OSU Cookin' in baseball victory
April 24, 1999
SEATTLE, Wash. - B.R. Cook threw a four-hitter and struck out a career-high 13 Saturday afternoon, leading Oregon State to a 6-3 win over Washington in Pacific-10 baseball at Husky Ballpark. Joe Gerber homered, had three hits and drove in three runs as the Beavers (15-29 overall, 3-11 Pacific-10) handed Washington starter Jeff Heaverlo only his second loss of the season.
OSU and Washington (26-13, 8-6) wrap up their weekend series at 1 p.m. Sunday. Beaver head coach Pat Casey had considered holding Cook out Saturday to go in the series finale, but Cook wanted the chance to go head-to-head with Heaverlo, who is projected as a likely first-round draft pick this spring.
"It was definitely personal," Cook said. "It was all about pride today. I had to prove myself and establish how good I am, and there wasnt a better guy to do it against."
Heaverlo entered the game with an 8-1 record and 2.40 earned run average, and he hadnt lost a game at Husky Ballpark this season. But the Beavers got to the hard-throwing righthander for six runs (all earned) on eight hits and two walks in his 7 1/3 innings of work.
"B.R. did a very nice job," Casey said. "We werent outstanding at the plate, but we were facing a tremendous pitcher, and B.R. kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win. The other thing is, almost nobody has beaten Heaverlo. Stanford, Arizona - hes beaten everybody. What tremendous challenge that was for us."
Gerber had a solo homer in the first inning that extended his hitting streak to 16 games; it was his 12th homer of the season, tying him for fifth place on OSUs all-time list. Gerber later added a two-run double that keyed the Beavers three-run sixth inning as they took a 4-2 lead.
"Our hitters have come on real strong in the second half of the season," Cook said. "Joe goes out and relieves some of the pressure (with the homer), and that helped a lot. And putting up a zero in the (bottom of the) first inning meant even more."
That zero didnt come about easily, as Cook walked a pair of hitters and had runners at first and second with one out. But Cook fanned Ed Erickson on a full-count pitch, and catcher Bryan Ingrams throw to third baseman Josh Carter caught Matt Hollod stealing for an inning-ending double play.
"That was the biggest play of the game," Casey said. "Bryan throwing that kid out at third gave B.R. some confidence and helped hold his pitch count down." Cook then had his way much of the afternoon, the exceptions being Dominic Woodys two-run homer in the fourth inning that gave the Huskies a 2-1 lead and an unearned run in the seventh inning that closed the Beavers advantage to 4-3. The four-hitter was Cooks third complete game of the season and his 13 strikeouts were a career high; he also walked six.
"Hes been throwing great all year and hes kept battling for us," Gerber said of Cook. "This was a good win for him today - he deserved that big win."
The Beavers were still down 2-1 going into the top of the sixth inning, but Eric Stark led off with a single that gave him a nine-game hitting streak and Corrie Willkie walked. That brought Gerber to the plate, and after fouling off a pair of pitches with two strikes he looped an opposite-field double to left that drove in both runners.
"That was a battle," Gerber said of the at-bat. "Heaverlo is a good pitcher and I was able to foul a couple off, and I finally got one I could dump into left with them playing me to pull."
Gerber eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Josh Carter that put OSU in front 4-2. After Washington picked up its unearned run in the seventh, Willkie walked to open the top of the eighth and Gerber then dropped a single into centerfield off the glove of a diving Matt Hollod. With one out, Carter then drove a double to left-center that scored both runners to make it 6-3, giving Carter three RBIs in the contest and ending Heaverlos day.
Gerber, who had tied an OSU single-game record with five hits last week in a 17-16 loss to Washington in Corvallis, found Saturdays three-hit day in a win more to his liking.
"Its much more satisfying," Gerber said. "Its always great to get a win, and I love beating the Huskies."
Cook had to escape one more jam in the bottom of the eighth inning, though. After retiring the first two hitters, he walked Hollod and Bryan Williamson to bring the tying run to the plate in cleanup hitter Erickson; however, he got Erickson to pop out to second baseman Corrie Willkie to end the threat.
Casey called it Cooks best performance since he one-hit Oklahoma State in a 1-0 win in late February. Given the Huskies small ballpark and their .313 team batting average, Saturdays win may have been even more impressive.
"Its a different situation," Cook said. "Its later in the season, so the hitters are better, too. And this is a tough park to pitch in. Fly balls get out of here, and theyre always a good-hitting club. I just kept the ball down - once its down, its a lot easier to keep it in the park."
OREGON STATE 6, WASHINGTON 3
Oregon State 100 003 020 - 6 8 1 Washington 000 200 100 - 3 4 1Cook and Ingram. Heaverlo, Ferguson (8), Daniels (9) and Woody. 2B-Gerber (OSU), Carter (OSU), Schader (OSU), Williamson (UW), Woody (UW). HR-Gerber (OSU), Woody (OSU).
HITS: Oregon State 8 (Stark 1x5, Gerber 3x5, Carter 1x3, Hedges 1x4, Schader 1x4, Ingram 1x3), Washington 4 (Williamson 2x2, Woody 2x3). RUNS BATTED IN: Oregon State 6 (Gerber 3, Carter 3), Washington 2 (Woody 2).
