Beavers Defeat Cal, Sweep The Bears

Sunday, March 18

Berkeley, CA

1:05 PM

Oregon State

18-1, 3-0

California

12-7, 0-3

Oregon State

California

Photo by: Scobel Wiggins/Oregon State Athletics

March 18, 2018 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score

Oregon State has now swept nine of its last 13 Pac-12 series

By: Athletic Communications

BERKELEY, Calif. – Michael Gretler homered to send the top-ranked Oregon State baseball team to a sweep of California Sunday as the Beavers won the series finale, 6-4, at Evans Diamond.

The win pushed Oregon State to 18-1 on the year, matching the 1951, 1962, 2013 and 2017 teams for the best record through 19 games. The victory also sends the Beavers back to Corvallis with a 3-0 conference record; OSU has won 13 consecutive Pac-12 games dating back to the 2016 season.]

The sweep marked the Beavers' third in Berkeley since 2012 after getting swept at Cal in 2016.

Oregon State has now also won seven of its last eight series versus the Golden Bears, and now owns a 45-43 lead in the series all-time.

Gretler's home run came in the second inning, off Cal starter Matt Ladrech, and put the Beavers up for good. The two-run shot carried over the fence in right, and drove in Preston Jones, who had singled.

Grant Gambrell made the start for the Beavers, going 5 1/3 innings in his fifth appearance of the season. He picked up the win to improve to 3-0 after allowing Cal three hits and two runs.

OSU jumped on the board in the first when Cadyn Grenier doubled, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored when the throw from catcher Tyrus Greene sailed into left field.

Gretler's home run made it 3-0, and after Cal (12-7, 0-3) scored a solo run in the second, the Beavers went up 4-1 in the fourth when Andy Armstrong doubled to left.

The Bears scored another run in the fourth to pull within two, but Adley Rutschman hit a ground ball off reliever Tanner Dodson's glove in the seventh, driving in Steven Kwan from second to go up 5-2 in the seventh.

Gretler drove home his third run of the game in the ninth on a bases-loaded infield single. That pushed the Oregon State lead to 6-2.

Jeffrey Mitchell Jr. hit a two-run home run in the ninth to put Cal within two but Jake Mulholland got the game's final two outs for his eighth save of the season.

Jones and Gretler each had two hits to lead the Beavers.

The Beavers jumped on California starter Ladrech for five hits and four runs in 3 1/3 innings. He took the loss and is 1-3 on the year.

Next Up
Oregon State returns to Goss Stadium at Coleman Field for a three-game series against Washington that opens at 7:05 p.m. PT on Friday. The game is set to be televised by the Pac-12 Networks, as will Sunday's game, a 3:05 p.m. start. Saturday's game will not be televised but will have a live stream at osubeavers.com. That game begins at 1:35 p.m.

Get Your Tickets
Tickets for the 2018 season can be purchased by visiting BeaverTickets.com/Baseball. Fans can also purchase by calling 1-800-GOBEAVS, between the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The ticket office at Goss Stadium opens two hours prior to first pitch.

Sweep, Sweep
Oregon State has won 13 consecutive Pac-12 Conference series dating back to 2016 – versus USC and UCLA in '16 and all 10 series in 2017. Nine of those 13 series wins have come via sweeps.

And that Means
The win pushed Oregon State to a 35-4 record over its last 39 games in conference play. That's an .897 winning percentage.

That Was Quick
Cadyn Grenier didn't waste any time extending his hit streak to a season-long four games. He doubled in the first, and later scored via a California wild pitch and throwing error.

Up A Few Spots
Andy Armstrong, who came into the finale on a six-game hit streak, moved up two spots to No. 7 in the lineup. The Salem, Ore., native had made his previous 12 starts at the No. 9 spot in the lineup. Armstrong extended his hit streak to seven games with a run-scoring double in the fourth.

Make That No. 8
Jake Mulholland's save marked his eighth of the season, moving him one shy of a tie for ninth in a single-season at Oregon State. He also now has 14 career saves, putting him sixth at OSU.

Follow Us On Social
For more information on the Oregon State baseball team, follow the club's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/BeaverBaseball, by Facebook at Facebook.com/OregonStateBaseball or on Instagram at Instagram.com/BeaverBaseball.

OUR MISSION
Oregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS).