Beavers rally to open series with win
March 24, 2000 | Baseball
March 24, 2000
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State overcame three errors and an early five-run deficit to beat Cal State-Northridge 10-9 in the opening game of their non-league baseball series Friday afternoon at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. The Beavers (14-10 overall, 0-0 Pacific-10) used a six-run seventh inning - capped by Joe Gerber's three-run double - to win for the 13th time in their last 18 games.
OSU and Cal State-Northridge (10-17) continue their series with a doubleheader Saturday at noon and wrap it up with a single game Sunday at noon. All those games can be heard on KLOO-AM (1340).
"We had a good crowd out here today and we had people excited about seeing some baseball," OSU head coach Pat Casey said after Friday's game. "We got a win, now we've got to come out and play a little bit better."
The Beavers' errors led to five unearned runs for the Matadors, including two in CSUN's three-run first inning. In the opening frame, OSU also miscommunicated on a bunt that went for a single.
"The biggest disappointment was that we came out and didn't look sharp and we misplayed a few balls," Casey said. "But we've been playing some people out of position (due to injuries to infielders Will Hudson and Brian Barden) and things like that eventually catch up to you.
"We had some things that made it look like we weren't going 100 percent, but it wasn't a lack of effort - it might have been just not being ready for the ball to be hit to you. The good thing was, we came back from it."
After the Matadors touched OSU lefthander Scott Nicholson for two more runs to make it 5-0 in the third inning, the Beavers scored four times in the bottom of the fourth. Oregon State opened the inning with five straight hits, capped by Chris Biles' run-scoring single and Tim Dryden's two-run double, Stephen Copeland drove in the final run with a groundout.
CSUN tacked on another unearned run to make it 6-4 in the top of the fifth, but OSU finally took the lead in the bottom of the sixth. The Beavers scored six runs - two of them unearned - on five hits, including Gerber's three-run double and an RBI double by Dryden.
OSU loaded the bases against Matador starter Mike Frick with a pair of singles and a hit batter, then Gerber sliced his drive into left-centerfield off reliever Bobby Graves to give the Beavers a 7-6 lead. Merrill Dunn took the mound for CSUN and picked up one out, then Chris Biles reached on an error that sent Gerber to third.
Gerber scored on a passed ball and Biles advanced to second, then Dryden doubled to left-center to score Biles for an 9-6 lead. Oregon State's made it 10-6 on Andy Jarvis' pinch-hit single to right that scored Dryden.
Cal State-Northridge got right back in the game with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the eighth inning, and the Matadors drew closer in the ninth. After retiring the first hitter of the inning, Nicholson walked Tim Arroyo and gave up a single to Jason Gorman that put runners at first and second.
OSU brought righthander James Atwood in from the bullpen, and pinch-hitter Heith Gadient greeted him with a single to center that scored Arroyo. Pinch-runner Jesus Osuna tried to go from first to third on the play, but a relay from centerfielder Jackson Coleman to shortstop Zach Gordon to third baseman Dryden cut him down for the second out.
Atwood then struck out Bill Murphy to end the game, earning Atwood his first OSU save. Nicholson improved to 4-3 with a career-high 8 1/3 innings, allowing nine runs (four earned) on 12 hits and four walks, striking out four.
Dryden was 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs for the Beavers, while Gerber was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. Gorman went 3-for-5 with a double for CSUN and Aaron McKenzie, Arroyo and Bobby Koba had two hits each for the Matadors.
OREGON STATE 10, CAL STATE-NORTHRIDGE 9
Cal State-Northridge 302 010 021 - 9 13 2 Oregon State 000 400 60x - 10 13 3Frick, Graves (7), Dunn (7) and Allec, Thompson (8). Nicholson, Atwood (9) and Ingram. WP-Nicholson (4-3). LP-Frick (2-4). SV-Atwood (1). 2B-Gorman (CSUN), Ingram (OSU), Gerber (OSU), Carter (OSU), Dryden 2 (OSU).
HITS: Cal State-Northridge 13 (Stotts 1x5, Coltey 1x4, Mendoza 1x5, McKenzie 2x4, Arroyo 2x3, Gorman 3x5, Koba 2x4, Gadient 1x1), Oregon State 13 (Hedges 1x3, Ingram 1x4, Gerber 2x3, Carter 1x5, Biles 1x4, Dryden 3x3, Gordon 1x4, Jarvis 1x1, Stark 1x1, Coleman 1x3). RUNS BATTED IN: Cal State-Northridge 8 (Coltey 1, McKenzie 1, Arroyo 1, Gorman 2, Koba 2, Gadient 1), Oregon State 9 (Gerber 3, Biles 1, Dryden 3, Copeland 1, Jarvis 1).
