Hamilton, Gillette Key Comeback Over Kansas State

Thursday, February 25

Surprise, AZ

12:00 PM

Oregon State

2-3

Kansas State

4-1

Oregon State

Kansas State

Photo by: Scobel Wiggins/Oregon State Athletics

February 25, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Athletic Communications

SURPRISE, Ariz. – Caleb Hamilton's bases-clearing triple in the top of the eighth inning proved to be the game winner as No. 5 Oregon State overcame two late Kansas State leads for a 7-5 win Thursday afternoon at Surprise Stadium.

Hamilton, off the bench as a pinch hitter, smacked a 1-0 offering from Kansas State reliever Mitch Zubradt into the gap in right center. The two-out hit rolled all the way to the wall, enabling Cadyn Grenier, Jack Anderson and Logan Ice to score. It sent the Beavers to their fourth consecutive win over the Wildcats dating to the 2013 Corvallis Super Regional.

.@02Chami triples and clears the bases! Beavers take the 7-5 lead in t8. 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/vNlxxDEQHa
— Oregon St. Baseball (@Beaver_Baseball) February 25, 2016

Down 3-0 after six innings, the Beavers were forced to come back twice. A four-run seventh inning pushed the Beavers (4-1 overall) to a 4-3 lead. Billy King drove in the Beavers' first two runs of the game on a single up the middle. Two batters later, pinch hitter Joe Gillette singled through the left side, scoring two to give the Beavers the one-run lead.

The Wildcats (2-3), however, answered back with a pair of their own in the bottom half of the seventh. Steve Serratore doubled to the gap in left off OSU reliever Bryce Fehmel, who allowed two hits and a run in one inning. Fehmel picked up the win to improve to 2-0 this season.

Harrison singled with one out in the eighth to start the Oregon State rally. He moved to third when Anderson reached on an error, then watched as Grenier walked. Ice battled Zubradt for nine pitches before reaching on a force out of Harrison at home. That set up Hamilton's 1-0 triple, delighting a strong contingent of Oregon State fans that made up most of the 2,309 in attendance.

Max Engelbrekt worked the final 1 1/3 innings for his third save of the season.

Jordan Floyd took the loss for Kansas State, dropping to 0-1 on the year after allowing two hits and two runs in 2/3 of an inning.

Drew Rasmussen started for the Beavers and allowed six hits and four runs in 6 2/3 innings. The sophomore struck out seven and walked two in his second start of the season.

Rasmussen's counterpart, Corey Fischer, worked six innings and allowed three hits and two runs.

Thursday's game marked the first time this season the Oregon State offense was limited to single digits in hits, finishing at eight. Harrison and Kyle Nobach led the Beavers with two apiece.

Oregon State and Kansas State play again Friday at Surprise Stadium. First pitch is slated for 12 p.m. PT (12 p.m. in Arizona) and can be heard live on the Beaver Sports Network.

Single game tickets for the 2016 season are now available and can be purchased by calling 1-800-GOBEAVS or visiting beavertickets.com. Tickets may also be purchased in person at the Gill Coliseum ticket office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For more information on the Oregon State baseball team, follow the club's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/Beaver_Baseball, by Facebook at Facebook.com/OregonStateBaseball or on Instagram at Instagram.com/BeaverBaseball.