Beavers Lose Series Finale
March 14, 2004 | Baseball
March 14, 2004
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State fell short in its bid for a series sweep on Sunday afternoon, losing to Gonzaga 10-5 in non-league baseball at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. The Beavers (12-5 overall) saw the Bulldogs build an early lead, and OSU could manage just two runs and four hits through the first eight innings against GU righthander Eric Dworkis.
The Beavers continue their homestand next weekend against Utah Valley State, with games Friday at 3 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Friday's game can be heard on www.osubeavers.com.
In the series finale against Gonzaga (6-11), a crowd of 1,112 watched OSU fall behind 5-0 by the middle of the fourth inning. Relievers Kevin Gunderson and Jake McCormick then kept the Beavers in the game for the next four innings but OSU couldn't come up with the big hit to get any closer than three runs.
"We had a bad game at the plate," OSU centerfielder Aaron Mathews said. "He (Dworkis) had a good game, but we helped him big-time."
The Beavers' best chance to put together a big inning came in the fourth. Trailing 5-0, they loaded the bases with none out on two hit batters and a walk but could manage only Paul Richie's run-scoring single up the middle.
"That's baseball - it happens that way sometimes," Mathews said. "Unfortunately, you can't do it every time. It's disappointing ... we need to regroup this week and focus up and figure out how to get that last win (for a sweep)."
Gonzaga had gone in front with a pair of runs on three hits against OSU righthander Ben Rowe in the top of the third inning, then picked up three more runs in the fourth off Rowe and reliever Jonah Nickerson. The big blow in the fourth inning was David Johnson's two-run homer.
After the Beavers got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth, they picked up another run in the fifth to make it 5-2 when Mike Lissman doubled and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Gonzaga pushed the lead to 6-2 in the top of the sixth, though, on Aaron McGuiness' solo homer.
That's where the score stayed until the top of the ninth, when the Bulldogs got four runs (two earned) to take control with a 10-2 lead. Oregon State came back with three unearned runs in the bottom of the ninth, scoring two on Matt Hernandez's pinch-hit, two-run single off John Gonzalez.
Dworkis went 8 1/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks while striking out five. For OSU, Rowe took the loss for his first decision in five starts this season; in three-plus innings, he gave up three runs on four hits while walking three and striking out two.
Jacoby Ellsbury was the only Beaver to collect more than one hit, going 2-for-4 to bump his batting average to .406 for the season. Shea McFeely extended his hitting streak to nine games with a second-inning single, while Ellsbury and Lissman both bumped their streaks to six games.
All three games of the series drew over 1,000 fans, the first time that had happened at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field since the Beavers hosted UCLA from April 19-21, 2002. The weekend's total attendance of 4,111 was the second-most for a series since the ballpark's 1999 renovation, trailing only the 4,226 for three games against Stanford from April 26-28, 2002.
GONZAGA 10, OREGON STATE 5
Gonzaga 002 301 004 - 10 9 1 Oregon State 000 110 003 - 5 7 3Dworkis, Gonzalez (9) and Thibabault. Rowe, Nickerson (4), Gunderson (4), McCormick (7), Buck (9) and Richie. W-Dworkis (2-2). L-Rowe (0-1). 2B-Lissman (OSU). HR-Johnson (GU), McGuiness (GU).
HITS: Gonzaga 9 (Rundle 1x3, Culpepper 2x5, Thibault 3x4, Johnson 1x3, McGuiness 2x4), Oregon State 7 (Ellsbury 2x4, Lissman 1x5, Hernandez 1x1, McFeely 1x3, Mathews 1x4, Richie 1x4). RUNS BATTED IN: Gonzaga 8 (Culpepper 3, Thibault 1, Bratton 1, Johnson 2, McGuiness 1), Oregon State 3 (Hernandez 2, Richie 1).
Gonzaga 10 (6-11) Oregon State 5 (12-5)Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI --------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- Mike Rundle 2b............. 3 2 1 0 Jacoby Ellsbury lf......... 4 1 2 0 Brad Welker 3b............. 5 0 0 0 Mike Lissman dh............ 5 1 1 0 Jeff Culpepper 1b.......... 5 2 2 3 Chris Campos rf............ 3 1 0 0 Kiel Thibault c............ 4 0 3 1 Matt Hernandez ph......... 1 0 1 2 Marshall Bratton dh........ 5 0 0 1 Mitch Canham pr........... 0 0 0 0 Matt Reding rf............. 3 1 0 0 Andy Jenkins 1b............ 3 0 0 0 David Johnson lf........... 3 1 1 2 Shea McFeely 3b............ 3 0 1 0 Aaron McGuinness ss........ 4 2 2 1 Aaron Mathews cf........... 4 0 1 0 Chris Sinner cf............ 3 2 0 0 Paul Richie c.............. 4 1 1 1 Eric Dworkis p............. 0 0 0 0 Tony Calderon ss........... 3 0 0 0 John Gonzalez p........... 0 0 0 0 Mike Hass ph.............. 1 0 0 0 Chris Kunda 2b............. 3 0 0 0 Cole Gillespie ph......... 0 1 0 0 Ben Rowe p................. 0 0 0 0 Jonah Nickerson p......... 0 0 0 0 Kevin Gunderson p......... 0 0 0 0 Jake McCormick p.......... 0 0 0 0 Dallas Buck p............. 0 0 0 0 Totals..................... 35 10 9 8 Totals..................... 34 5 7 3
Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Gonzaga............. 002 301 004 - 10 9 1 Oregon State........ 000 110 003 - 5 7 3 -------------------------------------------
E - Welker; Campos; Richie; Kunda. DP - Oregon St. 1. LOB - Gonzaga 5; Oregon St. 8. 2B - Lissman. HR - Johnson; McGuinness. HBP - Thibault; Campos; Jenkins; McFeely. SB - Rundle 2; Culpepper. CS - Thibault.
Gonzaga IP H R ER BB SO ------------------------------------------------ Eric Dworkis W,2-2........ 8.1 5 3 2 2 5 John Gonzalez ............. 0.2 2 2 0 1 1
Oregon State IP H R ER BB SO ------------------------------------------------ Ben Rowe L,0-1............ 3.0 4 3 3 3 2 Jonah Nickerson ........... 0.1 1 2 1 2 0 Kevin Gunderson ........... 3.1 2 1 1 0 0 Jake McCormick ............ 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 Dallas Buck ............... 1.0 2 4 2 1 2
WP - Dworkis 2; Nickerson. HBP - by Dworkis (Campos); by Dworkis (Jenkins); by Dworkis (McFeely); by Buck (Thibault). PB - Richie.
Umpires - HP: Scott Eastburn 1B: Dave Perez 3B: Kendall Snyder Start: 1:00 pm Time: 2:44 Attendance: 1112
