Beavers Fall In Baseball Season-Opener

Feb. 4, 2000

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Thad Johnson's Oregon State pitching debut was a good one but the Beavers were unable to capitalize on it Friday, falling to Kansas State 7-6 in the opening game of the season at the Spalding Baseball Fiesta. OSU (0-1 overall) next plays No. 19 Texas A&M on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PST at Albuquerque Sports Stadium.

"Now we get the chance to come back Saturday and execute some things against a club that was in the College World Series last season," OSU head coach Pat Casey said. "I'm looking forward to seeing how we compete and what kind of game we can put together against Texas A&M."

The Beavers led Friday's Opening Day contest 5-3 when Johnson, a junior righthander from Santa Rosa Junior College, left the mound after the sixth inning. But the Wildcats (1-0) eventually pushed across two runs with two out in the bottom of the ninth to steal the win on a day when the temperature was 41 degrees at game time.

In his six innings of work, Johnson allowed three runs - none earned - on five hits while walking two and striking out four. He didn't allow a run until KSU scored three unearned runs on two hits in the bottom of the sixth.

"Thad Johnson was outstanding," OSU head coach Pat Casey said. "For six innings, I don't think they hit one ball hard off him. Even their hits were mostly grounders that managed to find their way through. For an opening game and a Division I debut, that was a terrific performance."

OSU built its lead to 6-3 in the top of the seventh inning as Eric Stark walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch, and the Beavers had a chance to gain even more of a cushion as they had runners at first and third with one out but an inning-ending double play killed the threat.

Kansas State scored twice in the bottom of the eighth on one hit, using a walk, two hit batters and an OSU error. After getting within 6-5, the Wildcats still had the bases loaded with one out but reliever James Atwood induced Kasey Weishaar - who batted .429 last season - to hit a grounder to Beaver shortstop Will Hudson to start an inning-ending double play.

In the bottom of the ninth, Atwood gave up a pair of one-out singles before striking out Chris Nelson to bring OSU within one out of a win. But KSU's Tim Doty drew a full-count walk to load the bases, then Atwood hit Joey Ammirato with a no-ball, two-strike pitch to force in the tying run.

That brought up the top of the order, Chad Tabor, and after starting him out with two straight balls Atwood came back to run the count full. Tabor then managed to poke a single into left field to drive in the winning run.

"We simply made too many mistakes," Casey said. "The opportunities were there for us to put this game away, instead, we let them get back into a position where they could come up with some things that won it."

The game had been scoreless until the top of the sixth inning, when OSU finally got to Kansas State starter Joey Wells. After Eric Stark and Bryan Ingram started the inning with back-to-back singles, Joe Gerber boomed a double to the wall in left-centerfield to drive in both runs and chase Wells. After reliever Todd Lundwall retired Josh Carter for the first out, Drew Hedges dropped a double inside the left-field line to drive in Gerber and make it 3-0.

With two out, Zach Gordon drew a walk and freshman third baseman Brian Barden followed that up with another two-run double to left-center that put OSU up 5-0.

KANSAS STATE 7, OREGON STATE 6

Oregon State	000 005 100 - 6 7 3
Kansas State	000 003 022 - 7 10 0

Johnson, Hansen (7), Atwood (8) and Ingram. Wells, Lundwall (6), Day (7) and Sceflo, Doty (8). WP-Day (1-0). LP-Atwood (0-1). 2B-Ingram (OSU), Gerber (OSU), Hedges (OSU), Barden (OSU), Tabor (KSU).

HITS: Oregon State 7 (Stark 1x4, Ingram 3x4, Gerber 1x4, Hedges 1x3, Barden 1x4), Kansas State 10 (Tabor 4x6, Andre 1x1, Moses 1x4, M. English 1x3, Loudabarger 2x5, Ammirato 1x4). RUNS BATTED IN: Oregon State 5 (Gerber 2, Hedges 1, Barden 2), Kansas State 6 (Tabor 2, Day 1, Ammirato 3).

Oregon State at Kansas State Feb 4, 2000 at Albuquerque, N.M. (Albuquerque Stadium)

Oregon State 6 (0-1) Kansas State 7 (1-0)

Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A ---------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- Eric Stark cf............. 4 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 Chad Tabor 2b............. 6 0 4 2 0 2 1 1 Bryan Ingram c............ 4 1 3 0 1 0 7 0 Kelvin Day dh/p........... 4 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 Joe Gerber 1b............. 4 1 1 2 0 2 10 0 Kasey Weishaar lf......... 4 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 Josh Carter lf............ 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 Travis Andre 3b........... 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Drew Hedges dh............ 3 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 Scott Moses 3b............ 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 Curtis Davis dh........... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mark English 1b........... 3 2 1 0 2 0 9 1 Rod Gott rf............... 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 J.D. Loudabarger ss....... 5 2 2 0 0 0 0 3 Zach Gordon 2b............ 3 1 0 0 1 0 2 4 Chris Nelson cf........... 4 1 0 0 0 2 4 0 Brian Barden 3b........... 4 0 1 2 0 0 2 0 Nick Sceflo c............. 2 0 0 0 0 0 6 2 Will Hudson ss............ 3 0 0 0 1 2 0 6 Tim Doty ph/c............. 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 Thad Johnson p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 Joey Ammirato rf.......... 4 0 1 3 0 0 2 0 Paul Hansen p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jason Wells p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 James Atwood p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Todd Lundwall p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Totals.................... 33 6 7 5 5 9 26 12 Totals.................... 37 7 10 6 5 7 27 10

Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Oregon State 000 005 100 - 6 7 3 Kansas State 000 003 022 - 7 10 0 ----------------------------------------------

Note: 2 outs, 3 runner(s) LOB when the game ended.

E - Gordon 3. DP - Oregon St. 1, Kansas St. 1. LOB - Oregon St. 5, Kansas St. 13. 2B - Ingram, Gerber, Hedges, Barden, Tabor. SB - Ingram, Hudson.

Oregon State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Kansas State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ----------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------- Thad Johnson........ 6.0 5 3 0 2 4 24 27 Jason Wells......... 5.0 4 3 3 2 4 19 21 Paul Hansen......... 1.1 1 2 2 2 1 5 8 Todd Lundwall....... 1.0 3 3 2 2 2 6 8 James Atwood........ 1.1 4 2 2 1 2 8 11 Kelvin Day.......... 3.0 0 0 0 1 3 8 9

Win - Day 1-0. Loss - Atwood 0-1. Save - None. WP - Day. PB - Sceflo. HBP - by Johnson (Sceflo), by Hansen (Nelson), by Atwood (Day), by Atwood (Ammirato). Umpires - Home:Phil Gonzales 1st:Mike Riggers 3rd:Martin Candelaria Start: 10:40 am Time: 3:05 Attendance: 173 Wells faced 3 batters in the 6th. Lundwall faced 2 batters in the 7th.

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