Five hundred never felt so good.
The Oregon State baseball team continued its April ascent Friday night at Goss Stadium, defeating the USC Trojans 10-4 in the opener of an important three-game series in Corvallis.
The win moved the Beavers (22-11, 8-8 Pac-12) back to .500 in the Pac-12 and put them in the driver’s seat to earn their fourth consecutive series win in conference play.
Trent Sellers had another solid start, Ryan Brown continued his late-game dominance and the Beavers’ offense pounded out 13 hits as Oregon State won for the 10th time in the last 13 games.
The Beavers struck first in the bottom of the second inning when catcher Wilson Weber belted a two-run home run to left field to give them a 2-0 lead. It was his third homer of the season and second in the last three games. An inning later, OSU pushed its lead to 5-1 when Mason Guerra smacked an RBI single and Mikey Kane added a two-run single.
By the end of the night, Oregon State had earned a convincing victory, as seven Beavers recorded a hit and six produced an RBI. Micah McDowell continued his red-hot hitting, finishing 4 for 5 with three doubles, three RBIs and a run scored, and Garret Forrester went 3 for 4 with three runs scored and an RBI.
Oregon State reached double figures in scoring for the third consecutive game, during which it has outscored opponents 37-7.
It was more than enough for Sellers and the OSU bullpen. Sellers (5-3) allowed two runs on five hits and struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings to earn the win, his third in his last four starts. The 6-foot-2 right-hander is tied for the Pac-12 lead in wins and ranks second in strikeouts (74).
Ryan Brown pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game, earning his Pac-12-leading seventh save of the season. Brown, who gave up one hit and recorded one strikeout, has allowed just two hits in his last seven appearances.
The Beavers, who swept USC in Los Angeles last season, have defeated the Trojans four consecutive times, their longest streak in the series since 2004-05.
Next up: The Beavers host the Trojans Saturday at 3 p.m. in Game 2 of the three-game series.
— Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
