OSU Starts Baseball Weekend With Shutout Win - Oregon State University Athletics

CORVALLIS, Ore. –Dallas Buck and Kevin Gunderson combined to pitch Oregon State’s third shutout in its last eight games as the No. 6-ranked Beavers beat Cal Poly 3-0 in non-conference baseball Thursday evening at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. OSU (29-10 overall, 9-3 Pacific-10) played errorless defense for the seventh time in its last nine games, with catcher Mitch Canham throwing one Mustang runner out stealing and picking another off second base to short-circuit scoring threats; the Beavers turned a pair of double plays to shut down two more.

Oregon State now plays host to New Mexico on Friday at 5 p.m. before facing Cal Poly again on Saturday at 4 p.m. and wrapping up the weekend against New Mexico on Sunday at 1 p.m. Friday’s game against the Lobos can be heard live on KEJO-AM (1240) in the Corvallis area and on KUIK-AM (1360) in the Portland area; live audio and video is available via subscription on the internet at www.osubeavers.com.

Against Cal Poly (23-19, 7-5 Big West), a sun-warmed crowd of 1,585 saw Buck run his string of scoreless innings to 22 before Gunderson recorded the final four outs. OSU picked up a pair of runs in the fourth inning and another in the seventh to win for the 17th time in its last 20 games overall and to improve to 16-2 at home this season.

“I thought Dallas pitched well, and we played very well defensively,” OSU head coach Pat Casey said. “Their guy (Cal Poly righthander Bud Norris) was very good on the mound, and we found a way to scratch a couple of runs together. I thought we saw a different mindset, as far as approach to the game tonight (from Tuesday’s 20-13, 12-inning loss to Portland). It was good to see us come out and get a win and a little better feeling.”

Buck gave up three hits and a walk in the first inning but Canham threw out Jimmy Gardiner trying to steal to help keep the Mustangs scoreless. Cal Poly put two runners aboard in the second and third innings but couldn’t cross the plate, and Buck eventually went 7 2/3 innings allowing seven hits and three walks while striking out five.

“I was a little sluggish at first, but I snapped out of it after a little bit,” said Buck, who improved his record to 9-0 this season. “Normally if I get through the first couple innings unscathed, I’m pretty well off.”

Buck, who has now won his last 14 decisions dating back to the middle of last season, had tossed 8 1/3 scoreless innings against Stanford last week and six scoreless innings at California a week ago. He improved to 24-7 in his OSU career, moving him into a tie for seventh place with Andrew Checketts (1996-98) on OSU’s list of all-time career wins leaders.

After walking the first OSU hitter of the evening, Norris retired the next eight Beavers in a row. OSU finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth after Bill Rowe doubled down the rightfield line with one out, Shea McFeely walked and Scott Santschi singled to load the bases. Tyler Graham hit a sinking liner to second that was knocked down by Cal Poly’s Pat Pezet and Rowe scored; Pezet’s throw to shortstop Brent Morel covering second was wide and all runners were safe. Chris Kunda followed with a sacrifice fly to score McFeely and make it 2-0.

Cal Poly threatened in the top of the seventh when Pezet walked and Jimmy Gardiner singled to put runners at first and second with none out for the heart of the order, but Canham picked Pezet off second base and Buck retired the next two hitters to keep OSU in front 2-0. In the bottom of the inning, John Wallace blooped a double to centerfield and went to third on Mitch Canham’s groundout, then scored on Darwin Barney’s high-chop single past shortstop Morel to put Oregon State up 3-0.

Gunderson blanked the Mustangs the rest of the way for his 13th save of the season, just one shy of the OSU single-season record he set last season. His 30 career saves give him sole possession of third place on the Pac-10’s all-time list, behind just Southern California’s Jack Krawczyk (49, 1995-98) and Washington’s Brett Merrick (31, 1993-95).

Wallace was 2-for-3 with a double for Oregon State while Canham and Santschi were both 2-for-4. Shea McFeely drew the 100th walk of his OSU career, putting him in ninth place on OSU’s list of all-time leaders, and Buck climbed to ninth on OSU’s all-time list for career innings pitched at 271.

Norris fell to 7-5 with the loss, working seven innings and allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits and three walks while striking out six. Gardiner was 3-for-4 for Cal Poly.

NO. 6 OREGON STATE 3, CAL POLY 0

Cal Poly 000 000 000 – 0 7 1

Oregon State 000 200 10x – 3 8 0

Norris, Fien (8) and Canepa. Buck, Gunderson (8) and Canham. W-Buck (9-0). L-Norris (7-5). Sv-Gunderson (13). 2B-Wallace (OSU), Rowe (OSU).

HITS: Cal Poly 7 (Gardiner 3x4, Lansford 1x3, Desme 1x4, Bethel 1x1, Pezet 1x2), Oregon State 8 (Wallace 2x3, Canham 2x4, Barney 1x2, Rowe 1x4, Santschi 2x4). RUNS BATTED IN: Cal Poly 0, Oregon State 3 (Barney 1, Graham 1, Kunda 1).

Cal Poly 0 (23-19) Oregon State 3 (29-10)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------

Gardiner, Jimmy lf......... 4 0 3 0 Wallace, John dh........... 3 1 2 0

Buschini, Adam dh.......... 3 0 0 0 Canham, Mitch c............ 4 0 2 0

Pruett, Chad ph........... 1 0 0 0 Barney, Darwin ss.......... 2 0 1 1

Lansford, Josh 3b.......... 3 0 1 0 Gillespie, Cole lf......... 4 0 0 0

Van Ostrand, Jimmy 1b...... 1 0 0 0 Rowe, Bill 1b.............. 4 1 1 0

Desme, Grant cf............ 4 0 1 0 McFeely, Shea 3b........... 3 1 0 0

Kepner, Bryan rf........... 2 0 0 0 Santschi, Scott rf......... 4 0 2 0

Barthel, Corey rf......... 1 0 1 0 Graham, Tyler cf........... 4 0 0 1

Lee, Ryan ph/rf........... 1 0 0 0 Kunda, Chris 2b............ 2 0 0 1

Canepa, Matt c............. 4 0 0 0 Buck, Dallas p............. 0 0 0 0

Morel, Brent ss............ 2 0 0 0 Gunderson, Kevin p........ 0 0 0 0

Cooper, Matt ph........... 1 0 0 0

Pezet, Pat 2b.............. 2 0 1 0

Woodcox, Jonathan ph...... 1 0 0 0

Norris, Bud p.............. 0 0 0 0

Fien, Casey p............. 0 0 0 0

Totals..................... 30 0 7 0 Totals..................... 30 3 8 3

Score by Innings R H E

-------------------------------------------

Cal Poly............ 000 000 000 - 0 7 1

Oregon State........ 000 200 10X - 3 8 0

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E - Pezet. DP - Cal Poly 1; Oregon St. 2. LOB - Cal Poly 9; Oregon St. 8. 2B -

Wallace; Rowe. HBP - Lansford; Van Ostrand; Morel. SH - Barney. SF - Kunda. CS -

Gardiner.

Cal Poly IP H R ER BB SO

------------------------------------------------

Norris, Bud L,7-5......... 7.0 7 3 2 3 6

Fien, Casey ............... 1.0 1 0 0 0 0

Oregon State IP H R ER BB SO

------------------------------------------------

Buck, Dallas W,9-0........ 7.2 7 0 0 3 5

Gunderson, Kevin S,13..... 1.1 0 0 0 0 0

HBP - by Buck (Morel); by Buck (Lansford); by Buck (Van Ostrand).

Umpires - HP: Dave Perez 1B: Kendall Snyder 3B: Terry Fischer

Start: 5:05 pm Time: 2:34 Attendance: 1585