Bases loaded and down by two runs, a record setting Goss attendance rose to their feet as Gavin Turley made his way to the plate.
“I feed off the energy of the crowd,” Turley said. “They paid money to be here, so I’m going to give them something that’s worth watching.”
Turley gave the Beaver faithful what they came for as he parked the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for a go ahead grand slam, his fifth slam of the season, to give the Beavers a 6-3 lead.
Oregon State University baseball never looked back after that moment as they won their first game of the Corvallis Regional against Tulane University, 10-4 under the Friday night lights.
The Beavers started off slow as Tulane punched in three runs in the top of the second inning. Starting pitcher Aiden May threw a solid outing, striking out nine opponents over 5.2 innings while only allowing three runs.
The Beavers kept Tulane in the game early, with three errors and allowing four walks, but May settled down after the second and handed the ball off to lefty reliever Nelson Keljo.
“I told Nelson, I thought that was a different beast than I’ve ever seen from him before,” head coach Mitch Canham said.
Keljo dominated for 2.2 innings, only giving up one hit and striking out four. His strong outing allowed the Beaver offense to wake up and tack on some insurance.
Every inning after May came out, the Beavers added on. In the sixth, after intentionally walking Travis Bazzana for the second time, Micah McDowell made Tulane pay with a two out, two run single into left field, extending the Beavers 8-4.
In his first game back in over two months, Trent Caraway added on with an RBI single in the seventh that brought home Dallas Macias.
And with one out in the bottom of the eighth, Bazzana blasted a bomb deep into over the center field bleachers, capping off the night at 10-4.
“We heard time and time again, don’t let Travis beat you,” Tulane head coach Jay Uhlman said,“but you have to tip your cap when he does.”
With their win on Friday, OSU will play game two of the Corvallis Regional against UC Irvine at 7 p.m. at Goss Stadium.