Bottom of the ninth, two outs, one man on first, scoreless game. 

Oregon State’s Easton Talt steps up to the plate, crouching just as the pitch comes flying out of San Diego pitcher Austin Smith’s hand.

Falling to his knee after smacking Smith’s pitch into the clouds, the ring from Talt’s swing echoed throughout Goss Stadium for a brief moment. Then, it was overpowered by the Beaver crowd’s raucous cheers as he ended the game with a walk-off home run and gave OSU a 2-0 win over the Toreros on Saturday in Corvallis.

“Yippee!” Oregon State baseball’s Head Coach Mitch Canham said to himself as Talt’s hit sailed over the back fence.

In a game that was entirely defensive until the final pitch, the Beavers found their backs against the wall as Talt’s turn to face the Toreros arrived.

“Definitely number one,” Talt said to the media after the game when asked where the hit personally ranked in his career. “I don’t even think I’ve had a walk-off hit…I’ll put in glass.”

The game began with the Beavers and Toreros trading strikeouts in the first several innings. Oregon State starting pitcher Dax Whitney fanned 10 in six innings of play, while San Diego’s Logan Reddeman logged 10 strikeouts, also pitching six innings. 

The Beavers’ pitchers allowed six hits on the day, with Whitney giving up five. San Diego gave up seven hits. Talt went one-for-three with the home run and 2 RBI, while six other OSU batters went one-for-four. 

The Beavers, currently ranked no. 8 in the nation according to d1baseball, improved to 9-3 with the win. Their victory on Friday also gave them a 2-0 record against the Toreros. San Diego fell to 2-11 on the season.

After the game, Talt talked about his mindset going into the Beavers’ next contest.

“I’ll continue to do my job…don’t get too big the next at-bat, lay down a bunt, steal a base, stay even-keeled,” Talt said.

The Beavers’ three-game series finale against San Diego will take place this Sunday at 1:05 p.m. at Goss Stadium.