Oregon State Baseball: Beavers Beat Grand Canyon 13-2

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Brady Kasper and Micah McDowell each homered as Oregon State wrapped up its trip to Arizona with a 13-2 win over Grand Canyon Monday at GCU Ballpark.

Kasper went deep during Oregon State’s six-run fourth inning. The home run, his first of the season, was his first with runners on base and pushed OSU to a 6-1 lead.

McDowell followed that with his fourth long ball of the season in the fifth during the Beavers’ three-run frame. McDowell’s home run marked the Beavers’ 50th of the season as a team.

Rhett Larson made his third start of the season for the Beavers, and handcuffed Grand Canyon in five innings of work. The righty scattered two hits and an unearned run in the second inning. He earned the win to improve to 3-1 on the year.

Every Oregon State starter recorded at least one hit for the Beavers, who finished with 18 as a team. McDowell and Kyle Dernedde led OSU with three apiece, while Travis Bazzana, Mason Guerra, Wilson Weber and Tyce Peterson all had two.

OSU, trailing 1-0 in the fourth, took the lead on singles by Bazzana, McDowell and Guerra, which led to Kasper’s long ball, his seventh of the season.

The Beavers tacked on three more in the fifth. Bazzana doubled home Dernedde on a drive down the left field line, then scored when McDowell homered deep over the fence in right center for his fourth of the year.

OSU added to the lead with two more in both the sixth and seventh innings.

Grand Canyon’s (23-18) Tyson Heaton took the loss to drop to 1-1. He allowed six runs on five hits in 1/3 of an inning.

Next Up

Oregon State returns home to open a three-game series with Arizona. First pitch Friday night at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field is slated for 7:05 p.m. PT.

Home Game Tickets

Single-game tickets for the 2023 season can be purchased by visiting BeaverTickets.com.

Oregon State Notes

- Guerra pushed his hit streak to nine games on a double in the third.

- Dernedde extended his season-long hit streak to eight games with a bunt single in the second.

- Peterson made his first start since March 4 at Cal Poly. Peterson singled in both the second and fourth innings and finished with his first career multiple-hit effort.

- Bazzana stole a base for the seven consecutive games and eight of his last nine.

- Bazzana stole two bases, including third for the sixth time this season.

- The Beavers improved to 10-7 when an opponent scores first.

- OSU has now scored 39 runs in the fourth inning this season.

- Kasper’s home run in the fourth was his seventh of the year and first with runners on base.

- Garret Forrester has now reached base safely in 39 consecutive games after singling home a run in the sixth.

- Guerra drove in a run for the 10th consecutive game.

- The Beavers improved to 6-1 in their last seven games against Grand Canyon dating back to 2021. OSU has won all five games at GCU Ballpark over that stretch.

- OSU tallied five extra-base hits Monday and finished with 21 in its four games in Arizona.