Beavers Use Quick Start to Take down Pacific
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Logan Boyd set a career high in hits and runs batted in and Lonnie Lechelt added a grand slam to support Mike Stutes in his final regular season start at Goss Stadium as the Oregon State baseball team took game one of a three-game series against Pacific, 15-2 on Friday night.
“It was important for us to get a good start against a Pacific club that has really been playing well lately,” Oregon State head coach Pat Casey said. “Each of the three games is a must-win and we started out well tonight. Logan and Lonnie had a really good night at the plate and Mike looked good in his last regular season outing.”
Boyd took advantage of his fourth start of the year at the first possible opportunity, driving in two runs on a sharp single past the first basemen in the first inning. Boyd continued his day in the second, where he hammered his first home run of his career off of pitcher David Hovey. The blast gave the Beavers (26-24) an 11-0 lead with one out in the second inning. Boyd picked up a fifth RBI in the fifth inning with a bases loaded walk.
Stutes took the hill for his final regular season start within the friendly confines of Goss Stadium, where he has now posted a 2.59 ERA over the course of his career. Friday night’s game was no different as Stutes shut down the Pacific (14-39) hitters for seven innings, allowing just two runs while striking out seven. By going seven innings, Stutes extended his streak of pitching past the sixth inning to six games.
Stutes took the win to improve to 4-7 on the year. He ran his all-time record at home to 14-3 in three seasons at Oregon State.
The grand slam by Lechelt capped off the Beavers seven-run first inning. He also reached base in his next two at bats via walks and scored a run in the fifth. His four RBI gave him his second game with four or more on the season.
Eight of the nine Oregon State starters at least one hit and one run in the game. Daniel Robertson helped spark the Beaver offense by reaching base in four of his five plate appearances and scoring three runs. Robertson also collected two hits in the game for his 16th multi-hit game of the season.
John Wallace also swung the bat well for the Beavers at the top of the order, scoring three runs while reaching base in four of his six plate appearances. Wallace added a stolen base, a single, and an RBI to the Oregon State offensive total.
The Beavers got off to a fast start with the first eight hitters reaching base in the first. Robertson’s infield single with the bases loaded got the Beavers on the board, while Boyd followed that up with an RBI single to the right side that plated two more runs. A Drew George walk loaded the bases once again for Lechelt, who put a no doubt home run over the left-center fence to give Oregon State the early 7-0 lead.
Wallace got the Beavers going in the second, taking a lead off walk and advancing to second on a stolen base. Lennerton soon followed with a double off the left field wall that scored Wallace and extended the Oregon State lead to 8-0. After two Pacific errors allowed Robertson to reach base and Lennerton to score, Boyd stepped to the plate and hit Oregon State’s second home run over the right-center fence to give the Beavers a double-digit lead.
Josh Keller pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game for the Beavers.
Hunter Carnevale started for Pacific and took the loss, dropping to 2-4 this season. The right-hander allowed nine runs and five hits over 1 1/3 innings.
Oregon State and Pacific continue their three-game series Saturday at 2:05 p.m. PT. The game is scheduled to be televised on FSN Northwest. Because the game will be televised live, there will be no webcast on Beaver Nation Online ().
Fans can also catch the game live on the Beaver Sports Network, Beaver Nation Online ( – audio only) and Yahoo! Sports.
General admission outfield seats are still available for Saturday’s game at $10. Tickets can be purchased at the Goss Stadium ticket office beginning two-and-a-half hours before game time.
OSU Notes: The outing left Mike Stutes tied for ninth place in wins by an Oregon State pitcher with 24 ... Stutes is now in sole possession of seventh place in innings pitched with 296.0... With the win, Stutes finishes his career with a 14-3 record in games played at Goss Stadium... In addition to hitting his first home run of the season, Logan Boyd also recorded his first multi-hit game of the season with a single in the first and a homer in the second... Boyd’s five RBI game was the first by a Beaver since Ryan Ortiz on May 11 against UCLA... Lonnie Lechelt’s grand slam was the first of his Oregon State career... All of Oregon State’s first eight hitters of the game reached base, with seven crossing the plate... The Beavers tied a season high for double plays turned with three... With a double in the second and a single in the eighth, Jordan Lennerton recorded his 10th multi-hit game of the season.
