4/1/2021 baseball Edit

Oregon State Baseball Set To Host Utah

Brenden Slaughter • BeaversEdge

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With the No. 21 Oregon State baseball team (18-5, 5-1 Pac-12) set to continue Pac-12 play against Utah (5-13, 2-4) at Goss Stadium this weekend, BeaversEdge.com previews of the matchup...

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WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN

Utah (5-13, 2-4) vs No. 21 Oregon State (18-5, 5-1 Pac-12)

Goss Stadium; Corvallis, Ore.

TV - Oregon State Live Stream (CLICK HERE)

Radio - Beaver Sports Network (CLICK HERE)

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Thursday, April 1st - 5:35 p.m.

OSU Starting Pitcher - RHP Jack Washburn (3-0, 1.38)

Utah Starting Pitcher - RHP Justin Kelly (0-4, 5.35)

Friday, April 2nd - 5:35 p.m.

OSU SP - RHP Kevin Abel (2-3, 2.93)

Utah SP - LHP Kyle Robeniol (1-2, 3.92)

Saturday, April 3rd - 12:05 p.m.

OSU SP - LHP Cooper Hjerpe (2-1, 1.93)

Utah SP - RHP David Watson (1-3, 5.68)

Scouting Utah

Opposing Hitters to watch

#26 Jayden Kiernan - So. C -.324 avg, 23 H, 4 2B, 7 RBI

#3 Matt Richardson - Jr. IF -.340 avg, 17 H, 2 2B, 8 RBI

#27 Kai Roberts - Fr. IF -.292 avg, 19 H, 2 2B, 8 RBI

Oregon State Quick Hits

- Oregon State finished the month of March with an 11-4 record, including a 4-0 mark on the road.

- Oregon State batted .274 with 36 extra-base hits in the month. The Beavers scored 82 runs, an average of 5.5 per game.

- OSU, on the mound, allowed 41 runs - 2.7 per game average - while sporting a 2.73 earned run average. The staff struck out 176 batters in 135 innings while allowing 95 hits and 53 walks. That’s a WHIP of 1.09.

- Jack Washburn is slated to make his second start and eighth appearance of the season on Thursday. Washburn, who is 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA, has held opponents to just one hit and two walks in his last nine innings of work. He has struck out 14 over that stretch.

- Ryan Ober extended his hit streak to four games with a 3-for-4 night at Portland, where he homered, doubled and drove in three runs. Ober is 8-for-17 during the streak with eight runs scored, five RBI, three walks, three doubles and a home run.

- Oregon State’s bullpen has excelled, most recently limiting Portland to two hits while striking out 11 in 6 1/3 scoreless innings.

- The bullpen has a 2.04 ERA in 101 1/3 innings this season. OSU’s relievers have combined for 115 strikeouts to 64 hits and 33 walks - a WHIP of 0.96.

- OSU ranks first in the Pac-12 and third nationally with a 2.35 ERA. Only USC Upstate (2.23) and Vanderbilt (2.27) rank ahead.

- The Beavers are also first in the Pac-12 with 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

- OSU is second in the Pac-12 and fourth nationally with a .988 fielding percentage.

Oregon State Stats

Tale Of The Tape

Pac-12 Standings

Prediction: Oregon State Sweeps Utah

-> Winners of five straight, Oregon State will push that win streak to eight with a three-game sweep of the visiting Utah Utes at Goss Stadium this weekend.

Like Washington a week ago, there's a sizable talent gap between these two programs and the Beavers need to take full advantage and not drop a game against a lowly foe.

Utah has managed to take the finale against a couple of decent teams this season in Cal State Fullerton, Cal, & Stanford, but overall, have struggled with consistency and find themselves in a spiraling position just 18 games in.

Simply put, the Beavers are a better team than the Utes in every major statistical category and that's going to be the difference this weekend. Whether it be on the mound, at the plate, or defensively, this OSU team is very strong and it's hard to see the Utes being able to hang for an entire weekend.

Oregon State is back to playing good baseball and has put the earlier losses to Oregon & Washington State in the rearview, signaling that this unit is once again in sync and playing at the level we've come to expect.

The starting pitching rotation will be a little different this weekend with it being a Thursday-Saturday series as Kevin Abel and Cooper Hjerpe will remain in their usual spots while Jack Washburn gets the start in the opener on Thursday.

While it's been a busy week for the Beavers that's seen them play a lot of baseball in a short window, I expect them to handle business this weekend and come out of it with a sweep in hand.

Utah has tended to be a thorn in the Beavers' side at times the past couple of years, but it's hard to envision this Utes' squad being able to knock off OSU even once this weekend.