Beavers pull a comeback capped by a Forrester walk-off to seal a sweep against Arizona Wildcats

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Kate Zinke

Garret Forrester (#44) cheers while on his way back to the dugout during the sixth inning at Goss Stadium on April 11. Oregon State University swept their PAC-12 opponent University of Arizona this weekend.

Early action for the Wildcats and late action for the Beavers with eight of their 10 runs scored in the eighth and ninth innings solidified the win at home.

Led by Junior Garret Forrester pulling the second walk-off of the series in the bottom of the ninth with bases loaded, the Beavers made it a 11-10 comeback victory.

“I literally swung like 60 percent right there, I just wanted to get the ball in play and was feeling good at the plate today so I knew I was going to be on time and it just worked out right…I definitely felt like the pressure was more on the him (Arizona Pitcher Chris Barraza),” Forrester said after the game on this walk-off.

In what led up to the walk-off, the Beavers gained the first lead since the first inning by a home run from junior Brady Kasper in the eighth, the Beavers almost seemed to have the win in the bag, but the Wildcats also came back in the ninth inning.

“I think Brady did a phenomenal job today…He drove the ball well,” Forrester said on Brady’s home run. He felt that it was one of the things that kick started the comeback and changed the momentum of the game.

Arizona’s Emilio Corona gave three home runs throughout the game, one of them being top of the ninth to give the Wildcats an edge of 10-8 over the Beavers who, at that point in time, still had the chance to go up to bat top of the ninth.

The Beavers got the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth as sophomore Tanner Smith hit a single and got two Beavers home (Kasper, Mason Guerra) to make it tied 10-10.

Bases loaded for the second time with sophomore Travis Bazzana getting his second intentional walk of the game to put Forrester up on the plate.

Forrester went up to plate, hit a single, and got two runners batted in to clinch the victory.

This sent the team into a havoc as they all raced out to the field from the dugout to jump around and celebrate together.

“I think we’re in a great spot right now as a whole and each day one guy is gonna get hot and I like how we’re clicking right now. We’re all pulling for each other which is really cool,” Forrester said.

Apart from the events of the eighth and ninth inning, pitching was a critical factor in the playmaking for both the Wildcats and the Beavers.

The Wildcats pitcher Aiden May was in through the sixth inning making it a career day for him with nine strikeouts. However, they did change pitchers twice in the 8th inning.

The Beavers changed pitchers six times with starter junior AJ Lattery getting swapped by junior Rhett Larson in the 3rd inning.

“Everybody was calm, cool, and collected. To come out and produce runs that late in the game being down, the guys were excited for one another. Guerra put up some quality at bats in each of those last innings and kept the ball moving,” head coach Mitch Canham said on the team’s overall performance.

The Beavers next face the Oregon Ducks at home in Goss on Tuesday at 5:35 p.m.

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