Oregon State has relied on its starting pitching throughout this season, and they delivered again Tuesday night.

On his first start of the season, sophomore lefty Jordan Britton dazzled in his time on the mound. The Beavers (35-4, 18-3 Pac 12) took the first Civil War matchup of the season from the Oregon Ducks (25-15, 8-10) by a score of 4-1.

Britton got the start from head coach Pat Casey on a mid-week game against Oregon, a non-conference matchup. Britton went 5 2/3 innings, allowing two hits, and a run to his name — which came across to score on a wild pitch from freshman reliever Brandon Eisert.

“I felt kinda bad giving up a run that scored Jordan’s only run of the game,” Eisert said. “He did a phenomenal job getting us deep, and I wanted to close it out, and save the bullpen for the weekend.”

Eisert did just that after Casey went to the bullpen in the sixth. Casey was asked after the game whether he anticipated getting that long of a start from Britton.

“If I said I did, I would probably have to go to confession,” Casey said with a smile. “No, I did not expect that. We expected him to do well, but we were going to go two arms at a time, and he just kept pitching.”

This was Britton’s first appearance in over a month, and he responded with the longest outing of his career.

“Any game I get to start, I just want to perform my best,” Britton said. “I’m just glad I did what I did.”

Before the game, pitching coach Nate Yeskie told Britton that Sam Tweedt was behind him if anything went askew, but nothing did. When Britton was eventually taken out for Eisert in the sixth inning, the sellout crowd gave the starter a standing ovation.

Eisert responded accordingly, finishing the game with a perfect stat-line, retiring all ten hitters he faced, including striking out five batters in a row.

“It reminded me of Portland a little bit,” Eisert said of his strikeout barrage. “I got on a little roll, and just had to keep throwing strikes, and that’s how you get people out.”

In addition to the stellar pitching, the Beavers received a boost from junior Jack Anderson. The right fielder went 1-2 at the plate, tallying two RBIs and a run scored. It was Anderson’s sac fly in the first inning that put OSU ahead by one, and they never looked back.

Defensively, Anderson was a force to be reckoned with as well, making a diving catch in the fifth inning off the bat of the Ducks’ Tim Susnara.

“I was shifted a little to the right because he kinda hits the ball in that gap,” Anderson said. “I just had a good read, reacted to it, and just did what I do. The ball was right in the heel of the glove, so when I was diving, I was like, ‘Don’t fall out. This is a cool catch, so don’t drop it.’ It was definitely one of the better catches I’ve had.”

Oregon State will look to bring it all together again this weekend as they host California. First pitch Friday is set for 7 p.m. at Goss Stadium.