5/6/2023 baseball Edit

Oregon State Baseball: Beavers Even Series With 6-5 Win Over Utah

Brenden Slaughter • BeaversEdge

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CORVALLIS, Ore. – Travis Bazzana set the Oregon State single-season steals record while Ben Ferrer struck out seven and Mason Guerra and Micah McDowell each drove in three runs to lead Oregon State to a 6-5 win over Utah Saturday at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.

The Beavers evened the series at one game apiece with the win, and the teams will play the rubber match Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PT.

McDowell drove home the game-winning runs on a bases-clearing double in the second inning. OSU (32-14 overall, 15-11 Pac-12 Conference) had loaded the bases with one down before the lefty drove a 3-1 pitch from Utah reliever Ernesto Lugo-Canchola down the right field line, bringing in Bazzana, Tanner Smith and Kyle Dernedde.

That gave OSU starter Jacob Kmatz a lead, one the Beavers didn’t relinquish despite the Utes (19-25-1, 8-17-1) scoring solo runs in the third and sixth innings. Kmatz exited during the sixth, giving way to Ferrer who dominated the Utah lineup.

The OSU righty struck out seven in four scoreless innings. He did not allow a baserunner and picked up his second save of the season.

Kmatz, meanwhile, picked up the win to improve to 4-4 on the year.

Bazzana set the Oregon State single-season record with his 30th stolen base, it coming after a walk in the sixth inning. He stole the base with no throw off Utah reliever Bransen Kuehl.

The Utes opened the game’s scoring on a three-run home run by Karson Bodily in the first. OSU, however, answered back with a three-run home by Guerra in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game. It was Guerra’s fourth home run in his last three games and team-leading 10th of the season.

Merit Jones, who allowed six hits and six runs in 1 1/3 innings, took the loss for Utah. He is 2-3 on the year.

McDowell and Garret Forrester each had had two hits to pace the Beavers’ attack. OSU posted 10 as a team.

Next Up

The teams conclude the three-game series Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PT.

Oregon State Notes

- Forrester extended his hit streak to eight games with a first-inning single, matching a season-long. He’s also now reached base safely in 45 consecutive games.

- Forrester recorded his 14th multiple-hit game this season. He has three in his last four games.

- Mason Guerra became the second Beaver to hit a home run in three straight games this season, joining Mikey Kane, who did so against Coppin State and Cal Poly (Feb. 26-March 3).

- Guerra’s first-inning home run extended his hit streak to five games.

- Guerra has hit the last four home runs for the Beavers and five of the team’s last seven.

- Bazzana’s run in the second inning was his 58th of the season, equaling his tally from 2022. That’s tied for the eighth-best single-season total in OSU history.

- Bazzana’s record-breaking steal marked the 44th of his career. He’s now tied with Kim Bradshaw (1957-59) for fifth-most by a Beaver. Bazzana is two shy of Steve Lyons (1979-81) for fourth-most.

- Bazzana also walked twice to give him 46 bases on balls this season. That puts him one shy of tying Ben Johnson (1989) for 10th-most in a single season at OSU.

- Oregon State improved to 14-7 when this season its opponent scores first.

- The Beavers also improved to 26-1 when out-hitting their opponent.

- Ferrer’s seven strikeouts marked a season-high for the righty, and equaled his most as a Beaver. He also tallied seven against UC Irvine (March 4) and Arizona State (March 20), both last season.

- The 3,978 in attendance at Saturday’s game marked the 13th-largest crowd in Goss Stadium history.

OSU Athletics