The long Tuesday drought is over for the Oregon State Baseball team. The timing of the dramatic come from behind 4-3 win over Portland is excellent because of what begins on Friday. It is only the biggest series of the 2019 season. Oregon State and Stanford battle for first-place. Both teams sit at 19-5 in the Standings. Oh ya, UCLA also sits at 19-5 and could have the advantage among the the competition for the Pac-12 title hosting 12-12 Washington this upcoming weekend.
All three games from the Sunken Diamond will be live on the Pac-12 Network and Friday's game will be on Rip City Radio 620. The pregame coverage begins at 5;30 and Mike Parker's play-by-play call begins at 6:05 pm.
Here is the complete game story on last night's win from OSU Athletics:
George Mendazona backed up six scoreless innings from Nathan Burns with a game-winning three-run double in the seventh to send Oregon State to a 4-3 come-from-behind win over Portland Tuesday night at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.
Mendazona smacked a 1-1 pitch from Portland reliever Connor Knutson into right center, enabling Adley Rutschman and Tyler Malone to score before Alex McGarry came home from first with the game-winning run.
Rutschman and Malone had walked to open the inning, and McGarry reached on a bunt single that was intended to be a sacrifice.
The game-winner enabled Burns to pick up his second win of the season. The sophomore right-hander entered the game in the third in relief of starter Jake Pfennigs, and walked the first batter he faced. Burns, however, spun a 6-4-3 double play to end the third and retired the last 17 batters he faced. He gave way to Jake Mulholland, who threw seven pitches to retire the last two Portland batters of the game and earn his seventh save of the season.
Oregon State (34-15-1 overall) scored the game’s first run, in the first. Beau Philip led off with a double, moved to third on a fly out by Joe Casey, and scored when Tyler Malone singled.
Portland (24-26) went ahead 3-1 in the third when Cody Hawken hit a 1-2 pitch from Pfennigs over the left field fence.
Pfennigs worked 2 1/3 innings in his start, scattering four hits and three runs.
Christian Peters started for the Pilots and limited the Beavers to two hits and a run in five innings. Cameron Richman, who came on in relief in the sixth, took the loss after allowing one hit and three runs with two walks. He is 1-2 on the year.
Next Up
Oregon State treks to the Bay Area for a three-game series at Stanford. The series opener is slated for Friday night at 6:05 p.m. PT. The game and entire series will air live on the Pac-12 Network.
Burns’ Big Night
Nathan Burns’ six innings of relief set a single-game best for the sophomore. It surpassed his 3 1/3 innings versus Minnesota on Feb. 17 in Surprise, Ariz. The 18 batters he faced also set a career-high – he had faced 11 versus San Diego State on April 2.
The Bullpen
The 6 2/3 scoreless innings by Nathan Burns and Jake Mulholland Tuesday night extended an impressive stretch for the Oregon State bullpen. Over the last three games, the bullpen has allowed just four hits and seven walks in 16 2/3 innings. Mulholland has pitched in all three of those games.
And On The Year
Tuesday’s outing lowered the bullpen’s ERA to 1.69. The ‘pen has allowed just 39 earned runs in 208 innings of work, while striking out 234 to 92 walks.
That’s A Low
The team’s four hits – one apiece by Beau Philip, George Mendazona, Tyler Malone and Alex McGarry – marked a season low for the Beavers in a win. The Beavers are 4-5 this season when tallying five hits or less.
Five-Gamer
Beau Philip led off the Beavers’ half of the first with a double to left, immediately extending his hit streak to five games. It’s his second-longest streak of the season, two shy of a seven-gamer he posted from Feb. 22 to March 3.
49-Of-50
Adley Rutschman’s seventh-inning walk extended his national lead to 65 this season. The junior has also now reached base via a hit or a walk, or both, in 49 of the Beavers’ 50 games this season. The only time he didn’t this season came in the opener at Arizona State on April 12.
Speaking Of Walks
Adley Rutschman finished with walks in the seventh and eighth innings Tuesday, giving him 66 on the season. That ties him with Arizona State’s Oddibe McDowell (1984) for 10th-most in a single-season in the Pac-12 record books. A look at where Rutschman stands in the Pac-12 record books:
5. Doug Newstrom, Arizona State (1993) – 71
6. Doug Baker, Arizona State (1982) – 70
7. Alvin Davis, Arizona State (1981) – 69
8. Pete Stanicek, Stanford (1983) – 68
9. Paul Carey, Stanford (1990) – 67
10. Oddibe McDowell, Arizona State (1984) – 66
10. Adley Rutschman, Oregon State (2019) - 66
Vote For Bryce
Right-handed pitcher Bryce Fehmel is one of 10 finalists for the prestigious Senior Class Award. Fan voting for the award is being held through June 10. To vote, visitseniorclassaward.com/vote/baseball_2019/.