Beavers dig deep to pull out an 8-6 victory against the Portland Pilots
Kyle Dernedde swings at a pitch thrown by the Nevada Wolf Pack on March 14 at Goss Stadium in Corvallis. Dernedde had three at bats today resulting in three left on base assignments.
March 21, 2023
The Oregon State Baseball Team (13-8) got back in the win column Tuesday night at home with an 8-6 comeback victory against The University of Portland Pilots (13-7).
Beaver Starting Pitcher A.J. Lattery went two and one third innings striking out two and giving up two earned runs. Due to his high pitch count of 41 in the third inning Head Coach Mitch Canham elected to take out the righty starter.
Portland got the scoring started with a homerun courtesy of shortstop Ben Patacsil. He smashed an inside 3-2 fastball over the bullpen and into the left field parking lot.
Freshman catcher Wilson Weber started the Beavers scoring with a two out RBI double. This would be Weber’s only hit of the night with three plate appearances.
Portland starting pitcher Zach Johson, native of West Linn, was lights out this outing. It being Johnson’s first career college start, he showed no sign of nerves.
Corvallis native and son of the Corvallis Knights head coach Brailey Knight made himself feel right at home with a blast to right field giving the Pilots their biggest lead of the night of three runs.
There was a slew of Beaver pitchers entering and exiting the ballgame. A total of six arms took the Goss Stadium bump to help keep the Beavers in striking distance.
Down three runs in the home half of the eighth is when the Beavers began their comeback. A Travis Bazzana single loaded the bases for first baseman Garret Forrester.
The old adage of “good things happen when you put the ball in play” rang true as the Beavers scored three runs on three errors by the Portland defense.
With the game tied in the eighth inning and Micah McDowell on first, Bazzana ripped a 3-2 pitch into the right field corner. The ball was deep enough to score the speedy McDowell and the lead now belonged to the home team.
Ryan Brown shut the door with a two inning save striking out one and giving up no hits as he led the Beavers to win number 13 of this season.
Up next the Beavers host the California Bears in a three game homestand. The first game is Friday at 5:35 p.m. and Trent Sellers is the probable starter.
