Beavers Come-From-Behind For Win In 11

IRVINE, Calif. – Matthew Gretler’s two-run single in the 11th inning capped an Oregon State comeback in the Beavers’ 7-5 win over UC Irvine Friday night at Anteater Ballpark.

Gretler, pinch-hitting for Micah McDowell, lined an 0-1 pitch from reliever Dylan Riddle to left, enabling Andy Armstrong and Joe Casey to score. The two-run single capped off Oregon State’s win, which saw the Beavers come back from a 4-1 deficit for their 26th win of the season.

The Beavers, down to their last at-bat in the ninth, went ahead 5-4 when Jacob Melton hit his sixth home run of the season. He drilled the 3-1 pitch from UC Irvine’s Jacob King over the right-field fence, bringing in Armstrong from second. The Anteaters, however, scored one in the ninth to force extra innings.

Oregon State found itself down 4-1 entering the seventh but chipped away at UC Irvine’s lead. Wade Meckler doubled home Armstrong in the seventh to make it a 4-2 ballgame.

Ryan Ober then hit his team-leading eighth home run of the season in the eighth. The towering fly to left pushed the Beavers (26-10 overall) to within one.

Joey Mundt locked down the win with a scoreless 11th inning for his first save of the season. Jake Mulholland got the win and improved to 2-1 after allowing four hits and a run in two innings.

UC Irvine’s (22-12) Gordon Ingebritson allowed three hits and two runs in 1 2/3 innings to take the loss. He is 1-1 this season.

Armstrong led the way for the Beavers with three hits and three runs. Ober also had two hits for Oregon State, which finished with 12 as a team.

Next Up

The teams continue the three-game series Saturday afternoon at Anteater Ballpark. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. PT.

Notables

- Oregon State improved to 1-1 this season in extra-inning games.

- Oregon State’s pitchers struck out 10 or more for the 26th time this season.

- Andy Armstrong’s multi-hit effort marked his team-leading 15th of the season.

- Ryan Ober now has 12 multi-hit games on the year.

- Ober’s home run in the eighth marked the 10th of his career.

- The game marked the first for the Beavers on a natural grass field since game eighty when OSU concluded its four-game series at Grand Canyon.

- The meeting marked just the sixth all-time between the teams and the first since the 2014 Corvallis Regional.

- Chase Watkins made his second career appearance versus UC Irvine. His first was in 2019 as a member of Cal Poly.