Beavers Take Finale, Series At UC Santa Barbara

Sunday, February 19

Santa Barbara, Calif.

1:00 PM

Oregon State

3-1

UC Santa Barbara

1-3

Oregon State

UC Santa Barbara

February 19, 2012 | Baseball

Box Score

By: TBD

Feb. 19, 2012

Box Score

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Michael Conforto hit a three-run home run overall in Oregon State's five-run sixth inning to give the 23rd-ranked Beavers an 8-6 win over UC Santa Barbara Sunday at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.

The win followed a 13-12 loss in 12 innings to the Gauchos, which was completed Sunday after stopping in nine innings Saturday due to darkness.

Conforto's home run was also his first collegiate hit and came during the Beavers' five-run sixth, giving the Beavers a 5-2 lead. The shot was on the first pitch he saw from UCSB right-handed reliever Jeremy Peterson and it sailed over the right-field fence.

OSU had chipped away at a 2-0 UCSB lead when Danny Hayes was walked with the bases loaded, putting OSU on the board. Dylan Davis then drove in the team's tying run when he reached on a fielder's choice.

Conforto added his fourth RBI of the game in the eighth when he drove a double over the center fielder for a double, scoring Dylan Davis from first. It gave the Beavers a two-run cushion after UCSB scored two in the sixth to pull within one.

OSU (3-1 overall) tacked on two more in the eighth on a balk and a single by Ryan Barnes, giving the Beavers an 8-4 lead.

UCSB (1-3) got on the board first in game two, plating two runs in the third. Vertigan highlighted the inning with a run-scoring triple and he added the Gauchos' second run on a wild pitch from OSU starter Riley Wilkerson.

Wilkerson made his first career start for the Beavers and worked four innings. He allowed four hits with two runs while striking out one and walking two. He did not figure in the decision.

UC Santa Barbara starter Austin Pettibone went 5 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and four runs while issuing four walks and striking out two.

Matt Boyd picked up the win after going 1 1/3 innings, allowing two hits and two runs. He improved to 1-0 this season.

Tony Bryant worked the final 1 2/3 innings for his first save of the season.

Austin Pettibone, UCSB's starter, took the loss to drop to 0-1 this season. He allowed four runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings.

The Beavers dropped game one, which was the suspended contest from Saturday, 13-12 in 12 innings. Brett Vertigan singled to center with 1 out in the 12th, driving in the game-winning run off OSU reliever Taylor Starr, who dropped to 0-1 this season.

Starr worked multiple innings in a game for the first time since May 19, 2008 against Long Beach State. He scattered three hits and a run in 2 1/3 innings.

Matthew Vedo, who was Friday's starter for UCSB and who came on in the 10th Sunday, picked up the win to improve to 1-1. He allowed two hits with three strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings.

Dan Child started game two for the Beavers and worked six innings. He did not figure in the decision after allowing nine hits and eight runs - only one of which was earned. He was relieved by lefty Carlos Rodriguez to start the seventh.

The Beavers were led offensively in game two by Davis, who had four hits. Vertigan had five for the Gauchos.

Oregon State found itself down 8-2 after four innings but scored one in the fifth, four in the seventh and three in the eighth to take a 10-8 lead. UCSB scored three in the eighth before Hayes hit a two-run double in the ninth for a 12-11 lead.

The Gauchos, however, forced the game into extra innings when Ryan Palermo hit a two-out home run off Bryant in the bottom of the ninth.

The Beavers are back in action in San Diego next weekend when they play in a tournament co-hosted by San Diego and San Diego State. Oregon State takes on Pacific Thursday starting at 2 p.m. PT.

For more information on the Oregon State baseball team, follow the club's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/Beaver_Baseball.

OSU NOTES: The suspended game saw 17 hours, 50 minutes officially between the last pitch Saturday and the first pitch Sunday ... The game officially lasted 4:17, which is the longest since OSU's 16-inning game against UCLA on April 10, 2010 ... That game lasted 6:23 ... OSU used 19 players in the suspended game compared to 20 for UCSB ... Both teams used six pitchers apiece and a total of 428 pitches were thrown in the game ... By comparison, the 2010 game had 529 pitches thrown.

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