Baseball Completes Sweep of St. Martin's, 10-2
March 15, 1998
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State broke open a close game in the late innings and beat St. Martin's 10-2 in non-league baseball Sunday afternoon at Coleman Field, completing a three-game sweep. The Beavers (11-5-1) have now won five straight heading into next weekend's start of Pacific-10 Northern Division play, when OSU will travel to Washington State for a four-game series on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
"We didn't play very good baseball the last two days, and St. Martin's played well - they only made one error in the last 18 innings," said Oregon State head coach Pat Casey, whose team had pulled out a 5-4 win on Saturday. "You've got to credit our guys for finding a way to win; now we've got to find ways to get better."
The Beavers played Sunday's game against St. Martin's (3-8) without centerfielder Jason Stranberg, who broke his left thumb sliding into second base in Saturday's game. It isn't known how long Stranberg could be out of the lineup; he'll be examined today.
"We've got to hope somebody steps up big for us with Jason hurt and Mark (Newell, an OSU pitcher) out," Casey said. "Nobody has done it yet, and it's got to happen right away. The competition is going to be a lot stiffer as we move down the road, and we've got to get better."
In Sunday's win, OSU scored five times in the seventh inning and twice in the eighth inning to pull away from a 3-2 lead. Greg Conley and Garrett Bates delivered two-run singles for OSU in the seventh inning and Rob Colley drew a bases-loaded walk; in the eighth, pinch-hitter Jeremy Rankin drove a two-run single to left field for the final runs.
Joe Gerber had given the Beavers a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, driving a three-run homer to center field after back-to-back two-out singles by Rob Colley and Ben Bertrand. It was Gerber's first home run of the season and just the second of the sophomore's career.
"My mind was just blank, and I swung," said Gerber, who got the start at first base as Matt Bailie was given the day off. "Usually when you don't think about it, that's when you swing well. You just see the ball, swing, and it happens."
Andrew Checketts pitched seven innings for the win, moving his record to 4-1 this season. He allowed just two runs (both earned) on four hits and four walks while striking out seven. Mike Boire and B.R. Cook then threw one scoreless inning each to wrap it up for OSU.
St. Martin's made it 3-1 when Joe Jeffries walked and eventually scored on a double play in the third inning, then snuck back within 3-2 when Rod McDowell walked and scored on Lance Haver's double in the top of the seventh. Meanwhile, Saints starter Scott Gibson sat down 10 straight Beaver hitters at one point and then worked out of bases-loaded jams in the fifth and sixth innings.
"We just sat on our hands awhile, it seemed like," Gerber said. "We didn't go after them every inning until the last two innings." OREGON STATE 10, ST. MARTIN'S 2
St. Martin's 001 000 100 - 2 4 1 Oregon State 300 000 52x - 10 9 0 Gibson, Kelly (5), Coffey (7), Smilowski (8) and Haver. Checketts, Boire (8), Cook (9) and Bertrand. WP-Checketts (4-1). LP-Gibson (1-2). 2B-McDowell (SMC), Haver (SMC), Conley (OSU). HR-Gerber (OSU). HITS: St. Martin's 4 (Blanco 1-4, Riggs 1-4, McDowell 1-2, Haver 1-2), Oregon State 9 (Lipe 1-3, Colley 1-3, Bertrand 1-4, Gerber 1-4, Rankin 1-1, Conley 2-5, Hedges 1-2, Bates 1-1). RUNS BATTED IN: St. Martin's 1 (Haver 1), Oregon State 10 (Colley 1, Gerber 3, Rankin 2, Conley 2, Bates 2).
