OSU ends baseball skid with 9-8 win
April 2, 1999
CORVALLIS, Ore. - B.R. Cook's pitching and Joe Gerber's hitting helped Oregon State to a 9-8 win over 16th-ranked Arizona State in Pacific-10 baseball Friday afternoon at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. Cook worked into the ninth inning before Travis Rainwater got the save, while Gerber had a double, a home run and four runs batted in for OSU (11-20 overall, 1-4 Pacific-10).
"It feels really, really good," said Gerber, who moved into a tie for ninth place on OSU's career homer list with his 17th round-tripper. "I'm just happy we won. There are no other words to describe it."
OSU's victory ended a seven-game losing streak and also snapped a four-game winning streak for ASU (28-12, 4-4). The Beavers and Sun Devils wrap up their series at 1 p.m. Saturday.
In Friday's game, OSU led 9-3 after seven innings. But Arizona State rallied for two runs in the eighth inning and three in the top of the ninth inning before the Beavers could finally celebrate their first conference victory.
"Our guys played hard, and nobody hung their heads," OSU head coach Pat Casey said after the Beavers held off the Sun Devils. "We've got a number of people out with injuries who are going to be out, and we need to win with the guys we have. I hope that transpired today. Any win is a good win. I think some real good things can happen for us."
Cook allowed eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits and five walks, striking out five. He gave up just four hits in the first seven innings to an ASU club that was batting .371 as a team going into the game, then the Sun Devils began getting to him in the eighth.
"I still felt like I had most of my good stuff left," Cook said. "I just wasn't good on every pitch like I was earlier in the game. From the seventh inning on, coach asked me if I wanted to go out (to start the next inning), and I wanted to go out. I was getting tired, but I wanted to get the win."
Cook earned his first win since beating Oklahoma State with a one-hitter on Feb. 18; he'd lost six straight decisions since then. In his last six starts, he'd pitched 43 1/3 innings and OSU had only scored six runs in those innings.
But Oregon State's hitters finally gave him some backing on Friday. After Arizona State took a 3-1 lead on Brooks Conrad's three-run double in the top of the third inning, the Beavers came right back with three of their own in the bottom of the third. The inning included a pair of key two-out hits, as Gerber doubled home one run and Tim Dryden singled home another.
Drew Hedges belted his second homer of the season in the bottom of the fourth inning, a two-run shot over the scoreboard in right-ecenter field. Gerber added his fifth homer of the season in the bottom of the fifth, a two-run line drive to right.
The Beavers got another RBI single from Dryden in a two-run seventh inning that gave OSU its 9-3 lead; that was still 9-5 going into the ninth. But the first runner reached base on an error by Cook, who then gave up a two-run homer to Andrew Beinbrink and a double to Casey Myers.
Rainwater walked the first two hitters he faced to load the bases, then gave up a sacrifice fly to Jeff Phelps that made it 9-8 and advanced the tying run to third. But Rainwater got Dustin Delucchi to pop out to shortstop Troy Schader, and finally got Ian Gosewisch to foul out to catcher Bryan Ingram.
"It was definitely my biggest game at Oregon State," said Rainwater, who picked up his second save of the season. "To come in there in a tight situation and pull out a win ... B.R. pitched his tail off out there, and I'm glad I could help him get a win."
Rob Colley was 2-for-4 with a double and three runs scored for the Beavers, while Gerber and Hedges were 2-for-4 and Dryden 2-for-5.
Beinbrink was the only Sun Devil with more than one hit, going 2-for-5. ASU starter Chuck Crumpton went took his first loss of the season, going 5 2/3 innings and giving up seven runs (four earned) on eight hits and no walks, striking out eight.
OREGON STATE 9, NO. 16 ARIZONA STATE 8
Arizona State 003 000 023 - 8 8 1 Oregon State 103 120 20x - 9 11 2Crumpton, Friedberg (6), Doble (7), Williamson (7), Chmielinski (8) and Pratt, Gosewisch (7). Cook, Rainwater (9) and Ingram. WP-Cook (3-6). LP-Crumpton (5-1). SV-Rainwater (2). 2B-Myers (ASU), Conrad (ASU), Gosewisch (ASU), Colley (OSU), Willkie (OSU), Gerber (OSU). HR-Beinbrink (ASU), Gerber (OSU), Hedges (OSU).
HITS: Arizona State 8 (Sitzman 1x5, Beinbrink 2x5, Myers 1x4, Conrad 1x3, Delucchi 1x4, Pratt 1x2, Gosewisch 1x3), Oregon State 11 (Colley 2x4, Willkie 1x4, Gerber 2x4, Dryden 2x4, Ingram 1x4, Hedges 2x4, Duerr 1x3). RUNS BATTED IN: Arizona State 8 (Beinbrink 2, Conrad 3, Phelps 1, Delucchi 1, Gosewisch 1), Oregon State 7 (Gerber 4, Dryden 2, Hedges 1).
