Tournament, Beavers now head to San Diego.

After 10 days worth of action, the third-ranked Oregon State baseball team has finally completed their run through the Surprise Tournament. OSU finished with a record of 7-1 in Arizona, winning their last six games to exit the tournament. The streak has featured wins over Minnesota, Pac-12 foe Utah, and two victories apiece against Kansas and Kansas State, including a 14-0 shutout victory over KSU on Feb. 26.

Their latest win came in a 3-1 Sunday victory against Kansas. It came largely on the back of sophomore pitcher Luke Heimlich, who threw for seven scoreless innings before allowing redshirt junior Max Engelbrekt to take the mound in the eighth for the save. Heimlich, who has won each of his two starts, is pacing OSU this year with a 1.35 ERA.

Engelbrekt came in with two runners on base, a two-run lead and only one out. He closed the inning off with a strikeout and a fly out, ending Kansas’ rally and setting the Beavers up to secure the victory. Engelbrekt made his first appearance for Beaver baseball in over a year on Feb. 19th, and has amassed four saves since his return. 

Solid play from freshman Nick Madrigal during the tournament earned him Pac-12 Player of the Week honors. During the opening week, Madrigal batted .500 (7-14) and helped lift the Beavers out of a few close games.

In his first game, he hit 4-4 against Ball State in a 7-6 victory. In the Beavers’ next win, Madrigal registered 2-4 hitting and hit an RBI in the eighth inning to give the OSU an 8-7 win.

Madrigal was the 67th player in OSU history to receive the award. The freshman was a highly-touted recruit, opting to come to Corvallis over the summer rather than immediately pursue a Major League Baseball career.

The Beavers have found success with exceptional batting averages so far. As a team, OSU is hitting .333 and, including eight players on the OSU roster that are batting over .300.

Additionally, the Beavers have outscored their opponents 67-36 in the run department. Kyle Nobach has registered eight of those runs, and is the team’s leading hitter with a team-high batting average of .433 and 13 hits. 

OSU will travel to San Diego, California to take on San Diego on Fri., March 4. It will only be a three-day stop in southern California before the Beavers travel home for a six-game home stand beginning on Fri., March 11th.