The Oregon State Beavers (34-4, 18-3 Pac-12) weren’t going to let the Trojans stop them from winning their ninth straight Pac-12 series victory. KJ Harrison and Jake Thompson outscored and out-pitched the Trojans respectively, and OSU secured yet another conference series.
Here is the 3-2-1 from the weekend in Corvallis.
Three Things We Learned
1. Jake Thompson and Luke Heimlich are both “Aces”
This weekend, we got a glimpse of what I expected earlier this season. OSU’s strength in terms of starting pitchers lies with Luke Heimlich and Jake Thompson. Bryce Fehmel has been so-so in his last three starts, and appears to perhaps be the crack in the armor of OSU’s rock solid starting rotation. Let’s compare numbers between the three guys over the weekend. Based on the numbers below, it will be interesting to keep an eye on Fehmel over the next few Saturdays to see if he can turn it around. If he cannot, Drew Rasmussen will be waiting to take over that spot sooner than later.
Heimlich: 8 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 107 P
Fehmel: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 K, 2 BB, 84 P
Thompson : 8 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K, 117 P
2. KJ Harrison is building momentum
So far this season, Harrison has been great but not elite for the Beavers. However, nitpicking a .300+ hitter like Harrison is just that, nitpicking. He played a tremendous game on Sunday, sending a two run homer over the fence, and just narrowly missed another, settling instead for a double off the wall in left-center. Harrison is arguably the best pure hitter the Beavers have on the roster, and if he can find his groove late in the season, the Beavers will be an impossible team to stop.
3. OSU’s fan support is a huge advantage
This is the first weekend of the season where I have seen tremendous fan support in all three games. OSU announced that there were 10,138 fans over the three games against USC this weekend, setting a new record for a single series in the process. OSU’s fans might be the toughest in the Pac-12 when it comes to letting an umpire know that he might have missed a call. When you think of college baseball, home field advantage doesn’t usually come to mind. But for OSU, it truly does. The Beavers have had well over 3,000 fans at most home games this season and it truly gives them an edge over most opponents. Hearing 3,000+ fans cheer at times in a Baseball stadium is the equivalent of a full Reser Stadium given how low key college baseball is. Given that OSU is in the state of Oregon for the rest of the regular season, the Beavers will have an edge that nobody on the west coast can match.
Two Questions
1. Will Bryce Fehmel stay as the No. 2 guy?
As I mentioned earlier, Fehmel has been the crack in the armor of the Beavers starting rotation as of late. In terms of production, he hasn’t been on the same level as his counterparts Thompson and Heimlich. His last two starts have ended in losses, and the question now has to be raised. Is he still the best player to start on Saturdays?
2. Will OSU’s young guys fatigue in the latter half of the season?
Right now, the Beavers have Adley Rutschman, Brandon Eisert, Jake Mulholland, Mitchell Verburg, and Grant Gambrell as players that have played significant time as true freshman. Obviously, Rutschman, Eisert, and Mulholland have logged the most time, and I’m curious if these guys will have the same type of production late in the season. You see it in plenty of other college sports, where young athletes don’t have the stamina to keep up with the grind of a college season. Given how much OSU relies on Rutschman, Eisert, and Mulholland the Beavers need to hope these guys are well-conditioned for the long haul.
One Prediction + Bonus
Drew Rasmussen starts against Oregon on Tuesday
Given how little he pitched against USC, I would be surprised if he didn’t get the ball against Oregon. I don’t think he will go more than 3-4 innings, but I think it would be a tremendous boost to his confidence as well as the team’s if he could head to the mound as a starter.
Bonus
The Beavers defeat Oregon on Tuesday and will sweep Cal over the weekend. OSU will go 4-0 this weekend.
Quotable
Pat Casey on how his team responded after Saturday's loss...
“I thought after yesterday that we really needed to respond,” Casey said. “They are a really good club, and I thought Jake Thompson was really really good. We did enough to win, that is for sure.”
Casey on Jake Thompson’s performance...
“He was outstanding,” Casey said. “The thing that I liked about him the most is he got better as the game went on. He was really really competitive in the 7th and 8th innings and he reached back and got some stuff. Rutschman said his stuff was better late in the game.”
Jake Thompson on his preformance...
“It was definitely my best of the season in terms of command and stuff like that,” Thompson said. “Being able to throw my offspeed pitches in fastball counts, I feel like I had really good control of that.”
Jake Thompson on pitching on Sundays...
“I definitely like to bring energy on Sunday,” Thompson said. “I like to fill it up, trust my stuff, trust my team and our defense. I know we will get hits, so I just keep throwing and trusting my stuff.”
KJ Harrison on his two run home run...
“I knew they were going to come at me with a fastball,” Harrison said. “They were trying to challenge me, just like they have all weekend. It was a fastball inside, and I was able to put a good swing on it.”
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