OSU pitching holds off Fresno State
CORVALLIS — The Oregon State bullpen spun 8 2/3 innings of one-run baseball to pace the Beavers to a 2-1 victory over Fresno State Sunday afternoon at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.
The win gave the Beavers a four-game sweep of the Bulldogs and sent OSU to its ninth straight victory.
The OSU ‘pen, consisting of Trent Shelton, Kevin Flemer, Clay Bauer, Ryan Mets, Scotland Church and Luke Heimlich, held Fresno State to five hits and three walks while striking out four. The Bulldogs scored their lone run in the fifth on a squeeze by Austin Guibor that enabled Kenny Corey. As the Beavers had committed two errors during the inning, the run was unearned.
Flemer, the third OSU (13-3) pitcher of the game, and second reliever in place of starter Jake Thompson, picked up the win to improve to 1-1 on the year. The sophomore allowed one hit and one run with two strikeouts in a career-long 2 2/3 innings.
Luke Heimlich, the final OSU pitcher of the day, shut the door on Fresno State in 3 2/3 innings to earn his first career save. The lefty allowed just one hit in 11 batters faced while striking out two.
The Beavers managed just six hits against four Fresno State (7-9) pitchers, but OSU made them count. KJ Harrison drove in his 22nd run of the season in the first when he doubled to right, allowing Trever Morrison to score all the way from first.
OREGON 8, ST. JOHN’S 6: At Eugene, Oregon and St. John’s battled back and forth in a wild one at PK Park before a late Shaun Chase home run gave the Ducks the win and the series sweep of St. John’s.
The Ducks (13-2) were able to break a 6-6 tie in the bottom the eighth inning when Chase sent a hanging slider over the left field fence for a two-run home run. The senior catcher finished the game 3-for-4 with a triple and the home run, finishing just a double short of the cycle. Garrett Cleavinger (1-0) recovered from a rocky eighth inning to throw a scoreless ninth and pick up his first win of the season.
St. John’s (5-7) took an early 2-0 lead in the second inning with a pair of unearned runs after Oregon was unable to turn a routine double play. Oregon’s Brandon Cuddy cut the Ducks’ deficit in half with a RBI triple in the fourth after Phil Craig-St. Louis worked a two-out walk. Matt Eureste picked up the equalizer for the Ducks in the fifth, scoring Scott Heineman on a RBI fielder’s choice.
Oregon took control in the sixth, pushing four runs across on three hits. Craig-St. Louis laced a one-out double and came around to score on a bases loaded walk by Jakob Goldfarb. Heineman plated a run with a RBI fielder’s choice and Daniel Patzlaff picked up his first two career RBIs with a base hit up the middle.