With seven games remaining in the regular season, it is crunch time for the Oregon State baseball team. The Beavers (25-20, 11-10) travel to Southern California to face the Trojans in what will be the final conference series of the season followed by a one game stop at Long Beach State on Monday.
The Beavers are cutting it close as far as their post season hopes are concerned and they still have some work to do against a traditional national powerhouse if they want to guarantee themselves a spot in the field of 64. Although Oregon State’s record is nothing spectacular, they have played an extremely difficult schedule this season and that has given them a solid RPI of 36 headed into the final two weeks of the season. As high as their power index is, they can ill afford to have a bad road trip and the players are well aware of the importance of this series.
“It’s gonna be huge going down to (Southern California),” Daniel Robertson said. “It’s gonna be a huge series and we’re gonna need that momentum going down there. If we pull two out of three, or get something going down there, we can take that right into the regionals.”
Gaining momentum at the end of the season has been the staple of Oregon State baseball over the past few years and Coach Pat Casey preaches that it is more important to play well down the stretch, as opposed to hitting your stride too early.
With the up and down play of this team throughout the season, it is hard for anyone to gauge whether they getting on track, or taking steps backwards. One thing is for sure, the team still has room for improvement, especially if they are to compete for another College World Series bid. When Casey was asked what they need to do to gain some momentum, he offered some insight as to what the team needed to work on.
“We need to pitch better, we need to hit better, we need to defend better. How’s that?”
Southern Cal (24-26, 7-11) will be a big test on the road for this young team and with the Trojans still hanging on to slim postseason hopes of their own, it should be an intense series for both teams.
The Trojans have some tough bats in their lineup that the Beavers will have to deal with and none are tougher than shortstop Grant Green. The sophomore is batting .392 with 8 home runs and 42 RBI’s. Green also leads the team in hits (71), on-base percentage (.443) and slugging percentage (.657). Three Trojans are batting .349 or better and six players have at least four home runs on the season.
USC also has one of the better starting pitchers in the conference and Oregon State will see him in game one of the series. Left hander Tommy Millone is 5-5 on the season with a 3.01 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 80.2 innings pitched. Opposing batters hit only .244 against him and he has good control, allowing only 18 walks in his 80 plus innings of work.
The Beavers will have their work cut out for them and getting at least one win is a must if the team is going to hold their spot in the postseason. As much as they need at least one, the team has its sights set on winning the series and finishing the regular season strong. That is ultimately what fueled last seasons run towards their second consecutive national championship and with a little luck who knows, maybe it might happen again.
“It’s a huge series,” Blake Keitzman said. “If we do make a regional…we want momentum going in, so our ultimate goal is just to go in there and take all three of them.”
A sweep would be a tall order considering the pride and history of one of the greatest college baseball programs of all time, but only time will tell.
Friday’s game starts at 7 pm and will be broadcast on Beaver Sports Network. Saturday’s game starts at 1:30 and Sunday’s is at 1 pm.
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