#16 Oregon State Baseball Dominates #12 USC 12-4
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Mitch Canham's Oregon State baseball team earned a road upset Tuesday over a USC Trojans team that has been one of the nation's best to start the year.
OSU closed out a 12-4 victory in Los Angeles as the offense picked up 11 hits. Four different Beavers ended the day with multiple RBIs, including three each for Easton Talt and Paul Vazquez.
Junior right-hander Connor Mendez earned the winning decision, his first of the season, pitching three innings of relief in a Mason Pike start. The Beaver pitching staff totaled eight strikeouts.
Full stats from Tuesday's contest can be found here.
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To lead off the game, Talt drew a walk, then stole second shortly thereafter. Bryce Hubbard then sent a home run over the right-field fence to put OSU up 2-0.
Pike started on the mound for Oregon State, but was pulled due to an injury after just ten pitches. Mendez then came in to pitch for OSU.
In the top of the second, the Beavers quickly loaded the bases thanks to two walks and Cooper Vance being hit by a pitch. Talt then hit a sacrifice fly to right field, which gave Paul Vazquez time to score from third. With Vance on first and Ethan Porter on third, Vance stole second and USC attempted to pick him off in the attempt. It was unsuccessful, and allowed Porter to score from third and extendthe lead.
AJ Singer and Talt kept the offensive momentum going in the top of the third with RBI singles, Talt's bringing in two to make it 7-0.
Oregon State added two more runs in the top of the fourth with an RBI double from Josh Proctor and an RBI single from Singer. The Trojans got on the board in the bottom of the frame with an RBI double from Adrian Lopez and a three-run homer by Dean Carpentier.
The two sides held the line until the ninth inning, when Vazquez blasted a three-run homer to centerfield to put things further out of the Trojans' reach.
Oregon State's win moves them to 18-5 on the season and gives them a four-game win streak. The Beavers return to action on Friday for the first game of a three-game series against the Mercer Bears in Corvallis. First pitch is scheduled for 5:35 p.m. PT, and will be televised on Portland's CW.
Joe Londergan joined the SI brand in 2023 with G5 Football Daily. With over 15 years of experience in covering and working directly in college and pro sports, Joe's expertise has been featured in Front Office Sports, SB Nation, and XRAY.FM. He is a member of both the Football Writers' Association of America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association. Joe holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville and a master's degree in sports administration from Seattle University. Outside of his writing career, Joe enjoys golfing, although he admits that while he hits driver decently, his short game is a liability.
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