Oregon State Falls To Dallas Baptist 6-5

FORT WORTH, Texas – Greg Fuchs and Ryan Ober each homered but Oregon State dropped a late comeback attempt versus Dallas Baptist, 6-5, Friday at Lupton Stadium. The game marked the opener of the Fort Worth Regional.

Down 6-1, Oregon State mounted a rally, first with Ober’s solo home run in the fifth, his ninth round-tripper of the season. Then, Fuchs went deep in the sixth for a three-run shot that pulled the Beavers to within one, 6-5.

Neither team managed to score from that point on. However, Oregon State (34-23 overall), put two runners in scoring position in the eighth, but Dallas Baptist got out of the jam on a line drive by Ober to third, and a groundout by Andy Armstrong.

Dallas Baptist (38-15) went up 2-0 in the first thanks to a two-run home run by Cole Moore. Then, after Troy Claunch drove in Wade Meckler on a groundout in the first, the Patriots scored one in the third and three more in the fifth.

Three of those runs were charged to Kevin Abel, who dropped to 3-5 this season after allowing two hits with eight walks in three innings.

Oregon State’s final three relievers – Mitchell Verburg, Joey Mundt and Jake Mulholland – combined to limit DBU to one hit with five strikeouts in 4 2/3 scoreless innings.

The Patriots’ Dominic Hamel allowed five hits and five runs in 6 1/3 innings and picked up the win, improving to 13-2 this season.

The Beavers recorded six hits and seven walks off three DBU pitchers; Garret Forrester led the team with a pair of singles.

Oregon State will now play at 10 a.m. PT Saturday (12 p.m. in Texas) versus the loser of Friday night’s matchup between host TCU and four-seed McNeese.

Notables

- The game marked the 109th all-time postseason contest for the Beavers and the 60th in NCAA Regional play.

- Meckler’s single in the first inning his extended his on-base streak to 20 games. That ties him with Forrester for the longest by a Beaver this season.

- Ober and Fuchs’ home runs gave the Beavers 51 long balls this season.

- Claunch saw his hit streak snapped at 17 games. He did, however, reach on a walk and extended his on-base streak to 19 games.