Dax Whitney Delivers Again As Beaver Baseball Takes Irvine Opener
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After Oregon State dropped a contest at Portland earlier in the week, ace starter Dax Whitney helped the Beavers get back on track Friday n a 5-1 win at UC Irvine.
Whitney finished the game with 11 strikeouts, moving his record to 4-0 in 2026. Wyat Queen also earned his first save of the season, throwing four strikeouts of his own. Isaac Yeager added four strikeouts in a brief relief appearance, giving the Beaver pitchers a whopping 19 total strikeouts on the day.
Offensively, outfielder Adam Haight had a strong night, totaling a career-best four hits, with one RBI.
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The Beavers 's scoring started in the top of the first. After a Haight double moved Easton Talt from first to third, Josh Proctor hit a high ball to centerfield, which allowed Talt to score.
Things were fairly quiet until the top of the fifth, when Talt scored again thanks to an RBI double by Haight.
In the sixth inning, the Oregon State offense exploded for three runs. Josh Proctor walked to open the inning, then moved to second on a Bryce Hubbard single. AJ Singer scored Proctor, with a little help from an errant throw by the UC Irvine infield. Jacob Vazquez then drove in Hubbard, and Tyler Inge scored Singer to give the Beavers a five-run lead.
Whitney started to tire in the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Anteaters got a runner into scoring position. A double from Zach Fjelstad then brought in UC Irvine's only run of the game.
The Anteaters did threaten in the bottom of the eighth with runners at second and third, but Queen got out of the jam with a strikeout. Queen walked a batter in the ninth, but struck out two and got the final batter to pop up an easy ball for the outfield.
Oregon State moves to 15-5 overall on the season with the victory. The series between the Beavers and the Anteaters resumes from Irvine Saturday at 1 p.m. PT on ESPN+.
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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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