After slugging their way to lopsided victories throughout most of the early part of the 2023 season, the Oregon State Beavers found a different path to success Thursday night.
Travis Bazzana hit a go-ahead two-run double in the eighth inning, the bullpen delivered and the Beavers continued their hot early-season play, eking out a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Cal Poly in the opener of a four-game series at Baggett Stadium in San Luis Obispo, California.
It was the seventh consecutive win for Oregon State (7-1), but it came in a decidedly different fashion than most of the others in its streak. Heading into the matchup, the Beavers had scored at least 11 runs in each of their previous five games, outscoring foes by an average margin of 14.2 to 2.4. The dominant stretch included a commanding three-game sweep over Coppin State last weekend, during which OSU erupted for 46 runs, 45 hits and 37 walks, while scoring runs in 17 of the 24 innings it batted.
It was a much quieter offensive outing Thursday.
The Beavers finished with 10 hits and four walks, but went just 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position. And when Cal Poly (2-5) scored four runs on two hits in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Beavers were staring at a 4-3 deficit — their first since the fifth inning of the third game of the season.
Oregon State squandered a pair of late-inning chances to break the game open, leaving runners on first and second in the fifth before leaving the bases loaded in the seventh. But, finally, the Beavers broke through in the eighth with some small ball and a clutch base hit.
Mikey Kane, who continued his hot start to the season, was beaned to open the inning, and the Beavers followed with a pair of bunts — Tanner Smith laid down a single to third base and Kyle Dernedde followed with a sacrifice to first — to put runners on first and second with one out. After a Micah McDowell strikeout, Bazzana crushed a two-run double off the fence in right-center, sending Kane and Smith home to give the Beavers a one-run lead.
Cal Poly put two runners on base in the bottom of the eighth, but closer Ryan Brown ended the threat with a strikeout and flyout, then worked around a leadoff single and walk in the ninth to earn his second save of the season.
Five Oregon State relievers combined to allow just three hits and one unearned run over six innings, keeping the Beavers close until Bazzana could deliver his game-winning double. AJ Lattery (2-0) earned the win by tossing a scoreless seventh inning, and Rhett Larson finished with a no-decision in his first start at Oregon State, allowing five hits and two earned runs in three innings.
And while the lineup didn’t slug its way to another double-digit outburst, it had its moments. Brady Kasper and Kane hit back-to-back solo home runs in fourth inning, Bazzana and Gavin Turley went 2 for 5 and Garret Forrester finished 1 for 3 with a double and two walks.
Kane’s homer extended his season-opening hit streak to eight games.
Next up: Oregon State and Cal Poly play Game 2 of the four-game series at 6 p.m. Friday.
— Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
