Beavers Take Two From Cougars
March 11, 2000 | Baseball
March 11, 2000
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Scott Nicholson and Mark Newell pitched Oregon State to non-league baseball wins over Washington State on Saturday at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field, pushing the Beavers' winning streak to seven games. Nicholson threw six innings to finish an 8-3 Beaver victory in a game that had been suspended due to rain on Friday, then Newell threw 6 1/3 innings in relief of Nicholson as OSU won Saturday's regularly-scheduled game 14-2.
OSU (10-6 overall, 0-0 Pacific-10) has won nine of its last 10 games. The Beavers and WSU (7-12, 2-1) wrap up their series Sunday at 1 p.m., and the game can be heard on KLOO-AM (1340).
Between Nicholson's six innings to wrap up Saturday's first game and his two innings to start the second game, the junior lefthander gave up just two runs on eight hits in eight innings of work, walking none and striking out seven. Newell followed that with his best outing since 1997, giving up just two runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings while walking one and striking out nine.
"Scott Nicholson set the tone today," OSU head coach Pat Casey said. "He came out and was outstanding. Offensively, we weren't real good - we were solid in the first game and had some big innings in the second game. But it was all set up by pitching - both of them were very, very good. When people pitch well and play defense well, you've got a chance."
Saturday's opener was the completion of a game suspended Friday after three innings with the Cougars leading 1-0. OSU took the lead with a three-run fifth inning on Joe Gerber's two-run double to left-center field and Josh Carter's two-out, run-scoring single.
The Beavers tacked on five more runs in the bottom of the seventh, keyed by Brian Barden's run-scoring triple and Gerber's first homer of the year, a two-run shot to right. Gerber was 4-for-5 with four RBIs in the first game and pushed his hitting streak to 10 games by going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs in the second game.
After wrapping up the first victory, Nicholson took the mound for the second game and went two innings. But after rain delayed the game almost an hour in the bottom of the second inning, the Beavers turned to Newell.
The senior righthander had the comfort of a 6-0 lead, courtesy of six unearned runs in the bottom of the second inning as WSU starter Tyson Thompson walked three straight batters with the bases loaded and OSU designated hitter Andy Jarvis capped the inning with a three-run double to left.
Newell responded with a performance reminiscent of his sophomore season, when he was 8-0 with a 2.12 earned run average before being sidelined with elbow problems. He was hurt again in the 1998 season opener and suffered through a 3-6 season in 1999 but looked close to his old form Saturday against the Cougars.
"That's as good as I've felt in the last three years," Newell said. "Last year, I felt good at times, today, I established three pitches (for strikes) and I felt really focused. I found a niche."
Newell's nine strikeouts were his most since a career-high 12 in beating Washington State on April 4, 1997 at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.
"There's no question that's the best he's thrown since 1997," Casey said. "He had good stuff ... when he's throwing his changeup for strikes, he's a good pitcher."
As recently as Tuesday, though, Newell had been struggling. In OSU's home opener against Western Oregon, he gave up a pair of home runs and lasted only two innings.
"I was out of rhythm," Newell said of that game. "I was so focused on throwing my fastball, I forgot about my off-speed pitches .... I was trying to mix it up today and never give them the same look twice.
"I had a really good breaking ball, one of the best I've ever had. I was throwing it for strikes and it had some good snap at the end. I threw a few sliders, but I was focusing on my breaking ball."
The Cougars didn't score until the ninth inning, when they got to Newell for four straight one-out hits, including a run-scoring single by Zach Bode and a run-scoring double by Mike Knight. Scott White and Stephen Copeland then both came on to strike out one WSU hitter each to wrap up the game.
OSU, which had 13 hits in each game, has now had at least 10 hits in 10 straight games. The Beavers' seven-game winning streak is their longest since a 10-gamer from March 28-April 11, 1998.
"Today, we played solid ball," Casey said. "We weren't spectacular, but we did the things we needed to do. We made a few mistakes, especially offensively, that we got away with because we pitched pretty well. Washington State has a good club, but so far this weekend we've gotten good pitching and done a good job of playing defense."
Gerber's homer was the 26th of his career, giving him sole possession of fourth place on OSU's all-time list. His two doubles Saturday gave him 36 in his career, tying him with Ken Bowen (1985-87) for OSU's career record, Gerber's 130 career RBIs tie him with Bob McNair (1978-80) on OSU's all-time list, and his 269 career total bases tie him with Matt Bailie (1995-98) for third place on OSU's all-time list.
Three other Beavers kept lengthy hitting streaks alive on Saturday, as Carter and Barden both inreased their strings to nine games and Drew Hedges moved his to eight. Barden was 3-for-5 with a triple in the first game and 2-for-3 in the second game, Carter was 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the first game and 1-for-2 with a two-run triple in the second game, and Hedges was 2-for-4 and scored three times in the second game.
OREGON STATE 8, WASHINGTON STATE 3
(COMPLETION OF SUSPENDED GAME FROM FRIDAY)
Washington State 100 000 002 - 3 11 3 Oregon State 000 030 50x - 8 13 3Meldahl, Niles (4), Donlin (7), McTavish (7) and Smith. Johnson, Nicholson (4) and Ingram. WP-Nicholson (3-2). LP-Niles (0-2). 2B-Stevenson (WSU), Falkenborg (WSU), Gerber (OSU). 3B-Barden (OSU). HR-Gerber (OSU).
HITS: Washington State 11 (Stevenson 1x4, Bode 1x4, Curran 1x3, Gates 1x4, Perreira 1x1, Falkenborg 1x1, Smith 1x3, Baeder 1x1, Hecker 3x4), Oregon State 13 (Ingram 2x4, Barden 3x5, Gerber 4x5, Biles 1x3, Carter 2x4, Stark 1x3). RUNS BATTED IN: Washington State 2 (Falkenborg 1, Hecker 1), Oregon State 7 (Barden 1, Gerber 4, Carter 2).
OREGON STATE 14, WASHINGTON STATE 2
Washington State 000 000 002 - 2 9 2 Oregon State 060 102 05x - 14 13 0Thompson, Davis (5), Alwert (7), Kenyon (8), McTavish (8) and Baeder, Bode (7). Nicholson, Newell (3), White (9), Copeland (9) and Ingram, Biles (9). WP-Newell (2-1). LP-Thompson (1-3). 2B-Knight (WSU), Gerber (OSU), Carter (OSU), Jarvis (OSU), Hudson 2 (OSU).
HITS: Washington State 9 (Stevenson 1x5, Bailie 1x4, Hattenburg 1x4, Curran 2x4, Perreira 1x1, Bode 1x2, Knight 2x4), Oregon State 13 (Hedges 2x4, Ingram 1x2, Gerber 2x4, Carter 1x2, Jarvis 1x3, Dryden 1x1, Barden 2x3, Gordon 1x5, Hudson 2x4). RUNS BATTED IN: Washington State 2 (Bode 1, Knight 1), Oregon State 13 (Hedges 1, Ingram 1, Gerber 2, Carter 3, Biles 1, Jarvis 3, Dryden 1, Coleman 1).
