Thanks to timely hitting, and another superb performance from Jake Thompson, the Beavers were able to dispatch of Vanderbilt 8-4 on Friday night in front of a record crowd at Goss Stadium. OSU is now just one win away from their ultimate goal.
Omaha.
The Game
The Beavers (53-4) got to Vanderbilt right away as OSU scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a three run home run from KJ Harrison that scored Madrigal and Larnach to give the Beavers an early 3-0 lead.
“Anything like that in the first inning is great,” Harrison said. “I was just looking for a pitch that was up in the zone and I could handle. They threw me two fastball’s before that, so I was looking for a pitch right in my zone and he gave it to me and I put a good swing on it.”
However, the Commodores (36-24-1) responded in the top of the second as Jason Delay singled in two runs, and then Vanderbilt added one more as Will Toffey singled in a run to tie the game at three.
OSU responded right away in the bottom of the second. Christian Donahue walked, and Steven Kwan beat out an infield single to set the stage for Nick Madrigal. And for the first time in what feels like weeks, he delivered big time. He laced a triple down the left field line to drive in two runs for OSU and give the Beavers a 5-3 lead.
Jake Thompson pitched another gem for the No. 1 team in the country as he worked 7 ⅔ innings and kept Vanderbilt hitters off-balance all night. Thompson was in command of his fastball all night, and seemed to get better as the game went along. Jake Mulholland came in the 7th in relief and worked until the 9th before giving way Sam Tweedt who finished the game for the Beavers.
The Beavers added an insurance run in the fifth thanks to a RBI single from Trevor Larnach that scored Steven Kwan to give the Beavers a 6-3 advantage.
Vanderbilt scored their last run of the night in the seventh and got a little closer thanks to a solo home run from Will Toffey. Toffey has been on fire for the Commodores as of late and it was a matter of when, not if he had a big hit.
The Beavers added even more insurance in the bottom of the eighth as they scored two runs thanks to a base hit from Cadyn Grenier that scored Adley Rutschman, and a sacrifice fly from Steven Kwan that brought home Michael Gretler to finish OSU’s scoring on the night.
Patrick Raby took the loss for the Commodores to drop to 10-4 on the season. His unraveling was largely due to his rough first inning where he gave up a three run home run to KJ Harrison. However, Raby fought hard through six innings, and tried his best to keep the Commodores in the game. He gave way to Collin Snider in the seventh inning who finished for Vandy.
“I didn’t set the tone early and they did a good job of hitting my mistakes,” Raby said. “That’s baseball.”
Player of the game
Jake Thompson: 7.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 120 TP
Thompson earned his 14th win of the season, tying Andrew Moore and Scott Christman for most OSU wins in a single season. He worked 7 ⅔ innings allowing seven hits and four earned runs while striking out seven Commodore batters. Thompson was in command of his pitches early, and with the exception of the second inning, he was nearly flawless. He allowed several hits here and there, including a solo home run in the seventh but was otherwise smooth as silk on the mound.
Heimlich update
By now, most everyone has learned of the recent reports of Luke Heimlich and his situation. Here is what Pat Casey had to say about the matter.
“It’s (Heimlich’s) decision,” Casey said. “He’s a team guy and in his statement he said he didn’t want to be a distraction. I can tell you that he is fine young man and for every second that he has been on this campus, on and off the field he’s been a first class individual. He is someone who his family should be proud of, and the community should be proud of, and that this team is proud of. I believe in Luke.”
Up Next:
The Beavers will continue their best-of-three series with Vanderbilt tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. For Vanderbilt, ace Kyle Wright will take the mound. Wright is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft on Monday. For the Beavers, Pat Casey said that Bryce Fehmel and Drew Rasmussen are the most likely candidates to start.
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