Tanner Smith was soaking wet, ice cold and in desperate need of a hot shower.
But, even on a chilly night in Corvallis, he wasn’t complaining.
“It was pretty cool,” he said. “It was pretty awesome.”
Smith’s walk-off single in the bottom of the 13th inning lifted the Oregon State baseball team to a memorable 3-2 win over the No. 23 USC Trojans Saturday night at Goss Stadium, helping the Beavers continue their April ascent in dramatic fashion.
It took a game-saving “Superman” catch by a freshman, another home walk-off and the longest game in series history, but Oregon State added to its midseason momentum. The Beavers (23-11, 9-8 Pac-12) won for the fifth consecutive time — and 11th in the last 14 games — earned their fifth consecutive win over USC (21-12-1, 9-5), and clinched their fourth consecutive Pac-12 series victory.
Also, nearly a month after languishing in last place in the conference standings, the Beavers inched above .500 in Pac-12 play, doing so for the first time since opening the conference schedule with a win on March 10.
“We have a very resilient bunch,” outfielder Dallas Macias said. “We’re just trusting in the process and kind of finding a little bit of that inner fire and realizing that, hey, it’s time to go. It’s not really about our personal stuff anymore. It’s just about going out winning and competing and going to war against the other guys.”
It certainly was a battle Saturday, when USC and OSU played the longest game in series history and Oregon State played its longest game since a 16-inning marathon at Washington State in 2019.
The Beavers and Trojans spent most of the day lamenting a litany of missed opportunities, as seemingly every inning featured stranded runners and squandered scoring chances. The teams combined to go 5 for 38 with runners on base and 3 for 27 with runners in scoring position. It took a sacrifice fly and an infield single — both by Mason Guerra — for the Beavers to score their first two runs. And one of the Trojans’ runs came on a safety squeeze with runners on the corners.
But in the end, the Beavers did just enough, using an exceptional performance by the bullpen, a jaw-dropping catch by Macias and a clutch single in the 13th to win.
Four Oregon State relievers — Ian Lawson, AJ Hutcheson, Aiden Jimenez and Ryan Brown — combined to work eight scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing just three hits. Brown (3-0), who tossed a perfect 13th, earned the win one night after earning a two-inning save.
The most ominous threat against the relievers came in the top of the 12th, when Guerra mishandled a routine Bryce Grudzielanek grounder at third, allowing the leadoff hitter to reach base on an error. One batter later, Adrian Colon-Rosado crushed a 1-1 pitch to deep left field, sending Macias sprinting toward the corner.
The ball looked like it might sail out of the stadium, but Macias gave chase and soared into the air as he reached the warning track, snaring the ball as he crashed into the left field wall. After making the catch, the 5-foot-11 freshman from Parker, Colorado, heaved a one-hop throw to Travis Bazzana at second base, and Bazzana doubled-up Grudzielanek, who had rounded the bag. There was momentary confusion after the incredible play — one umpire initially signaled no catch — but after a lengthy huddle and a video review, the catch was confirmed.
“Superman,” OSU coach Mitch Canham said, describing Macias’ catch. “It was great. We’re kind of hidden in the dugout, so as we come out, you see his body getting thrown against the fence. He’s going to do whatever it takes to get the ball. Passive isn’t a word that goes with him.”
Macias, who was a shortstop in high school, did not play outfield until fall ball at Oregon State. But he has been a quick study, which he said comes thanks to extra work in practice and his days playing defensive back on the high school football team, which required similar “footwork” and the same “feel of reading the ball.”
“I saw (the ball) off the bat and … I’m never going to see it and think it’s gone out,” Macias said. “So I was tracking it the whole time and then kind of when you get close to the fence, you get that feel of it, and I saw the ball still in range. So once I have that feel, I was like, ‘All right, now it’s time to go and take a jump for it, go make a play.’”
An inning later, Smith made a play of his own. Mikey Kane was beaned to open the bottom of the 13th and Macias — after botching two bunt attempts — moved Kane to second with a grounder to first. That sent Smith to plate to face USC reliever Fisher Johnson (2-3) with one out.
Smith fouled off a first-pitch cutter, laid off a two-seam fastball, then ripped another cutter into left-center field for the game-winning single. It was his first walk-off hit since middle school.
“I didn’t know that he threw cutters like that,” Smith said. “I saw it the first pitch and I was like ‘OK, that’s new.’ And then he threw a two-seamer, so I was like, ‘OK, he’s got both of them.’ I just saw it well and hit it well.”
Afterward, the Beavers stormed out of the third base dugout and mobbed Smith near first base, celebrating one of their most dramatic and important victories of the season. Amid the melee, Gavin Turley and Victor Quinn toted a gigantic ice bucket and doused Smith with a bath of frigid water.
“The water was NOT warm,” a dripping wet Smith said afterward, laughing, acknowledging that he wasn’t expecting the cold bath. “But with the shenanigans that we run in the dugout, I definitely wasn’t surprised by it either.”
Next up: The Beavers and Trojans play the finale of their three-game series Sunday at noon at Goss Stadium.
Joe Freeman reported from Corvallis
— jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
