OSU finishes first day of baseball tourney with split
March 18, 2000 | Baseball
March 18, 2000
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Mark Newell pitched his first career shutout as Oregon State beat Ohio State 13-0 on Saturday morning to open the Continental Express Classic baseball tournament at Olsen Field. The Beavers were then blanked 3-0 by host Texas A&M on Saturday night.
Oregon State (11-8 overall, 0-0 Pacific-10) continues the tournament on Sunday, meeting Central Michigan (8-5, 0-0 Mid-America) at 8 a.m. PST and Ohio State (10-4, 0-0 Big Ten) at 11 a.m. PST. All four teams in the tournament are 1-1 in the event after the first day.
"It's character time for us now," OSU head coach Pat Casey said after the rain-delayed loss to the Aggies (13-12, 5-4 Big 12). "We've got to come back out here early Sunday morning and play a Central Michigan club that beat A&M on Saturday, and then we've got to take on a good Ohio State club again."
Newell, a senior righthander, tossed a seven-inning four-hitter against the Buckeyes (9-4), walking three and striking out one. It was Oregon State's second straight blanking of one of the nation's other OSUs - the Beavers' last shutout had been against Oklahoma State early last season on a 1-0, one-hitter by B.R. Cook.
It was the second straight strong outing for Newell, who had struck out nine hitters in beating Washington State in relief last weekend. This time, Newell left the work to his fielders.
"I put myself in some positions where I could have gotten strikouts but I didn't execute," Newell said. "Some other times, they swung early in the count and put the ball in play and we got some groundouts and fly balls."
Meanwhile, Oregon State's hitters got to Buckeye righthander E.J. Laratta for runs in the second inning and wound up tagging the preseason All-America pick for nine runs on 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings.
The Beavers went up 4-0 in the second inning on two-run doubles by Eric Stark and Bryan Ingram, Oregon State then tacked on a five-run fifth inning that included a two-run double by Zach Gordon, a two-run single by Tim Dryden and a run-scoring bunt single by Stephen Copeland.
Copeland, a freshman, came off the bench to go 3-for-3 for his first career hits. The Beavers were missing shortstop Will Hudson due to a rib injury and infielder Brian Barden joined him on the bench after suffering a hip flexor while running the bases in the second inning.
"I knew I had to be ready because Will was already out," Copeland said. "I was happy about finally getting some hits, that some balls finally fell in."
Oregon State senior first baseman Joe Gerber extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a 3-for-5 game before his streak was broken against Texas A&M. His two-run single in the seventh inning against Ohio State gave Gerber 133 career runs batted in and sole possession of second place on the Beavers' all-time list behind Matt Bailie, who had 144 from 1995-98.
With 16 hits against the Buckeyes, Oregon State was in double-digits in the hit column for the 12th straight game. Drew Hedges was 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles for the Beavers while Gordon and Stark were both 2-for-3 and Ingram was 2-for-4.
Against Texas A&M, the Beavers were beaten for the second time this season by freshman righthander Todd Deininger. A fifth-round draft pick by the Chicago Cubs last summer, Deininger threw a seven-inning three-hitter, walking two and striking out 11. Deininger was the winning pitcher in a 9-4 win over OSU on Feb. 5.
"He was outstanding, no question about it," Casey said of Deininger. "I think he threw about as well as he can throw."
Deininger outdueled OSU junior lefty Scott Nicholson, who kept the Aggies scoreless through 3 2/3 innings and allowed just one unearned run through six innings before A&M pushed across a pair of runs in the seventh. In 6 1/3 innings, Nicholson allowed seven hits and three walks while striking out seven.
"Scott was tremedous," Casey said. "He kept us in a ballgame against a guy who was also throwing a great game, and things might have gone the other way if we'd made the most of a couple early opportunities."
Hedges tripled to lead off the first inning but Deininger struck out Ingram and Gerber to help himself out of trouble. In the second inning, the Beavers used singles by Dryden and Copeland to put runners at second and third with two out but Hedges hit a soft liner to shortstop Ryan Wardinsky to end the inning.
Deininger didn't allow a hit over the last 5 2/3 innings. He retired the final 13 Beaver hitters in order, including nine in a row after a thunderstorm delayed the game in the middle of the fifth inning.
OREGON STATE 13, OHIO STATE 0
Oregon State 040 050 4 - 13 16 0 Ohio State 000 000 0 - 0 4 0Newell and Ingram. Laratta, Prenger (5) and Alvord. WP-Newell (3-1). LP-Laratta (2-2). 2B-Hedges 2 (OSU), Ingram (OSU), Jarvis (OSU), Gordon (OSU), Stark (OSU).
HITS: Oregon State 16 (Hedges 2x5, Ingram 2x4, Gerber 3x5, Dryden 1x4, Copeland 3x3, Jarvis 1x4, Gordon 2x3, Stark 2x3), Ohio State 4 (Check 1x3, Mayor 1x2, Turner 1x2, Driscoll 1x1). RUNS BATTED IN: Oregon State 13 (Hedges 1, Ingram 2, Gerber 2, Dryden 2, Copeland 1, Gordon 3, Stark 2), Ohio State 0.
TEXAS A&M 3, OREGON STATE 0
Texas A&M 000 100 2 - 3 8 0 Oregon State 000 000 0 - 0 3 1Deininger and Gremminger. Nicholson, Stykel (7) and Ingram. WP-Deininger (6-2). LP-Nicholson (3-3). 2B-Wong (TAM). 3B-Hedges (OSU).
HITS: Texas A&M 8 (Evans 1x3, Wardinsky 1x2, Holt 2x4, Freeman 1x1, Wong 1x3, Russ 1x2, Heaney 1x3), Oregon State 3 (Hedges 1x3, Dryden 1x3, Copeland 1x2). RUNS BATTED IN: Texas A&M 2 (Wardinsky 1, Freeman 1), Oregon State 0.
