Beavers Drop First Game to Utah Valley
CORVALLIS, Ore. – reached base in all five appearances and added two more hits, but it was not enough as the Oregon State baseball team dropped its first of two games with Utah Valley, 11-6, Monday at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.
Ortiz followed up his dramatic performance in Sunday’s game against UCLA with his 16th double of the season in the first inning that extended his hitting streak to four games. He found a variety of other ways to reach base throughout the game, with a walk in the second, a hit-by-pitch in the fifth, and two walks in the Beavers’ five-run eighth inning.
Lonnie Lechelt recorded his ninth multi-hit game of the season with two singles, including an RBI and a run scored in the the eighth. also contributed for the Oregon State offense, hitting his third home run of the season in the sixth inning off of Wolverines pitcher Marcus Moore.
The Wolverines got the scoring started in the second, as Kai Hatch and Adam Openshaw both reached base with one out. Jake Rickenbach followed them up with a potential double play ball to at short. However, Rickenbach reached second after an overthrow on the OSU double play attempt, allowing both Hatch and Openshaw to score.
Two innings later, Utah Valley struck again, loading the bases with two outs. Wolverines’ designated hitter Cole Anderson took advantage and drilled an offering from Oregon State pitcher over the fence for a grand slam and a 6-0 Utah Valley lead.
The Beavers were held scoreless by Moore for five innings before Wallace broke through with a lead-off home run into the right field bleachers to get Oregon State’s day started offensively.
Oregon State’s bats came awake in the eighth inning, as the first five Beaver hitters reached base. The first two runs scored on an error by Wolverine first basemen Openshaw, who came off the bag whole receiving a throw from second basemen Ryan Jones that allowed Wallace to reach. Brandon Haynes followed with an RBI single with the bases loaded to score two more. Lechelt became the third straight batter to bring in runs as he came through with an RBI single and later scored from third on a double play.
Oregon State and Utah Valley conclude the two-game series on Tuesday in a 2 p.m. PT start. Catch the game live on the Beaver Sports Network, Beaver Nation Online () and Yahoo! Sports.
