There was nothing pretty about it, but fortunately for the Oregon State baseball team substance is more important than style. After spotting Utah Valley State an early 4-1 lead, the Beavers (25-20, 11-10) came back to score seven unanswered runs to win 8-4, earning a much needed non-conference victory on Tuesday afternoon at Goss Stadium in Corvallis.
“There’s no way we could afford to lose that game,” Pat Casey said. “Just couldn’t do it.
”The Wolverines picked up where they left off Monday as Oregon State starter James Nygren was roughed up early, lasting only three innings and giving up four runs on eight hits with two strikeouts.
Casey, knowing how important this game was, went to the bullpen early and Blake Keitzman came in and took the game over as he struck out the side in the top of the fourth. Keitzman would be the only call to the bullpen all day as the sophomore went the final six innings allowing no runs on only three hits while collecting nine strikeouts.
“Sometimes you come out of the pen and some of your stuff’s not there,” Keitzman said. “All my pitches were working pretty well.”
The Wolverines wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as they put up two runs in the top of the first and it looked as though the Beavers were feeling the effects of their fifth game in as many days
Oregon State showed some life in the second as Daniel Robertson got the Beavers on the board in the bottom of the second with an RBI single to right field that scored Jason Ogata and the Beavers were within one.
The Wolverines did their best to crush the Beavers’ momentum in the top of the third as they started the inning with four consecutive hits, including two doubles that led to two runs and a 4-1 lead. The damage could have been much worse, but Braden Wells threw out Ryan Jones at home plate and OSU catcher Eric Ammon caught Scott Croshaw as he was attempting to steal third.
The score remained 4-1 until the bottom of the fourth where the Beavers finally showed some life at the plate in classic fashion.
Lonnie Lechelt led off with a bunt single and Robertson followed with a single of his own. Wells was called on for a sacrifice bunt, but third baseman Jase Brinkerhoff committed a throwing error on the play and Lechelt and Robertson scored. With still no outs, Ammon drew a walk and Joey Wong laid down a sacrifice bunt and was able to beat out the throw for the infield single. With the bases loaded, Chris Hopkins drew a walk to score Wells, and Garrett Nash hit yet another infield single that scored Ammon. Ryan Ortiz finished the scoring in the inning with a sacrifice fly and when the dust settled, the Beavers scored five runs on virtually nothing leaving the infield and found themselves up 6-4.
Keitzman dominated the rest of the way never allowing Utah Valley to threaten again and picked up the win improving to 2 and 3 on the season. The Beavers added two more in the bottom of the eighth and that is where the score would stand.
“It was a huge win,” Keitzman said. “These are the kind of games that our team overlooks and we really shouldn’t. We’re a little bit tired after last weekend’s series and we knew this game was big and we’re trying to fight for a regional berth.”
The Beavers needed a pitcher to step up after the team allowed 11 runs on Monday to the same Wolverine team. Keitzman gave Casey and company a great performance when they desperately needed it.
“Keitzman is the guy that should probably have the gold medal,” Casey said. “We couldn’t stop them from scoring yesterday and the first couple of innings today. Those guys swing the bat pretty good.”
Robertson was the only Beaver with multiple hits going 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. The senior was the spark plug for an offense that needed to score some runs early after a lackluster Monday game where the Beavers trailed 11-0 at one point.
“I think yesterday was a little tough, but we got back on the horse today,” Robertson said. “It’s baseball, you’re gonna have your good games and bad. You gotta have a short memory to play this game. Yesterday was a tough one but we came out and handled what we needed to handle.”
It has been an up and down season for the Oregon State baseball team so far and the Utah Valley State series was a microcosm of that the past few days. The Beavers lost big 11-6 on Monday just 24 hours after beating UCLA on an Ortiz grand slam on Sunday. Tuesday’s win was pretty much a must-win as Oregon State could not afford to get swept by a team that is 20 games under .500.
“I just don’t think you can afford to lose two games to a team with an RPI that low at home,” Casey said. “I just don’t think we’re in a situation with our record, where we could afford to do that… Those things happen, they just can’t happen in back-to-back days this late in the season.”
Up next for the Beavers is the final Pac-10 series of the season where Oregon State will travel to Los Angeles to face the USC Trojans starting Friday, followed by a one-game stop against Long Beach State on Monday.
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