Hillsboro – The Oregon State Beavers baseball team erupted for 10 runs in a 10-6 victory over the Portland Pilots at Hillsboro Ballpark on Tuesday evening.

Aiva Arquette had a monster game, going 4-5 with two home runs, a double and six RBI’s.

“We were getting runners on base,” Arquette said. “And we are trying to score them, and we capitalized.”

Arquette got things started off very quickly for the Beavers, hitting a 415-foot home run just eight pitches into the game to start the scoring.

Laif Palmer got the nod for the starting pitcher job and put in two quality innings for the Beavers before being relieved by James DeCremer.

DeCremer quickly handled business, throwing thirteen pitches and striking out all three batters in the bottom of the third.

“I feel like I had confidence in all my pitches,” DeCremer said. “I leaned on my slider pretty heavy in my first inning, leaned on my changeup a little later in my outing.”

DeCremer got into a bit of trouble after allowing a walk and then hitting a batter. He then struck out the next batter, but a base hit to left by Zach Toglia plated the first run of the day for the Pilots. He finished the inning on the next batter, striking him out.

The top of the fifth saw Easton Talt show off his speed. 

Talt turned an ordinary single up the middle into a double as the center fielder took his time to get the ball in. Arquette then brought him home after a single that got past the shortstop, extending their lead to 4-1.

The end of the fifth ended on an oddity, as third baseman Trent Caraway fielded a ground ball and went to tag the runner headed to his base. 

Tyler Howard, the Pilots catcher, ran around Caraway, avoiding the tag and reached the base untouched. Umpire Kevin Rice called him out, as he was out of the baseline. Howard didn’t feel as if he was and showed his discretion by giving Rice an earful before retreating back to the dugout.

The Pilots clawed their way back into the game after Riley McCarthy ripped a pitch into the outfield, scoring two runs and closing the gap to 4-3. 

Beavers pitcher Joey Mundt hit the next batter, and got pulled for Wyatt Queen. With two on and two out, Queen couldn’t get the Beavers out of the inning, as Howard ripped a double to left-center, scoring both runs and giving the Pilots their first lead, 4-5.

Arquette once again got a hold of a pitch and blasted a ground-rule double, plating Talt, who was on second to tie the game at five. Gavin Turley then got nailed in the ribs for a free pass, and a fielder’s choice advanced Arquette to third. AJ Singer then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to regain the lead, 6-5. 

After a failed pickoff move that allowed Cameron Reeder to advance to second, Caraway nailed a pitch back up the middle to score a run, extending the lead to 7-5.

The scoring continued for the Pilots as back-to-back drawn walks then led to a Toglia line drive that scored one of them, cutting the lead to 7-6.

Arquette once again smoked a changeup down the middle for his second home run of the game, this one for three runs, pushing the lead to 10-6. Arquette achieved season highs for hits, home runs, runs scored and runs batted in.

“He (Arquette) has had a handful of those where he’s been ready to hit and annihilates a baseball,” head coach Mitch Canham said. “Obviously that three-run shot to separate it out, just takes a lot of burden off of pitching and defense.”

The Beavers now travel down south to California to take on Cal State Fullerton in a three-game series starting on Friday, April 11, at 6:30 p.m.