After Thursday night's 2-0 loss to the Trojans the Beavers bounce back with three homers and take game two of the three-game series in Corvallis. 5-2 the final and now the final game of the regular season is set for later today. The Beavers should be set to host a regional but past history says you never know what the NCAA Baseball Committee might do. Certainly the Oregon State resume is solid and we will find out exactly what will happen Monday morning at 9:am when the Committee releases its 64-team tourney bracket.
Grant Gambrell 5-1 with an ERA of 2.72 gets the start this afternoon for Oregon State. Kyle Hurt, 2-7 with an ERA of 6.28 goes for Southern Cal. You can hear the game on Rip City Radio 620. 11:30 am the pregame coverage begins with Mike Parker. The first pitch is set for 12:05 pm.Here is the official game story from last night's win courtesy of Oregon State Athletics:
Adley Rutschman, Beau Philip and Zack Zalesky all homered to send Oregon State to a 5-2 win over USC in front of 3,951 fans Friday night at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.
Rutschman hit a two-run home run in the first, Philip hit a solo shot in the third and Zalesky hit the first home run of his career, a two-run blast, in the fourth to send the Beavers to a series-evening win. The teams close out the series Saturday at 12:05 p.m. PT.
The three home runs accounted for nearly half of Oregon State’s seven hits on the night. Philip extended his hit streak to nine games with a 3-for-4 day and has four hits in the first two games of the series. Rutschman, meanwhile, added a single in the eighth to go 2-for-3 with a walk.
The three blasts supported Oregon State starter Dylan Pearce, who worked seven solid innings to earn his third win of the year. He scattered six hits and two runs with two walks and three strikeouts in seven innings.
Pearce was backed by reliever Jake Pfennigs, who worked two scoreless, striking out two, for his first career save.
USC (24-29-1, 12-15-1) starter Connor Lunn gave up all three of Oregon State’s home runs, and despite striking out 10, took the loss to drop to 7-4 this season. The junior allowed five hits and five runs in six innings of work.
Next Game
Oregon State and USC conclude the three-game series Saturday at Goss Stadium with a 12:05 p.m. PT first pitch on the Pac-12 Network.
Senior Day Saturday
Oregon State will honor four seniors – Bryce Fehmel, Dylan Pearce, Zak Taylor and Sam Tweedt – prior to the game. The team will also recognize student managers – Randy Le, Max Anderson, Mitchell Rose, Eric McLaughlin and Casey Mitchell.
Moving Up
Adley Rutschman’s first-inning home run was the 28thround tripper of his career, tying him with Al Hunsinger (1980-81) for the fifth-most in a career at Oregon State. Rutschman also tied Andy Jarvis (2000-03) for the second-most RBI with 173.
The Walks
A look at where Adley Rutschman stands in the Pac-12 record books in terms of walks for a single-season:
3. Jeff Larish, Arizona State (2003) - 78
4. Pepe Hinojosa, Stanford (1978) - 76
5. Adley Rutschman, Oregon State (2019) – 72
Lineup Changeup
Interim head coach Pat Bailey made a changeup to the lineup for Friday’s game. Zak Taylor (first base) made his first start since March 24 against California. Joe Casey made his first start in center since March 17 at UCLA. Zack Zalesky started in right and batted in the fifth spot of the lineup. Adley Rutschman batted in the No. 2 spot in the lineup for the fourth time this season, and first since March 10 versus Coastal Carolina in Seattle.
Three Home Runs
Oregon State hit three home runs for the third time this season, and first at Goss Stadium. Adley Rutschman hit two and Troy Claunch one against Nebraska on Feb. 22 in Surprise, Ariz. Adley Rutschman hit two again at UCLA on March 17, with Alex McGarry going deep once.
3,000-Plus
Friday’s crowd of 3,951 marked the third-largest of the season for the Beavers at Goss Stadium. It trails the 3,968 on April 28 against Washington State and 3,952 the day prior versus the Cougars. Oregon State has posted 78 consecutive crowds of 3,000 or more dating back to the 2017 season.