Big Hit Does In Beavers
February 18, 2000 | Baseball
Feb. 18, 2000
FRESNO, Calif. - Josh Labandeira's three-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning was the difference Friday night as Oregon State fell to Fresno State 4-1 in non-league baseball at Beiden Field. The Beavers (1-3 overall, 0-0 Pacific-10) had battled back to tie the game in the top of the sixth, then Labandeira's two-out, opposite-field double to right put the Bulldogs (6-2, 0-0 Western Athletic) in front for good.
The three-game series continues Saturday at 1 p.m. and concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. Sunday's game can be heard on KLOO-AM (1340).
On Friday night, starting pitchers Thad Johnson of Oregon State and Tom Graham of Fresno State were locked in a pitchers' duel until Labandeira's game-breaker. Johnson gave up a run in the second inning and then had to work himself out of trouble in each of the next three innings to keep the Beavers close.
Graham, meanwhile, didn't allow a hit until there was one out in the top of the sixth inning. The righthander wound up going six innings, giving up just one run on two hits and two walks while striking out five.
"He threw well, and we didn't swing the bats as well as I thought we would," OSU head coach Pat Casey said. "We didn't establish any consistency. We let him get away with a few pitches, and he did a nice job."
Finally, with one out in the sixth, OSU broke through. That's when Eric Stark hit a line drive that glanced off Graham's head and bounced past Labandeira at shortstop and on into left field.
Labandeira was able to remain in the game, and he struck out Bryan Ingram for the second out of the inning. But Joe Gerber then turned on a three-ball, one-strike pitch and drove it down the right-field line for a double, Stark, running on the play, scored easily to knot the game at 1-1.
The double gave Gerber 236 total bases in his Oregon State career, tying him for ninth place on the school's list of all-time leaders with Bryan Ganter. It also left Gerber in scoring position with the potential go-ahead run, but Graham struck out Josh Carter to end the inning.
Fresno State responded immediately, as Johnson walked the first two Bulldogs in the bottom of the sixth and Tony Guzman sacrificed the runners to second and third. Oregon State drew its infield in and Joey Myers grounded out to shortstop Will Hudson, but Johnson then hit Tom Creighton to load the bases with two out.
That's when Labandeira went after the first pitch he saw, lifting the ball to the opposite field just out of the reach of OSU rightfielder Rod Gott as he neared the foul line.
"I thought we hit some balls pretty well but right at people," Casey said. "Then they hit a ball we couldn't get to. If it drops five feet one way or the other, it could have been a different story ... Thad did a nice job. We were down one run just about the whole time he was out there, and he's trying to keep us in the game and we weren't helping the cause. We need to swing the sticks and get it going a bit.
Craig Hays relieved Johnson after Labandeira's double and finished with 2 1/3 scoreless innings, with the lefthander allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out one. Fresno State also turned to the bullpen to start the seventh, and lefty Hans Smith earned the save with three scoreless innings.
Gerber, Ingram, Stark and third baseman Brian Barden had the Beavers' four hits in the contest, and all four extended their hitting streaks to four games.
FRESNO STATE 4, OREGON STATE 1
Oregon State 000 001 000 - 1 4 1 Fresno State 010 003 00x - 4 8 1Johnson, Hays (6) and Ingram. Graham, Smith (7) and Harper. WP-Graham (2-1). LP-Johnson (0-1). SV-Smith (1). 2B-Ingram (OSU), Gerber (OSU), Labandeira (FSU).
HITS: Oregon State 4 (Stark 1x4, Ingram 1x4, Gerber 1x4, Barden 1x3), Fresno State 8 (T. Creighton 1x3, Labandeira 1x4, Gemoll 2x3, Fritz 1x3, Bowlin 1x1, Myers 2x3). RUNS BATTED IN: Oregon State 1 (Gerber 1), Fresno State 4 (Labandeira 3, Harper 1).
