The Oregon State baseball team took another step toward their first Pac-12 title since 2014 with a sweep of the visiting Cal Bears. OSU had the bats going all weekend, and other than the Saturday contest, the Beavers had the pitching dialed in as well. The Beavers will now prepare for a series matchup against the Oregon Ducks starting on Thursday.
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Five Takeaways from Oregon State's sweep of Cal
1. These were get well games for OSU
Coming into the weekend, I thought that this series could provide the opportunity for the Beavers bats to explode because of the lack of quality pitching by Cal. It turns out, that was an accurate prediction. The Beavers scored eight runs on Friday, 11 on Saturday, and 10 on Sunday. At this point in the season, you want to have your hitters in a groove and it appears the Beavers are well on their way thanks to a mind boggling 29 runs in three games.
2. Bryce Fehmel needs to be replaced
I wrote last week that Fehmel was the “weak link” in the Beavers starting pitching staff and someone else needed to fill that Saturday spot. Fehmel pitched 3 and 2/3 innings on Saturday and gave up five hits, four runs, and a walk while only getting one strikeout. For a team that is chasing a national title, these numbers aren’t sufficient for a Saturday starter. I would like to see Fehmel head to the bullpen for the rest of the season.
3. Beavers show good depth
I’ve mentioned this earlier in the season, but the Beavers have quality hitters that don’t always get an opportunity to play. On Sunday, the little used freshman Tyler Malone tallied two hits resulting in two RBI’s. Andy Atwood also started on Sunday and tallied a hit and earned a walk. What does all this mean? The Beavers have guys on the bench that aren’t intimidated to too come in and swing the bat. Given how hitters go through slumps, it’s a big plus to have guys on the bench who can come to the plate in tight situations and come in clutch.
4. Adley Rutschman is becoming a two way threat
For most of the season, Rutschman was known as an incredible defensive catcher who could occasionally make you pay at the plate. Just a few weeks ago, Rutschman was hitting under .200 and it looked like Pac-12 pitching was too strong to adjust to. However, the past few weeks, Rutschman has been more than solid at the plate and has come up big for the Beavers in clutch situations. His performance as of late hasn’t gone unnoticed by Pat Casey and Co. as he hit cleanup for the Beavers in Sunday’s game against Cal. He tallied three hits and six RBI’s over the weekend and looks like he is finding his groove late in the season.
5. OSU is in prime position to win the Pac-12
Most of you all probably figured that OSU had the Pac-12 conference in the bag, but the Stanford Cardinal have made the Beavers take notice over the past weeks. The Cardinal have won 10 of their past 11 games and have eight losses in conference compared to OSU’s three. The Beavers hold a 6.5 game lead over both Stanford and UCLA. Despite the Cardinal’s late season rally, the Beavers will be able to clinch the conference outright with wins against Oregon on Thursday and Friday. However, the Beavers still have to finish the season strong to erase any doubt.
Oregon State Stock Report
Jack Anderson - Up
Anderson is becoming quite the outfielder for the Beavers, and his bat is pretty good too. Anderson has been called one of the better right fielders in his time here at OSU, and that includes pretty good company. This weekend he added three hits and two RBI’s to keep his batting average above .300 this season. Anderson is a local kid who loves to wear the Beaver uniform each and every day, and it’s been showing as of late as he makes all of the routine plays and always gives 110 percent. With the rival Oregon Ducks coming up this weekend, it will be exciting to see what he does against OSU’s arch enemy.
Steven Kwan - Up
If you hit your first career home run since high school and it just happens to be a grand slam, your stock is usually on the upward trend. Kwan has been a tremendous asset for the Beavers this season both offensively and defensively. He made several really nice plays in the outfield over the weekend, and also swung a hot bat tallying three hits and four RBI’s.
Bryce Fehmel - Down
I’m still trying to figure out what has been up with Bryce Fehmel this season. Last year he led the team in wins and was one of OSU’s most consistent pitchers. However, this season he hasn’t been himself. He started the season strong but has really struggled with Pac-12 hitting this season. That itself is odd given that the Pac-12 was a better overall conference last season. This weekend, he really struggled on the mound, and this weeks performance might cost him the Saturday spot in the next week or so.
Christian Donahue - Down
Donahue has struggled to find the lineup as of late. C-Boy as he is called by his teammates has really struggled to find a niché in this years OSU team. Last year he was one of the most consistent hitters the Beavers had and was a tremendous baserunner. While the latter is still true, Donahue has been ineffective in the batter’s box as of late. In six AB this weekend he failed to get a hit and dropped his season batting average to .245 on the season. Based on what he did last season, the Beavers could really use his bat late in the season if they need a pinch hitter.
Quotable
Pat Casey on Tyler Malone’s performance...
“I say this all the time, I really think he’s gonna hit someday,” Casey said. “He has to decide when he wants to do that. Today it looked like he was very sharp and I was really happy for him.
Pat Casey on scoring 29 runs in three games...
“I hope the offense is starting to click,” Casey said. “I know it was better, there is no doubt about it. We needed to put runs on the board against Cal. I know we held them to two runs today but they got 10 hits. We did a good job of getting out of innings and playing situational defense.”
Jake Thompson on playing Oregon this next weekend...
“It’s going to be fun to play them,” Thompson said with a grin. “They always have fun playing us and we always have fun playing them so it’s going to be a great series.”
