Oregon State Baseball: Beavers Take Series Opener vs UC Irvine

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Cooper Hjerpe and Ben Ferrer combined to strike out 17 and Justin Boyd hit his first career home run to send Oregon State to a 7-2 win over UC Irvine in front of 3,287 Friday night at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.

With the win, the Beavers improved to 8-0 for the 11th time in school history.

Boyd hit a two-run home run in the first inning to give the Beavers the lead for good after UC Irvine (5-4 overall) scored a solo run off Hjerpe in the top half of the inning. He ended the night with a career-best four runs batted in thanks to sacrifice flies in the third and eighth innings.

Hjerpe improved to 3-0 with 5 1/3 innings of work in his third start of the season. The lefty struck out 10 and scattered seven hits and two runs before giving way to Ryan Brown in the sixth.

Brown recorded one out in the inning before Ferrer came on. Ferrer tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out seven of his own. He earned his first save of the season.

Travis Bazzana paced the Oregon State offense with three hits, while Wade Meckler had two. Jacob Melton, Garret Forrester and Gavin Logan all drove in a run.

Michael Frias took the loss for UC Irvine, dropping to 2-1 this season.

Next Up

Oregon State and UC Irvine continue the three-game series Saturday at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. First pitch is slated for 1:35 p.m. PT. Tickets are available by visiting osubeavers.com/baseballtickets.

Boyd Goes Deep

- Boyd’s first-inning home run marked the first long ball of his career.

- He entered Friday night’s game with nine career extra-base hits, including two triples.

- He joins TJ Wheeler and Kyle Dernedde as Beavers who have hit their first career Division I home runs this season.

Singles

- That first-inning home run off Boyd’s bat extended his hit streak to 12 games dating back to the 2021 season. He has six extra-base hits during the streak.

- UC Irvine scored a solo run in the fourth inning. It’s the first time this season the Beavers had allowed a fourth-inning run.

- OSU has out-scored opponents, 13-3, in the first inning this season.

- The Beavers’ top three batters have started every game this season; Meckler in the leadoff spot, Bazzana at No. 2, and Boyd at No. 3. Additionally, Dernedde has started all eight games at the No. 9 spot.