The No. 8-ranked Oregon State baseball team soundly defeated singular Pac-12 foe, Washington State Cougars 15-1 to improve to 11-3.

“It’s great to have the match up again because of the familiarity there for fans, players, and coaches,” OSU head coach Mitch Canham said. “But it’s competition, us versus the other guy, and I liked the way our guys competed today.”

The Beavers recorded 10 hits and 14 walks, with each starter getting on base tonight. 

A nine-run fourth inning solidified the Beavs’ fourth straight home game win of the season. 

Eight of those runs came off of 28 pitches from the freshman Cougar pitcher, Gabe Schneider.

Senior catcher, Wilson Weber, led the charge offensively tonight going 3-for-3 with 6 RBIs and a three-run home run, which capped the nine-run fourth inning.

“(Weber) has claimed himself to be a bit of a slow starter,” Canham said. “But the reality is you could see him starting to click and take some pressure off himself”

Weber has earned himself a starting spot in his final season with the Beavs. Last season Weber had seven home runs and 22 RBIs.

“It’s (Weber’s) last year here, so sometimes you can put too much on your plate,” Canham said. “It was a good day for him to go out have a day like today to boost his confidence even more.”

Weber was not the only Beav to see the ball well tonight. Junior Dallas Macias continued to knock the monkey off his back with a double off-the-wall nearing the home run line that scored two.

“It’s important not to get too caught up in certain statistics,” Macias said. “You’re gonna have those points where you’re not performing how you want to, but continue to stick with your process and keep going.”

Macias made his way back into the starting lineup on Sunday’s game against the University of San Diego and smacked a home run over the right field fence.

That hit marked his first since February 21 against, at the time, No. 2 University of Virginia. 

“We know that all the guys on our team like Canon (Reeder), Easton (Talt), and Tyce (Peterson) are going to go up there and rake,” Macias said. “When you have that much talent on your team, it’s a pretty incredible thing.”

University of Washington transfer Aiva Arquette had himself a walk, a double, a triple, and a stolen base.

Arquette has shown up and shown out in his first season with the Beavers. He currently is tied for first in team batting average with .423, and is tied for first in RBIs with 17.

The former Husky’s offense is not the only impressive part of his game, Arquette’s 6-foot-5 stature causes him to be a brick wall at shortstop. 

“Every time I turn around, I get this feeling like we’re gonna get the ground ball here,” starting right-handed pitcher Kellen Oakes said. “I got Aiva and (AJ) Singer up the middle and they make the plays for me every time.”

With the confidence of a well-rounded defense behind him, Oakes pitched a career-high five innings. He allowed only three hits and no runs scored. 

“This is what we expect every time,” Canham said. “We have high expectations for (Oakes), but we know he can fill those shoes.”

Oakes’ last outing against Ohio State was far from what he produced tonight. On only four hits in 1.2 innings pitched, Oakes gave up six earned runs.

Tonight, Oakes honed in on his fastball and pounded the strike zone for 43 strikes.

 “(Oakes’) response to having a rough outing and allowing hits or not, not getting in the zone as often as he wants, he was getting ahead,” Canham said. “His demeanor on the mound looked very competitive and his conviction leads to successful results.”

The team continues their eight-game homestand on Wednesday in the series finale against the Cougars at 3:35 pm at Goss Stadium.