BeaversEdge.com has postgame interviews with Oregon State baseball coach Pat Casey and more from Sunday's 14-3 route of Washington State.
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CORVALLIS, Ore. – Nick Madrigal hit and a home run and drove in five, Michael Gretler recorded a career-high three RBI and the top-ranked Oregon State baseball team set a new conference record with its 27th Pac-12 win after defeating Washington State, 14-3, on Sunday at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.
The Beavers surpassed the 1981 Arizona State Sun Devils (26 victories) for the most wins ever by a conference club. Oregon State won all 10 series in conference play this season, seven by sweeps.
The Beavers’ 27th win in conference play assures Oregon State of winning the Pac-12 by at least six games, depending on Stanford’s finish to the regular season next weekend. The six games is the most since Stanford won the Pac-10 South by six in 1985. Should OSU win the conference by more than six, it would be the most since Arizona State won the Pac-10 South by 10 games in 1981.
The win pushed Oregon State to 45-4 on the year, tying the 2013 Beavers for the most ever during the regular season.
Madrigal hit a three-run home run in a seven-run fifth inning that saw the Beavers push out to a 10-run lead. The seven-run frame tied a season-high for Oregon State, which also scored seven in the eighth inning at Stanford on April 1.
Madrigal added two more RBI to his stat line in the seventh as Oregon State pushed four runs across the plate during the frame.
Gretler paced the Beavers with three hits on the day, all coming on singles. His three RBI on the afternoon surpassed his previous best of two.
Madrigal, Adley Rutschman and Trevor Larnach all had two hits as OSU finished with 12.
Drew Rasmussen started for the Beavers, improving to 2-0 after limiting Washington State (24-26 overall, 10-17 Pac-12) to three hits and a walk in 5 2/3 innings.
WSU starter A.J. Block was charged with the loss. He allowed two hits and two runs in an inning of work to drop to 0-3 on the season.
Another 3K-Plus
Oregon State saw 3,629 fans at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field Sunday, pushing the series attendance to 10,866, setting a new three-game series record – surpassing the previous best of 10,567 against California earlier this month. Oregon State has now had 13 crowds of 3,000 or more this season. The Beavers have totaled 69,034 fans through 21 home dates this season – 22 games, with one counting as a single-ticket doubleheader. That is an average of 3,137 per home date.
Starters
Oregon State’s starters during the series – Luke Heimlich, Jake Thompson and Drew Rasmussen – combined to 23 2/3 innings in the sweep of the Cougars. The trio held Washington State to 13 hits, three runs – two earned – and three walks while striking out 17. Brandon Eisert was the first reliever to throw during the series, coming on with two down in the sixth inning Sunday.
Offensive Kind Of Day
The Beavers rapped out 12 hits en route to the 14 runs on Sunday, their second-highest total of year, just behind 15 against Stanford on April 1. OSU also walked eight times, one shy of the season-best of nine, set three times, most recently against Washington State in the series opener. The Beavers walked 23 times over the three-game series. OSU struck out just three times Sunday, and 10 times over the three games.
Next Up
Oregon State hosts Abilene Christian for a four-game series, starting Thursday, at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. First pitch Thursday is slated for 5:35 p.m. PT. Tickets can be purchased by visiting BeaverTickets.com/Baseball.
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