Oregon State baseball came into game two of the three game series against the Stanford Cardinal coming off a 6-0 win Friday night. The Beavers won 3-1 on Saturday in Goss Stadium, taking the first two games.

Moving into sole possession of first place in the Pac-12, the Beavers (28-4, 9-3) fell behind through the first few innings of play.

In the top of the second inning, the Cardinal scored their first run of the series backed by a deep shot to left-center by third-basemen Jimmy Nati whose solo home run put Stanford on the board 1-0.

The Beavers, ranked 4th in the nation in batting average as a team, struggled to string together hits against Stanford starting pitcher, freshman left-hander, Christian Lim. In the bottom of the third inning, the Beavers loaded the bases with two outs but failed to capitalize.

Keeping the Cardinal offense at bay, last week’s Pac-12 Player of the Week Gavin Turley showed off his arm on a base hit to right field, launching a one-hop throw to Beaver catcher Wilson Weber and tagging-out Stanford center fielder Ethan Hott before he was able to cross the plate.

Beaver starting pitcher Jacob Kmatz closed out the inning with a momentum bringing strikeout to keep the game within one run.

With the Beaver defense firing on all cylinders and Kmatz mounting a strong performance, the Beavers sparked together a rally in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Leading off the inning with a standup double and a walk from Turley and Beaver phenom Travis Bazzana, the Beavers picked up their first runs of the game on a base hit through the right side from Weber after a costly pitching change from Stanford.

Weber’s two out, two RBI base hit, pushed the Beavers out in front of the Cardinal 2-1. With two outs, the Beavs loaded the bases against Cardinal reliever Joey Volchko but were unable to convert, leaving three men stranded at the end of the fifth.

Applying some pressure to Kmatz and the Beaver defense in the top of the sixth, the Cardinal put runners in scoring position but ultimately left them stranded.

After getting to the Cardinal bullpen, the Beavers found their rhythm offensively on the back of their strong pitch selection. However, with bases loaded Cardinal reliever Trevor Moore escaped the sixth inning jam, rolling a ground ball to shortstop Trevor Haskins.

The Beavers led 2-1 through six innings.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Beaver switch-hitter Dallas Macias launched a solo home run over the stands in deep right field to add one more to the Beaver lead making the score 3-1. Macias picked up his seventh home run of the year, second of the series.

Following a scoreless eighth inning, the Cardinal sparked together a string of solid at-bats giving Trevor Haskins a last-ditch effort to tie the game in the top of the ninth. With runners on first and second, Beaver closer Bridger Holmes wrapped up the game with an energetic two strikeouts to pick up the save.

“Two consecutive days of high quality pitching and defense. Macias put one more out there, Holmes getting the save with two-plus innings,” Beavers Head Coach Mitch Canham said. “I’m impressed by what they did out there today and it serves as a momentum builder for what they’re capable of doing.”