#7 Oregon State Baseball Holds Off Late Long Beach Rally to Win 12-8

Oregon State defeated Long Beach State by a score of 12-8 Friday afternoon. With the win, the Beavs improved their record to 40-12-1.

The No.7 ranked Beavs sent Dax Whitney out onto the bump to start for them, and Whitney found comfort early, blanking the Long Beach side in both the first and second innings.

Trent Caraway and his bat woke up in the second inning, with Caraway connecting on a slider to bring in a run in the bottom half of the second. Dax Whitney had two strikeouts when things turned over to the bottom of the third.

Canon Reeder stepped up to the plate, and Reeder delivered in bulk, smashing a grand slam in the bottom half of the third inning. The Beavs didnt stop the party there, as Trent Caraway connected on a three-run blast later in the same inning. The Beavs collected an incredible seven runs on seven hits in the bottom of the third.

The Bats eventually cooled down for Oregon State, but with a 9-0 lead in the top half of the fifth, all they needed was for Whitney to maintain his compsure and throw strikes. Whitney answered the call and got out of the top half of the fifth with less than 10 pitches.

The Beavs were able to save some of the bullpen arms for either the final game of this season that would have otherwise tossed a few pitches at Goss. Zach Kmatz would come in to relieve Whitney in the sixth inning. Whitney would be awarded the win and threw 5.1 innings, allowing one hit, walking three, and striking out six.

The top of the seventh was spooky for Oregon State as Long Beach proceeded to light up the Oregon State bullpen. Canon Reeder was the man of the hour before the top of the seventh. With two on Reeder smashed a ball over the fence for a three-run bomb. Nelson Keljo, who has been moved around quite a bit in the shakedown of the Beavs pitching rotation, was able to come on in the ninth inning and slow the game down for the Beavs as they left Goss Stadium with a huge smile on their faces once Nelson Keljo recorded the final out.

Long Beach would not go away quietly in this matchup at Goss Stadium, The Beach exploded for six runs in the top half of the seventh, A.J. Hutcheson beamed Armando Briseno. Briseno would end up two-of-four from the plate with three RBI's as the Beach cut this one close in the waning innings of the ballgame.

Long Beach State and Oregon State continue their series tomorrow, with the Beavs and Long Beach State battling it out at Goss field. First pitch is expected at 12:45 p.m PM in Corvallis. The game can be listened to on the Beavers radio network with Mike Parker on the call and streaming on Portland's CW and KOIN.com.