Oregon State
Harvard
Guzy's Late Home Run Not Enough In Loss To Harvard
March 11, 2012 | Softball
March 11, 2012
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Erin Guzy hit a two-out, game-tying home run in the sixth inning, but the Oregon State softball team could not push across the winning run, losing a close 3-2 contest to Harvard on Sunday morning in Northridge, Calif.
The loss puts OSU's record at 21-7 overall, its best start to a season before the beginning of Pac-12 play since its 2006 team put together a 27-2 mark prior to the start of conference games.
Harvard struck first in the opening frame when its shortstop singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch, eventually coming around to score on a double off the wall in left field. The Crimson would add another run in the fifth, all the while holding the Beavers at bay to grab a 2-0 lead late in the game.
That's when Guzy single-handedly brought her team even in the top of the sixth inning. After a two-out single by Paige Hall, the senior first baseman strode to the plate and smoked a 2-2 offering over the wall in right field to tie things up.
The bomb, which left the park in mere seconds, was Guzy's third of the season and the team's 25th. In 396 at bats coming into this year, Guzy only had two collegiate home runs and now has three in just 76 at bats in 2012.
With renewed energy, the Beavers were able to hold Harvard scoreless in the bottom of the sixth, but were unable to break the stalemate in their half of the seventh.
In the bottom of that final inning, the Crimson was able to get its first two batters on board, and eventually won the game, 3-2, crossing the dish on a wild pitch.
OSU's 21 wins already eclipse the total the team had in all of 2011 and, at the halfway point of the season, puts the Beavers on pace for their best campaign in the last half decade.
Oregon State will now have next weekend off before opening its Pac-12 slate on Saturday, March 24 at home against rival Oregon in the Civil War Series presented by the Northwest Ford Dealers and PacificSource Health Plans. First pitch in the opener is set for 3 p.m.
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