OSU wins baseball opener
February 5, 1999
PEORIA, Ariz. - Curtis Davis was 4-for-5 with two doubles, five runs batted in and four runs scored Friday morning as Oregon State beat Kansas State 13-6 in the baseball season-opener for both teams. The game was part of the Pacific-10/Big 12 Tournament at the Peoria Sports Complex.
OSU, playing its earliest baseball season-opener ever, won on Opening Day for the sixth straight year. The Beavers are now 65-25 all-time in Opening Day contests.
"I thought we swung the bats pretty well for the first day," OSU head coach Pat Casey said after watching his team rap 16 hits. "But I think we have a long way to go to be a good baseball club ... overall, its always nice to win your first game. Were happy to play and to be outside. We did a good job defensively for not having been on our field with the construction and everything. Now were looking forward to Saturday."
The Beavers (1-0 overall) continue the tournament with two games on Saturday, playing Nebraska at 10 a.m. PST and New Mexico State at 1:30 p.m. PST. They conclude the tournament with a rematch against Kansas State at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
On Friday, B.R. Cook made his first Opening Day start, and the junior righthander got the win. Cook allowed three runs - only one earned - on six hits in six innings, walking four and striking out six.
Cook allowed just one hit through the first 4 2/3 innings, and didnt allow a run until the Wildcats scored two in the fifth and one in the sixth. By then the Beavers had taken leads of 7-0 and 12-2.
"I thought B.R. pitched well until the sixth," Casey said. "Thats when we, as a team, basically had the game won and we started playing to protect the lead instead of playing to win, and we got into a little trouble."
Travis Rainwater, a transfer from Portland State, went the final three innings for the save and didnt allow a run until the bottom of the ninth. He allowed three runs - two earned - on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
Casey also praised the play of freshmen Bryan Ingram and Josh Carter. Ingram, who came to OSU as an infielder and redshirted last season, made his OSU debut at catcher and Carter started at third base. Ingram was 3-for-5 and scored twice.
Senior rightfielder Rob Colley was 3-for-4 with two doubles and drove in two runs. Sophomore centefielder Eric Stark and junior leftfielder Drew Hedges were both 2-for-5 for OSU.
The Beavers took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, keyed by Davis two-run double to left field. OSU added single runs in both the second and third innings, then made it 7-0 in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Tim Dryden and a run-scoring single by Colley.
After KSU broke up Cooks shutout with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, Oregon State broke the game open with a five-run sixth inning. Stark and Ingram singled, then Drew Hedges singled to drive in one run. After Troy Schader walked to load the bases, Davis boomed a three-run double to left; he later scored on Colleys sacrifice fly.
OSU added its final run in the eight inning when Colley doubled and Stark singled him home.
OREGON STATE 13, KANSAS STATE 6 Oregon State 311 025 010 - 13 16 2 Kansas State 000 021 003 - 6 11 1Cook, Rainwater (7) and Ingram. Peck, Cosens (5), Meares (6), Johnson (8) and Savage. WP-Cook (1-0). LP-Peck (0-1). SV-Rainwater (1). 2B-Davis 2 (OSU), Dryden (OSU), Colley 2 (OSU), Tabor (KSU).
HITS: Oregon State 16 (Ingram 3x5, Hedges 2x5, Davis 4x5, Dryden 1x2, Colley 3x4, Willkie 1x3, Stark 2x5), Kansas State 11 (Tabor 3x5, Reid 2x4, English 1x5, Loudabarger 1x4, Savage 2x4, Yoachim 2x5). RUNS BATTED IN: Oregon State 12 (Hedges 1, Davis 5, Dryden 2, Colley 2, Stark 1), Kansas State 6 (Tabor 1, Reid 2, Loudabarger 2, Yoachim 1).
