With two outs in the top of the seventh, and one ball to UC Irvine’s Chase Call, assistant coach Rich Dorman called time and strolled to the mound. His starter Jacob Kmatz had just passed the 100-pitch count. Catcher Wilson Weber joined them on the bump and after a short meeting, Kmatz ignited the crowd with a frenzy of strikes, sitting call down, and finishing his night with nine strikeouts, three hits, and only one run allowed.
The Beavers won their second game of the Corvallis Regional 5-3 over UC Irvine, sending them to the regional final against the winner Tulane vs UC Irvine.
Beavers’s defense was the story early. Kmatz opened the game by striking out five straight Anteaters and carrying a no-hitter into the third.
“It’s just sticking to the plan,” Kmatz said “It’s cliché but it’s true. It’s putting the plan together with Dor (Rich Dorman) before the game and executing my pitches.”
The Beavers didn’t have an answer for Anteater freshman starter Trevor Hansen at first either. Hansen’s off-speed pitches fooled the Beaver bats for two innings before Elijah Hainline laced a single into center field. After a strikeout by Mason Guerra, Travis Bazzana jumped into the box.
After his booming home run in Friday’s game, the crowd rose to their feet, expecting some more magic.
Bazzana batted, reaching a full count, and fouling two more off to see the eighth pitch of the at-bat. On that eighth pitch, Bazzana turned on the high fastball from Hansen and sent a towering shot straight down the first base line. Was it fair? Was it foul?
Bazzana, who had turned away from the play, looked back at the home plate umpire to see him signaling for a home run. Ecstatic, Bazzana bounded down the first base line, pounding his chest as he put the Beavers in front 2-0.
“The playoff atmosphere, the two-run shot, and the surprise of it coming back fair. It led to a little emotion,” Bazzana said, “but Jacob (Kmatz) was setting the tone with his energy the way he was attacking hitters.”
Dallas Macias continued his theme of clutch hitting with a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the fifth that drove in Hainline and Guerra to put the Beavers up 4-1.
The Beavers left their defensive woes on the field Friday. Hainline made three impressive plays from shortstop, his most important being when he fielded a chopper over the middle to throw out Will Bermudez to end a rally by the Anteaters in the top of the eighth inning.
Bridger Holmes entered the game in the eighth inning to record a four-out save, striking out two in the top of the ninth to help the Beavers secure the win.
The Beavers will now wait on the results of the Tulane versus UC Irvine game on Sunday. The winner of that game will take on the Beavers at 6 p.m. on Sunday.