The 3-2-1: Oregon State Baseball continues hot streak

After Oregon State's sweep of Stanford over the weekend, the consensus No. 1 ranked Beavers improved to 24-1 on the season and have won 19 straight contests.

BeaversEdge.com has a new installment of "The 3-2-1" where we look at three things we learned during the Stanford series, pose two questions we have moving forward, and give one prediction.

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1. OSU’s offense can win games consistently

Upon entering the meat of the Pac-12 season, I compared this team to the 2014 team over and over again - similar deep pitching staffs, great big time hitters, and consistent defense. But the one qualm I had about this year’s team is if they can consistently light it up with the bats.

After this weekend in Palo Alto, I am a believer in this OSU squad across the board. Not only did the Beavers continue to dominate via the starting pitchers and the bullpen, but the offense blew Stanford clear out of the ballpark in Saturday and Sunday’s games. OSU’s offense was inconsistent at times early in the season, and I thought that it might be an achilles heel for them moving forward, but they crushed those thoughts over the weekend. OSU’s batting average is second best in the Pac-12, and with an ERA that still ranks No. 1 in the nation, OSU is very tough to beat.

2. The Beavers are deep

Another difference between this year’s team and the 2014 squad is that in 2014, the Beavers essentially rolled out the same starting lineup everyday with the exception of the pitcher. This year, the Beavers have the flexibility and talent to shake up the lineups often based on their talented personnel. Guys like Elliott Cary, Steven Kwan, Tyler Malone, Michael Gretler and others can start one game, and come off the pine in the next.

With this much flexibility, head coach Pat Casey and his staff can pick and choose the best guys that matchup favorably against a particular defense or pitcher. Very few teams in the country have the ability to change their lineup every other game and have the 2nd string guy be just as good or better than the guy he replaced. Bottom line: By the end of the season, guys are tired and arms are tired, but if OSU is able to continue to sub frequently, they will be the freshest team come June.

3. KJ Harrison’s injury has yet to negatively affect the Beavers

It was reported last week by the Oregonian that Harrison sustained a thumb injury a few weeks ago in the series against Arizona State. Harrison has been the DH in the six Pac-12 conference games since his injury and the Beavers haven’t missed a beat. Freshman Adley Rutschman continues to be a defensive force behind home plate, and the rookie from Sherwood, Oregon hit his first career home run in Sunday’s win against Stanford.

At first base, fellow freshman and former Sherwood teammate Zak Taylor has also done a nice job. The Beavers are still a better team defensively with Harrison in the lineup, but we definitely learned this weekend, not having him on defense isn’t the kingpin to OSU’s success. They are deep enough to absorb the injury until he returns to full health.

*** Discuss Oregon State Baseball with fellow Oregon State fans ***

1. Will the streak mount pressure for Oregon State?

By now I’m sure every Oregon State fan has heard about this winning streak for the Beavers. As it stands now, the Beavers have won 19 straight games good enough for a new school record as the previous record has 18 games in 1951 and 1962. The Beavers now hold the longest active streak in the nation. So the question is, will the pressure mount for the Beavers or will it be business as usual?

2. Who can stop the Oregon State streak?

In the Pac-12, it’s a very difficult task to sweep an opponent, yet the Beavers have done it three straight times now, and in doing so they broke a conference record. Since the conference unified in 1999, no team has ever started a season 9-0 until this year’s Oregon State squad. And perhaps the most impressive part of those sweeps is that they have come against very good teams.

Arizona State is always talented, and Arizona and Stanford were top 15 teams in the country. Will the sweeps continue? Probably not. Even though this is the best OSU baseball team I’ve ever seen at this point in the regular season, it’s only human to lose a game or two here and there. The Pac-12 is too deep of a conference to not lose. However, with lowly Utah this weekend, the Beavers could be in a good position to be 12-0 in the Pac-12.

The Beavers will sweep Utah and score at least 15 runs in the the three victories and Harrison and Nick Madrigal will each have a home run.

Despite OSU continuing to dominate their opponents, they rank last in the Pac-12 in home runs. The Beavers have struggled to punch the ball over the fence this season. My bold prediction is that at some point in the series Harrison and Madrigal will each launch one over the Goss Stadium wall.

Discuss OSU's sweep with fellow Oregon State fans!

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