Explosive Seventh Inning Gives Beaver Baseball 7-2 Win Over Xavier

Oregon State got off to a slow start in Monday's series finale against Xavier, spotting the Musketeers an early lead, but an explosive seventh inning swung momentum back to the Beavers giving them a 7-2 win and stretching their winning streak to six games. Oregon State now sits at 11-4 on the season.

The game got off to a slow start, with little action in the first three innings. In the top of the fourth Xavier got on the scoreboard first with a solo home run from Clay Burdette. They added a second run in the top of the sixth, when a line out from Burdette scored Jorge Valdes to put the Musketeers up 2-0.

In the meantime, Oregon State was unable to even put a runner in scoring position. Things changed rapidly in the bottom of the seventh. The first two Beaver batters, AJ Singer and Jacob Krieg, each reached the bases on balls, A sacrifice bunt from Jacob Krieg put the runners on second and third, setting up a big double from Tyler Inge to tie the game 2-2.

Oregon State was far from done. After a pitching change, Easton Talt was walked by new pitcher Garrett Helsel. Talt and Inge then pulled off a double steal, and the Beavers had runners on second and third once again. Adam Haight hit a shallow ball to center field, but Xavier's outfielders were caught out of position, allowing the ball to drop and Inge to score for a 3-2 Beaver lead.

Jacob Galloway followed that up with another shallow fly to center field that Xavier misplayed, scoring Talt. Josh Proctor came to the plate and struck out, but Xavier catcher Jason Jelic dropped the final strike and lost track of that. In the time it took the Musketeers to track down the ball, Adam Haight scored and Jacob Galloway reached third base. Finally, a Bryce Hubbard single brought Galloway home. A six run inning for a 6-2 Beaver lead.

The Beavers tacked on one more in the bottom of the eighth. Easton Talt reached the bases on balls and then stole second. Another dropped third strike, this time to Jacob Galloway, allowed Talt to reach home all the way from second, putting the Beavers up 7-2. Xavier made some noise with a pair of runners in the top of the ninth, before Jack Giordano came in to clean up the bases and secure the win.

AJ Hutcheson got the win for Oregon State, coming in in the top of the seventh and putting him at 1-0 for the season. He got into some trouble in that inning, loaded the bases with a walk and a pair of beaned batters, but some clutch fielding from Paul Vazquez and Jacob Galloway managed to prevent a run. Hutcheson did not allow a hit or a run, and struck out one batter while giving up the one walk. Starting pitcher Connor Mendez pitched for four complete innings, allowing one hit and one run while striking out four Musketeers.

The Beavers will be back on the road next weekend, traveling to San Diego to take on the Toreros in a three game series. Game one is set for Friday, March 13th, with first pitch at 6:00 PM PT.