With one disastrous, dramatic swing of the bat, the Oregon State baseball team’s winning streak vanished Saturday night.
Isaiah Jackson belted a walk-off grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the No. 19 Arizona State Sun Devils to a come-from-behind 11-7 victory over the No. 21 Beavers at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
The theatrical victory evened the three-game series at 1-1 and ended OSU’s eight-game winning streak in painful fashion, setting up a Sunday afternoon rubber match in Phoenix.
Jackson made sure there would be a winner-takes-all series finale with a towering home run to deep right field, blasting a 2-1 pitch from OSU closer Ryan Brown (3-1) into the Sun Devils bullpen. The walk-off hit — Jackson’s second homer of the game — touched off a wild celebration near home plate, during which Arizona State players mobbed the freshman center fielder and ripped off his jersey.
As the Beavers (26-12, 11-9 Pac-12) watched the depressing scene from the visiting dugout in search of answers, they could only look in the mirror.
Oregon State led 7-2 heading into the seventh inning, using a pair of Mikey Kane homers, a Micah McDowell two-run double, a Mason Guerra home run — and four ASU errors — to control the game throughout. But, much like it did in the Friday’s opener — when it allowed six late-game runs — the bullpen was touched up by Arizona State. Only this time, the bullpen was unable to hold on to the lead.
The Sun Devils (26-12, 12-4) pounded Aiden Jimenez and Ben Ferrer for four sixth-inning runs to tie the game 7-7. Luke Hill and Luke Keaschall delivered the big blows in the comeback, smacking a two-run single and two-run double, respectively. The teams went scoreless into the bottom of the ninth, setting up Jackson’s dramatic walk-off.
The final frame started harmlessly, with Brown eliciting back-to-back fly outs. But then he walked Jacob Tobias, allowed a single to Kien Vu and beaned Nu’u Contrades to load the bases for Jackson. It was the first slip-up this season for Brown, who earned his Pac-12-leading eighth save Friday night and had allowed just two hits in his previous nine appearances heading into the game.
The meltdown was all the more surprising considering the Beavers’ bullpen — outside of a terrible series at Stanford — has been dominant most of the season. It entered the series with a 17-2 record and 2.74 ERA, which included a near-untouchable April that included a 6-1 record and 1.81 ERA over 59 2/3 innings.
But the bullpen has imploded in Phoenix, coughing up 14 earned runs on nine hits in 7 2/3 innings.
Of course, if the Beavers had made the most of their myriad scoring opportunities Saturday, the shaky bullpen performance might not have mattered. Oregon State went 6 for 21 with runners on base, including a paltry 4 for 16 with runners in scoring position. After Arizona State’s comeback, OSU left the bases loaded in the seventh and stranded runners on first and second in the ninth.
Next up: The teams play the rubber match of the series Sunday at 12:30.
— Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
