Oregon State Baseball Crushes Mercer For Sixth Consecutive Win
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16th-ranked Oregon State lit up up Mercer in a 19-run offensive explosion on Satuday afternoon at Goss Satdium.
In stark contrast to last night's game, which was tight the entire way through, the Beavers rolled through the Bears en route to clinching their fourth straight series victory.
OSU trailed for a short period, but it didn't last long. After a solo shot from Baughcum put the Bears up 2-1 in the top of the fourth, the home side responded with two in the bottom half of the inning.
It was the fifth where the Beavers took a strangelhold on this one. With the bases loaded and no outs Josh Proctor poked a single through the left side, plating two. This was only the beginning of the onslaught. Following a couple of errors it was 7-2, then Cooper Vance ripped a double to the wall, bringing two more Beavers home. Overall, they put up an eight-spot in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Things didn't stop there. Easton Talt's single scored two more in the bottom of the seventh, making it 11-2. Hubbard followed this up with a base hit of his own, scoring both Vance and Talt. Ryan Vandenbrink kept things going for OSU with another two-rbi hit.
A big moment happened in the bottom of the eighth, when freshman and Australian native Josh Nati recorded his first Oregon State hit. It was a two-run shot that extended the lead to 19-2.
Though it might be overshadowed by the offensive performance, starter Ethan Kleinschmit delievered yet another stellar outing. The sophomore left-hander struck out twelve Bears in just five innings, and allowed only one walk. It was his fourth straight start of allowing less than three earned runs, and Ethan has gone five or more innings in all of those outings.
Oregon State clinched the series with this win, and they have now won all four series that they have partaken in so far this year. They'll play one more against Mercer tomorrow at 1 PM, looking for yet another sweep.
About State of the Beavs
Each week, veteran sports broadcaster and writer Matt Bagley examines the news and storylines at play for Oregon State University Athletics. Occasionally joined by contributors for On SI's coverage of the Beavers, as well as the occasional guest spot from Beavers past, present, and future. Get caught up with the playlist below. New episodes are typically released on Tuesday mornings.
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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.