Oregon State Sweeps USC In LA For First Time

LOS ANGELES – Fifth-ranked Oregon State scored four runs in the eighth inning Sunday to send the Beavers to a 7-3 win over USC at Dedeaux Field. The win gave Oregon State its first ever sweep of the Trojans on USC’s home turf.

The Beavers scored three of their first four runs of the inning with the bases loaded. First, when Gavin Logan walked on 3-2. Then Jake Dukart was hit by a pitch. And then Kyle Dernedde grounded out to short to the second base side of the bag.

Oregon State (24-7 overall, 10-5 Pac-12 Conference) topped off the win with its seventh run on a wild pitch.

The win pushed Oregon State into a tie for first in the Pac-12 at the halfway point of the season. The Beavers are tied at first with Arizona thanks to UCLA’s loss in its series finale at Utah.

OSU totaled just six hits on the day but took advantage of six walks. Travis Bazzana and Garret Forrester led the team with two singles apiece.

Oregon State scored in the first for the third time during the series, plating a pair of runs to take a 2-0 advantage. Jacob Melton doubled in Justin Boyd from first with one out, then moved to third on a wild pitch and scored when Bazzana blooped a single to left.

AJ Lattery started and tossed five solid innings of work. He held USC (17-12, 4-8) to four hits and a run – a solo shot by Adrian Colon-Rosado in the fourth. Lattery, who was making his fifth start of the season, struck out two.

Lattery’s counterpart, Charlie Hurley, completed 5 1/3 innings for the Trojans. He two hits and three runs with four walks and five strikeouts.

Oregon State’s eighth-inning rally was necessitated by a two-run seventh by the Trojans.

Ian Lawson picked up the win after an inning of work, improving to 3-0 on the year. Matt Keating was charged with the loss, dropping to 2-1.

Next Up

Oregon State returns home to host Long Beach State in a series that starts Thursday night at 5:35 p.m. PT. The opener at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field is the first of eight straight at home for the Beavers. Visit BeaverTickets.com for tickets.

Oregon State Notes

- Boyd reached base on a walk in the first. He’s now reached base safely in 29 consecutive games.

- Melton also reached base in the first inning, on a run-scoring double, and has reached in 33 consecutive games.

- Wade Meckler pushed his reached base streak to 34 when he also walked, doing so in the second inning.

- The Beavers scored in all three first innings of the series, scoring a total of four runs. Oregon State has totaled 38 first-inning runs this season.

- Oregon State’s starting pitchers totaled 17 innings of work during the series with the Trojans. The trio – Cooper Hjerpe, Jacob Kmatz and Lattery – allowed 10 hits and two runs for a 1.06 ERA. They also struck out 15 and did not issue a walk.

- The Beavers did not issue a walk over 27 innings during the series.

- The sweep of USC marked the second in Oregon State’s history. The Beavers also swept the Trojans in Corvallis in 2013.