No. 23 Beavers Drop Series Finale To Gonzaga
SPOKANE, Wash. – The 23rd-ranked Oregon State baseball team lost to Gonzaga, 4-2, Wednesday in the finale of a two-game series at Washington Trust Field.
The Beavers led the game with nine hits, led by Lonnie Lechelt and Jason Ogata, who both had two, but could not take advantage of their offensive day. Both of OSU’s runs were unearned and the Beavers left 12 on base.
Lechelt doubled in the fourth and singled in the sixth to pace the Beavers. Ogata, meanwhile, singled in both the fifth and ninth innings.
Oregon State (20-16 overall) scored first for the 20th time this season, aided by a pair of Gonzaga errors. Chris Hopkins reached with one out on a throwing error by Jason Chatwood, and the overthrow enabled the OSU centerfielder to reach second. Two batters later, and with two outs, Drew George grounded to Chatwood, who booted the ball for his second error of the inning, which allowed Hopkins to come in from second.
The Bulldogs (27-18), however, took the lead in the fourth. Ryan Wiegand singled to left, driving in Evan Wells and knocking Oregon State starter Josh Osich out of the game. Greg Peavey came in to relieve Osich, and after getting Drew Heid to pop up to short, allowed a single to right by Mark Casttellitto, driving in Chatwood. Marcus McKimmy, who had walked earlier, attempted to come in from second on the hit to right, but was gunned down at the plate by Daniel Robertson to keep Gonzaga’s lead at 2-1. The outfield assist was the fifth of the season for Robertson and his second of the series.
Oregon State pulled even in the seventh, taking advantage of Chatwood’s third error of the game. George singled, moved to second on a stolen base and then scored when Jason Ogata reached on a fielding error by Chatwood.
The Bulldogs, however, didn’t remain quiet long, managing to get two more runs in the seventh, both coming on the same play. Heid doubled down the left field line to start off the inning, and scored when Grant Kveder singled through the left side. Kveder scored on the play when Oregon State attempted to throw him out at second, but he came around on a three-base error.
Osich appeared for the 10th time this season, making his third start. He did not figure in the decision after going three full innings, allowing three hits and two runs while striking out two and walking one.
Peavey worked 4 1/3 innings for the Beavers, but fell to 2-2 this season after taking the loss. He scattered four hits and two runs – only one earned – while striking out one in 62 pitches.
Jeremy Stumetz started for Gonzaga and also did not figure in the decision after going four innings. The right-hander surrendered five hits and one unearned run.
Brandon Harmon was the third pitcher of the afternoon for Gonzaga and improved to 3-6 this season. He went 1 2/3 innings, and struck out one. He was replaced in the ninth in favor of Cody Martin. The Gonzaga closer earned his eighth save of the season.
The Beavers return to the state of Washington and Pacific-10 Conference play with a three-game series against Washington State that begins Saturday and ends Monday. First pitch Saturday at Bailey-Brayton Field is 5:30 p.m. PT.
Catch each game of the series on the Beaver Sports Network, Beaver Nation Online () and Yahoo! Sports. Mike Parker will be behind the mic for all three games.
OSU Notes: The game marked Oregon State’s first of the year on Wednesday ... Josh Osich faced the minimum number of batters, nine, through the first three innings ... He gave up a single in the second and was aided by a 4-6-3 double play ... Wednesday’s game was OSU’s 14th and final in the month of April ... Of Oregon State’s 36 overall games this season, 16 have been road games.
