For much of the early season, the question surrounding the Oregon State Beavers offense was simple; Where would the power come from?
On Sunday afternoon at Goss Stadium, the Beavers answered loudly.
Oregon State erupted for 17 runs in a dominant 17-2 win over the Xavier Musketeers, unleashing a barrage of hits, walks and timely swings in front of 3,699 fans.
“It was nice,” Oregon State Head Coach Mitch Canham said. “The guys were staying in the box, holding their ground. Just a ton of free bases.”
By the end of the afternoon, Oregon State had collected 15 hits and drawn 16 walks, turning nearly every inning into a stressful one for Xavier pitching.
But the Beavers didn’t start hot, they built momentum slowly.
After a quiet first inning, Oregon State broke through in the second.
Paul Vazquez drove in the game’s first run on a fielder’s choice before Easton Talt lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.
It wasn’t explosive yet, but it opened the door.
Canham said the early innings showed the type of approach the team has been emphasizing.
“Zone control,” Canham said. “That’s something we talk about every day. I thought the guys had real intent stepping up to the plate.”
The real eruption came two innings later. The fourth inning flipped the game entirely.
A balk brought in one run before Bryce Hubbard launched a towering three-run homer to right center, igniting the crowd and blowing the game open.
“It felt great,” Hubbard said. “Two-strike swing, slider up. That’s kind of the best-case scenario.”
The homer was part of a six-run inning that put Oregon State firmly in control.
Then the Beavers did it again.
One inning later, Josh Proctor crushed a three-run homer down the left-field line to extend the lead, while Tyler Inge followed with a two-run single to keep the rally rolling.
By the time the fifth inning ended, Oregon State had scored 14 runs.
Hubbard said the offensive breakout was something the team believed was coming.
“I feel like we’re trending in the right direction,” Hubbard said. “We were hitting balls really hard earlier in the year – right at people. Now those hits are falling kind of how you expect baseball to go.”
The Beavers finished the afternoon with just four strikeouts, continuing a team-wide emphasis on tough at-bats.
“We did a lot of work just being tough in two-strike counts,” Hubbard said. “Once you get two strikes, that becomes a team at-bat. You just do whatever you can for the team.”
While the offense grabbed headlines, Oregon State starter Eric Segura quietly controlled the game from the mound.
Segura worked 5.2 scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing six hits to earn his first win of the season.
Canham was especially impressed with one pitch.
“His changeup was working incredibly well,” Canham said. “Just diving away from left-handed hitters. I loved the hand speed he showed with it.”
Relievers Tanner Douglas, Zach Edwards and Calvin Gregory closed out the final innings as the Beavers secured the win.
Nearly everyone in Oregon State’s lineup contributed.
Inge finished 3-for-3 with two RBIs, while Proctor drove in three runs. Adam Haight added two hits, with Hubbard’s three-run homer highlighting a three-RBI afternoon.
For Canham, the biggest takeaway wasn’t the runs, it was the quality of the at-bats.
“I just like their focus,” he said. “Each guy that stepped up to the plate had real intent.”
Even in a blowout win, the head coach emphasized there’s still growth ahead.
“We still have a long ways to go,” Canham said. “On the bases, at the box, on the mound, on defense. We’re still learning every day.”
But on Sunday afternoon in Corvallis, the Beavers looked like a team finding its rhythm.
The Beavers officially won the series, but will look to close it out with a potential clean sweep tomorrow night at 5:35 p.m. at Goss Stadium, once again against the Musketeers.
