Beavers Fall to Southern Miss at Round Rock Classic
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Oregon State saw their four-game winning streak snapped on Saturday night with a 9-4 loss to #20 Southern Miss in their second game at the Round Rock Classic.
The result overshadowed a strong outing from starting pitcher Ethan Kleinschmit, who punched out ten batters and was exceptional through five innings of work. After giving up a solo home run in the first, Ethan rolled for the next few frames. Ethan sat down 14 straight hitters, until USM figured things out their third time through the order.
The Beavers didn't plate anything the first three innings, but their bats came alive in the fourth. After DH Ryan Vandenbrink reached on a throwing error, catcher Jacob Galloway singled to put two on with nobody out, before a groundout advanced both runners.
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With guys on second and third and one away, first baseman Jacob Krieg belted an opposite-field homer to right, busting out of his slump and giving the Beavers a 3-1 lead. Kleinschmit followed this up by putting the Eagles down 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth, and Oregon State had the momentum.
The top of the sixth is when the wheels began to come off for the 11th-ranked Beavers. After striking out the leadoff man in the inning, USM's top of the order fired up their bats. Senior Joey Urban tripled, and was then knocked in by a sharp single from Matt Russo. In the following at-bat, outfielder Davis Gillespie lined a homer that just got over the left-field wall, putting the Eagles up 4-3 and ending Kleinschmit's night.
The Eagles put up another crooked number in the 7th, plating three more runs. The Beavers got one back in the bottom of the inning with a Nyan Hayes RBI single. But USM's pitching was solid from there, and they got their first ranked win of the season by a final score of 9-4.
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Sophomore right-hander Camden Sunstrom was stellar in relief for USM, striking out eight Beavers and allowing just one run over four innings of work. Senior Joey Urban went 3-4 at the plate with four RBIs, and David Gillespie also had a multi-hit performance.
For the Beavers, catcher Jacob Galloway and third baseman Cooper Vance both had three-hit performances. Oregon State left a lot of men stranded in this one, going 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position on the night.
The Beavers won't have to wait long for a chance to bounce back. They take on Purdue tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. PT, in their final game at the Round Rock classic. The Boilermakers beat Baylor 6-5 in walk-off fashion on Saturday afternoon.
Ben Pahl is a sportswriter and broadcaster based in Portland, Oregon. His work covering college and professional sports has been featured by the Orange Media Network at Oregon State University as well as KBVR.fm. His other career stops in sports include the Portland Pickles baseball club and the NBA G-League's Rip City Remix.