Oregon State Baseball: Beavers Beat Cal 10-4

BERKELEY, Calif. – Matthew Gretler and Jacob Melton both homered as No. 6 Oregon State defeated California, 10-4, Friday night to open a three-game series at Stu Gordon Stadium.

Gretler, Melton, Wade Meckler, Travis Bazzana and Justin Boyd all had two hits to pace the Oregon State (16-4 overall, 5-2 Pac-12 Conference) attack, which finished with 14 on the night. Every Beaver in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit.

Oregon State, after battling back from a 2-1 deficit in the third, scored two in the fourth on a double by Gavin Logan and single by Kyle Dernedde. The Beavers, after leading by one, 4-3, after five, took control with a three-run seventh on a passed ball, bases-loaded walk by Logan and a fielder’s choice on a ground ball by Greg Fuchs.

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Gretler opened the game’s scoring with a solo home run in the third and Melton put an exclamation point on the game with a two-run blast in the eighth. The home run was his conference-leading ninth of the year. He also leads the Pac-12 with 37 runs batted in.

Cooper Hjerpe extended his Pac-12 lead in victories with his sixth of the season. The lefty made his sixth start of the year and allowed three runs on eight hits in five innings. He struck out seven, giving him 51 on the year.

Reid Sebby came on in relief of Hjerpe to start the sixth and proceeded to tie his career-high with five strikeouts in just 2 2/3 innings.

The Beavers chased Cal (10-11, 3-4) starter Josh White during the three-run seventh, pushing the Golden Bear righty to 0-2 on the year. He allowed 10 hits and six runs in six innings. He struck out seven and walked two.

Next Up

Oregon State and California continue their three-game series Saturday Stu Gordon Stadium in Berkeley. Saturday’s game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. PT start and can be seen live on Pac-12 Bay Area, Pac-12.com and via the Pac-12 Now app.

Oregon State Notes

- Gretler recorded his third multiple-hit effort of the season. It was his first since Feb. 20 against New Mexico.

- Gretler’s home run in the third inning was his first of 2022 and sixth of his career.

- Boyd also posted his 10th multiple-hit game of the season.

- Boyd stole his 13th base of the season in the fifth inning. He is just two shy of becoming the first Beaver with 15 or more in a year since Nick Madrigal swiped 15 in 2018.

- Boyd has six stolen bases in his past four games.

- Bazzana extended his hit streak to eight games with a double in the fourth. He is 15-for-39 with three doubles, two home runs and 15 RBI during the streak.

- Both Bazzana and Melton recorded their team-leading 11th multiple-hit efforts of the year.

- Meckler picked up two hits for his seventh multi-hit game of the year. He also walked twice to reach base four times.

- Hjerpe has allowed just eight hits and three runs with 19 strikeouts in his past two starts, spanning 12 innings.

- The Beavers have stolen 19 bases over their past nine games.

- Oregon State improved to 10-1 away from home this season.

- Oregon State won its sixth consecutive game versus California. The Beavers are 12-1 over their last 13 versus the Golden Bears.

- The win was also the Beavers’ 51st all-time versus the Golden Bears, the fourth-most against a Pac-12 opponent and the most against a program not in the Pacific Northwest.