The Oregon State Baseball team completed a sweep of the Washington State Cougars over the weekend and in doing so, broke the all-time wins record for conference play. After a brief bit of dramatics in game one, the Beavers handled the Cougars with ease in games two and three.
The last Pac-12 series of the season provided us with loads of information about the Beavers as they prepare to finish off the season strong and look toward postseason play. Here are our 10 takeaways from OSU’s rout of the Cougars in Corvallis.
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WSU series recap
Game 1 - Beavs open series with walkoff win
Game 2 - Oregon State shuts out Wazzu
Game 3 - OSU sweeps WSU, makes history
1. Beavers make history
Thanks to the the sweep of the Cougars, the Beavers now stand alone with the most conference victories in the history of the Pac-12 conference. The previous record was 26 conference wins by Arizona State in the 1981 season. By going 27-3 in the conference, the Beavers have won more games in the Pac-12 than any other team. The Beavers are currently on a 12 game win streak.
2. Drew Rasmussen is nearing his peak
Rasmussen worked 5 ⅔ innings allowing no runs, and three hits. He threw 74 pitches, 50 of them being strikes. Rasmussen looked really really good folks. His poise on the mound reminded me of the guy who threw a perfect game as a freshman back in 2015. He is still on an undisclosed pitch count, but as long as he pitches next weekend, he should be without restraints by the time regional play comes around.
3. OSU is saving their bullpen
The Beavers didn’t dip into their bullpen until Sunday’s matchup, and I believe there is a reason behind it. By not using the ‘pen on Friday and Saturday, the Beavers are preparing for a heavy dose of relievers against Abilene Christian next weekend. I expect the bullpen will work more innings next weekend than they have all season.
4. KJ Harrison and Steven Kwan are nursing injuries
Harrison didn’t play all this weekend because of a twisted ankle last week against Oregon, and Steven Kwan appeared to twist up his ankle early in the Saturday game against WSU and didn’t play on Sunday. I’m not too concerned about Kwan, but Harrison is more puzzling. I’m assuming the Beavers are just being overly cautious with their star first baseman, but it’s something to keep an eye on heading into the Abilene Christian series.
5. Jake Thompson and Luke Heimlich might be limited next week
Given that the Beavers have essentially clinched the No. 1 overall seed (more on that later), the Abilene Christian series is mostly for the Beavers to nurse nagging injuries, get younger guys experience, and prepare their team mentally for regional play. Given all of those factors, I expect that Thompson and Heimlich will either not pitch at all or will be extremely limited. Both guys have logged a good amount of innings and if your Pat Casey you want your pitching staff to be rested and ready for a deep run into the postseason.
6. OSU's chemistry might be the best in the country
Across numerous sports, there are good teams that have tremendous success and win championship and don’t like their teammates. However, the unique thing for the Beavers is that they are family. Whether it’s Adley Rutschman always coming to fist-bump his pitcher after an inning, or Jack Anderson embracing his teammates on a walk off walk, the Beavers are truly a family. Being a tight-knit group is one of the most-underrated aspects of successful baseball teams and this OSU team is reminiscent of the 06 and 07 teams that would go to war for each other every single day.
7. The Beavs have guys that can step up in the absence of everyday starters
For most teams, not having one of your best hitters in KJ Harrison and one of your best all-around players in Steven Kwan might throw off chemistry and make OSU slightly uncomfortable. However, it didn’t even phase the Beavers as Michael Gretler, Preston Jones, Elliott Cary and others filled in for Harrison and Kwan nicely.
8. Beavers' bats are peaking at the right time
Whether it’s Nick Madrigal, Michael Gretler, Adley Rutschman, Cadyn Grenier, or Trevor Larnach it really seems like the Beavers are swinging hot bats at the right time. One major key to getting Omaha is finding your groove offensively and the Beavers appear to be peaking at the right time. Madrigal is playing like the Pac-12 player of the year, and Rutschman is making a strong case for Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. He is hitting nearly .250 after being as low as .170 earlier this season and might be the conference’s best catcher. Bottom line, when the Beavers can score runs in bunches, they are almost impossible to beat given their pitching staff.
9. OSU bounced back from Friday's close win
I’m not sure whether it was WSU having a great gameplan, the Beavers not being ready to play, or a combination of both, but Friday’s game is a clear outlier in this series. I’ve never seen Heimlich hit the way that he was on Friday at any point this season, and at times is appeared the Beavers were pressing at the plate. However, it was clear that Friday’s game left a bad taste in OSU’s mouth (even though the were victorious) as the Beavers made sure there they weren’t going to need walkoff walks to capture a victory.
10. OSU has all but assured themselves of the No. 1 overall seed
As OSU found out the hard way last season, the NCAA selection committee often predetermines seedings and regional host locations either Friday or Saturday of the last weekend, usually rendering the last weekends results useless if your needing of the wins to make the tournament. However, there will be no worry for the Beavers this season, as they are all but guaranteed the No. 1 overall seed come selection Monday.
Quotable
Pat Casey on Drew Rasmussen’s longest outing of the season...
“He had a minimum of 70 pitches and probably a maximum of 80,” Casey said. “He felt good and he had a long inning of rest in the fifth before he went back out there which we thought was good. He pitched well.”
Pat Casey on next week’s rotation...
“We gotta figure that out,” Casey said. “We are kinda in that limbo area where we don’t want to extend anyone because the following week we are in the regionals. We gotta be pretty diligent about what we do. You gotta get your starters their work, but we will be cautious about what we do.”
Drew Rasmussen on his overall status and health...
“I felt awesome,” Rasmussen said with a big smile. “We are staying in contact with Dr. Vela who did my surgery and he’s given us rough windows and estimates on a lower and an upper limit and our coaching staff is doing a great job keeping me in between there.”
Nick Madrigal on his home run...
“Yea it felt good,” Madrigal said with a grin. “I was thankful to be able to square up a ball. The at bats before I just missed a couple, but it definitely felt good.”
Michael Gretler on this special season...
“You obviously set those goals at the beginning of the year (win streaks, Pac-12 Champs, etc.) but I think it’s just something that kinda comes. (This season) is just a testament to our attitude of no matter the day, no matter the opponent we are going to play the game to the best of our ability and good things are going to happen.”
