Oregon State Baseball lost a wild offensive battle 11-10 against the Stanford Cardinal on Sunday at Goss Stadium. This was the Beavers first home loss of the season. Bringing their home record to 19-1 and 29-5 on the season.
Both sides started slow as freshman Beaver pitcher Eric Segura and Cardinal pitcher Toran O’Harran pitched one-two-three innings. Stanford’s Jimmy Nati recorded the first hit, a double, in the second. But Segura cleaned up the inning, striking out two.
In the third, the Cardinal struck first.
A home run off the batter’s eye in center off the bat of Trevor Haskins started the scoring. Later a triple from Cort MacDonald scored one, and he would be driven in by a chopped fielder’s choice to third from Malcolm Moore. Segura escaped the inning with a strikeout, but the Beavers were down 3-0.
In the bottom of the inning, the Beaver offense woke up.
A bloop single from sophomore Jacob Krieg to lead off the inning was followed by a single off the bat of freshman Canon Reeder. With two on and the dangerous junior Travis Bazzana coming to the plate, Stanford brought righthander Nick Dugan in from the bullpen.
Dugan pitched around Bazzana and walked him to load the bases, bringing up sophomore Gavin Turley. Turley battled, and on the seventh pitch of the at bat, he launched a grand slam to deep left center field putting the Beavers on top 4-3. After Turley’s 10th home run of the season, the Beavs were sat down in order to end the inning.
The fourth inning was uneventful for both sides and Nelson Keljo came in to relieve Segura in the top of the fifth.
Keljo was greeted rudely as the first batter, Ethan Hott laced a single into right field. With one down Moore moved Hott to third with a single to right. The next batter, Nati, was hit by a pitch and the bases were loaded. That’s when Brandon Larson doubled to left center, clearing the bases, and putting the Cardinal back up 6-4.
Back in a hole, the Beaver offense couldn’t put anything together in the bottom of the inning. Sophomore Kellan Oakes came relieved Keljo in the top of the sixth. With an inherited runner on third, Oakes got Hott to ground to third where junior Mason Guerra made a great play to his left to throw Haskins out at home, keeping the Cardinal lead at two.
The catcher junior Wilson Weber led off the bottom of the sixth by depositing his second home run of the season over the left field wall, drawing the Beavers closer, 6-5.
In the top of the seventh, Moore reached on a single and Nati sent a long drive to deep left center field. From his position in left, sophomore Dallas Macias made a spectacular diving play to rob Nati of a run scoring extra base hit.
“Macias was Superman with that catch in left center,” Head Coach Mitch Canham said. “It was incredible.”
Oakes got out of the top of the inning, stranding one, and keeping the Cardinal off the board. The bottom of the inning brought up the heart of the Beaver lineup.
Bazzana led off the inning with a rope single to center, Turley walked, and on the first pitch that Guerra saw, he drove it to center bringing home Bazzana to tie the game at six.
With Turley at second, Weber grounded into a third to first double play, leaving Guerra at second. Fresh off his miraculous play in left field, Macias drove in Guerra on the first pitch he saw with a single to right. The Beavers had clawed their way back to lead, 7-6
That lead was short-lived as the Cardinal responded with their own rally in the top of the eighth.
Oakes hit the leadoff batter Luke Lavin and walked Haskins to up two on with no outs. Sophomore AJ Hutcheson came into the game and on his first pitch, Owen Cobb dropped a bunt back to the pitcher. Hutchenson fielded it cleanly but his throw to third, to get the lead runner, was wide and it pulled Guerra off the bag. Stanford had the bases loaded with no one out.
“Hutch comes in- he’s incredible with his PFPs (pitcher fielding practice),” Canham said. “But we didn’t get the big stop.”
Hutcheson managed to get one out but was relieved by Joey Mundt. Mundt hit the first batter he faced to score the tying run for the Cardinal. After a pop out from Moore to Macias. Nati broke open the game with a double down the left field line, clearing the bases and putting the Cardinal up 10-7.
With the energetic Beaver faithful behind them, the Beavers looked to climb back again. Down by three in the bottom of the eighth, Canham made the decision to pinch hit Easton Talt for Brady Kasper. This decision paid off as Talt blasted the third pitch he saw into the right field stands, drawing the Beavs closer, 10-8.
Following the home run, Krieg walked to bring up Bazzana. But this was not his day as he grounded into a double play, taking the air out of Goss.
Down by two, Reeder was hit by a 3-0 pitch to bring up Turley. Turley battled again and on the seventh pitch of the at bat, he launched his second home run of the game. Tying the game at 10-10 and sparking the crowd into a frenzy.
In a game that seemed like it would end in a story book ending for the Beavers, the stubborn Cardinal offense had something else to say.
Charlie Saum, who was hitless on the day with four strikeouts, sent the first pitch he saw in the top of the ninth over the left center field wall, putting Stanford up 11-10.
Looking for a third comeback in the game, Goss stadium got loud for their fifth-ranked Beavers. But Stanford closed out the game, retiring Weber and Macias and after walking Hainline. Talt grounded out to the shortstop and the hope for a comeback died there.
The loss to closes out an overall positive and productive homestand.
Up next, the Beavers go on the road to face Nevada in a two-game midweek series and then travel to Berkeley to take on Cal in a three-game series. The Beavers will return home to face their in-state rival the University of Oregon on Friday, April 23 at 6:05 p.m.
