Published Mar 7, 2019
Oregon State Baseball Weekend Preview: Seattle Showcase
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Brenden Slaughter  •  BeaversEdge
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The No. 4 Oregon State baseball team is back on the road this weekend as the Beavers (10-1) head to Seattle Wash.for the Seattle Baseball Showcase at T-Mobile Park.

The three-day Showcase features three different opponents for OSU as they play a rematch with Minnesota on Friday, Indiana on Saturday, and Coastal Carolina on Sunday. BeaversEdge.com senior writer Brenden Slaughter breaks down the Beavers' weekend in the Emerald City.

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Opponent Breakdown

Friday vs Minnesota (2-8), 3:00 p.m.

The Beavers will kick off the weekend with a rematch of the third game of the season as Oregon State is meeting Minnesota for the second time this year on Friday, having defeated the Golden Gophers, 13-1, in Surprise. Adley Rutschman homered and drove in four runs in the win.

After being picked to win the Big 10 Conference coming into the season, the Golden Gophers have struggled to start the season, sporting a subpar 2-8 record.

While Minnesota hasn't started the season on a strong note, there's no doubting they still have a really strong squad as the talent is definitely there, it just hasn't clicked yet. Minnesota returned a large majority of its Super Regional team from a season ago and will be looking to get revenge on the Beavers.

Kevin Abel (2-0, 3.86 ERA, 25 SO) will be on the mound for the Beavers and will look to set the tone for the weekend in his fourth start of the season.

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Saturday vs Indiana (6-5), 3:00 p.m.

OSU will continue its Big 10 slate of opponents on Saturday with a matchup against Indiana.

The Hoosiers, who play Washington on Friday night, are fresh off a 6-5 loss at Coastal Carolina, but defeated No. 21 UConn last Saturday.

Bryce Fehmel (2-0, 2.70 ERA) will look to continue his solid start to the season at T-Mobile Park as the senior pitcher has built an impressive 17-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in three appearances.

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Sunday vs No.17 Coastal Carolina (10-2) , 3:00 p.m. Pac-12 Network

Perhaps the most anticipated non-conference matchup of the season awaits on Sunday as the Beavers will play a nationally ranked team in front of a TV audience. The Chanticleers have risen to national prominence over the past few seasons, reaching the NCAA Tournament seven times since 2010, including a national championship in 2016.

Coastal Carolina enters the weekend showcase sporting a five-game win streak and has been potent offensively this season, reaching double digit run totals in nine of its 14 contests.

Sam Tweedt (1-1, 2.25 ERA) will make his second straight Sunday start and will be looking to stymie the high-powered Chanticleer offense that ranks sixth in the country in runs scored (109), seventh in batting average (.333) and eleventh in slugging percentage (.549). Tweedt is coming off the Beavers' first loss of the season in his last start, allowing two earned runs that ended up being the difference in a 2-0 defeat.

The Beavers have the offensive firepower to keep pace with the Chanticleers, but will need Tweedt and the 'pen to slow down one of the better offenses in the nation to come out on top. Sunday's game will have a real 'postseason' feel and we'll learn a lot about this 2019 squad in one of the bigger non-conference matchups in recent memory.

Quick Hitters

- Oregon State has won 13 consecutive games over teams in the Big Ten Conference and is 16-1 versus the league dating back to the 2017 season.

- Brandon Eisert has yet to allow a run in 11 innings (five appearances) this season. He has allowed just six hits and has 13 strikeouts to only one walk.

- OSU is 121-19-1 (.862) over its last 141 games dating back to 2017.

- The Beavers rank sixth nationally allowing just 2.2 runs per game. The team's scoring margin of 5.5 is eighth.

- OSU's bullpen has been superb this season, allowing just four earned runs in 39 innings, an ERA of 0.92.

- Oregon State is outscoring opponents 14-0 in the 7th inning this season.

- After batting over .300 in both the Surprise Classic and the Nebraska series, the Beavers batted just .169 against West Virginia last week.

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