Johnson pitches Beavers to baseball split
March 25, 2000 | Baseball
March 25, 2000
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Thad Johnson pitched a six-hitter as Oregon State beat Cal State-Northrdige 9-7 to salvage a split of their non-league baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. The Beavers had dropped the first game, 9-3.
OSU (15-11 overall, 0-0 Pacific-10), which has won 14 of its last 20 games, wraps up its series against the Matadors (11-18) with a single game Sunday at noon. The game can be heard on KLOO-AM (1340).
After the first-game loss, Oregon State took a two-run lead in the first inning of the nightcap to position itself to take the split.
"When you lose that first game, it puts you in a tough situation," OSU head coach Pat Casey said. "You go out there thinking, `We've got to get a win,' and we responded to that challenge ... the guys did a good job adapting to that situation after we lost that first game. Thad Johnson was outstanding, and we played better defense when we needed to."
Johnson, a junior righthander, struck out nine and didn't issue a walk as he scattered CSUN's six hits over the nine-inning second game. Johnson allowed only one earned run as he improved to 2-1 this season, earning his first decision since a win in relief over Western Oregon on March 7.
"I've pitched a lot and it hasn't seemed like I've had anything to show for it," said Johnson, who has pitched well in four of his last five appearances. "The team has picked me up a few times when I didn't pitch well this season, and it was nice to return the favor today. There have been games where they came back and took me off the hook."
For the first time in the series, it was the Beavers jumping to an early lead. Joe Gerber's run-scoring groundout and Josh Carter's run-scoring single made it 2-0 after one inning.
"That takes a lot of pressure off," Johnson said. "That, and the defense - Eric (Stark, centerfielder) made two great catches and Tim (Dryden, third baseman) made a couple of really nice plays."
That helped Johnson settle in on the mound, something he wasn't always able to do early in the season.
"Early in the year, I felt awkward," Johnson said. "I don't know if it was my mechanics or what. But lately, it seems like about 95 percent of the time I'm out there, I've been able to get into a groove - not for just three or four pitches, but for several innings at a time.
"After the second inning, I knew what kind of stuff I had today and that I'd be able to go nine innings if I kept it easy, if I didn't overexert, if I just stayed calm and did what I was supposed to do."
Oregon State led just 3-2 in the middle of the fourth inning, but the Beavers scored five runs in the bottom of the frame to take command of the game. Zach Gordon lofted a one-out, two-run homer to right-centerfield to make it 5-2 off starter Kameron Loe, with two out, Joe Gerber ripped a three-run double to left-centerfield off reliever Ryan McDermott for an 8-2 lead.
It was Gerber's 15th double of the season, putting him in a tie for ninth place on OSU's all-time single-season list with more than half the season left to play. It also gave Gerber 41 runs batted in this season, only eight away from a place on the school's single-season top 10, he's already over two-thirds of the way to the school record of 62 set by Jim Wilson in 1982 and tied by Rob Colley in 1998.
Gerber now has 143 career RBIs, just one away from Matt Bailie's school record set from 1995-98. There was a downside to the day for Gerber, as he booted a ground ball in the fourth inning of the second game to end a 67-game errorless streak that dated back to early last season.
Josh Carter was 2-for-5 and drove in a pair of runs for OSU in the second game. Shortstop Will Hudson returned to the lineup from a rib injury and went 2-for-3 with a double, while Eric Stark was 2-for-4 and Josh Carter was 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs.
Adrian Mendoza, Tim Arroyo and Bobby Koba were all 2-for-4 for Cal State-Northridge in the second game, with Mendoza delivering a solo homer and Arroyo a pair of doubles.
In the opener, it was the Matadors jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning on Mendoza's two-out, two-run double to right-center off Beaver starter Mark Newell. OSU evened the game in the bottom of the fifth on Gerber's RBI double and Carter's run-scoring groundout.
But CSUN opened up a 7-2 lead on five two-out runs in the top of the sixth, keyed by Koba's three-run homer off OSU reliever Nick Renault. Oregon State responded in the bottom of the inning with Stark's first career homer, a three-run shot to left-center that drew the Beavers within 7-5.
The Matadors pushed the lead back to 9-5 when Jason Gorman thumped a two-run homer off OSU's Corky Wray in the top of the seventh. Oregon State managed to score twice in the bottom of the seventh to make it 9-7 and the Beavers put the tying run on base with two out, but CSUN's Bill Murphy fanned Stark to end the game.
Newell took the loss for Oregon State, falling to 3-2 as he allowed five runs (all earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out three in 5 1/3 innings. Andy Davidson earned the win, going 5 2/3 innings and giving up five runs (two earned) on eight hits and four walks, striking out six. Murphy picked up the save, striking out three Beavers after entering the game in the ninth inning.
Stark was 2-for-5 with three RBIs for OSU in the opener, with Bryan Ingram and Tim Dryden going 2-for-4. For Cal State-Northridge, J.T. Stotts and Jason Gorman were both 2-for-4 and Murphy was 2-for-3.
GAME ONE - CAL STATE-NORTHRIDGE 9, OREGON STATE 7
Cal State-Northridge 002 005 2 - 9 11 2 Oregon State 000 023 2 - 7 11 0Davidson, Busby (6), Murphy (7) and Allec. Newell, Renault (6), Hays (6), Wray (7) and Ingram. WP-Davidson (3-2). LP-Newell (3-2). SV-Murphy (2). 2B-Mendoza (CSUN), Murphy (CSUN), Gerber (OSU). HR-Gorman (CSUN), Koba (CSUN), Stark (OSU).
HITS: Cal State-Northridge 11 (Stotts 2x4, Mendoza 1x2, McKenzie 1x3, Osuna 1x1, Arroyo 1x4, Gorman 2x4, Koba 1x4, Murphy 2x3), Oregon State 11 (Ingram 2x4, Stark 2x5, Gerber 2x3, Dryden 2x4, Gott 1x3, Gordon 1x3, Copeland 1x2). RUNS BATTED IN: Cal State-Northridge 9 (Stotts 1, Mendoza 2, Arroyo 1, Gorman 2, Koba 3), Oregon State 6 (Ingram 1, Stark 3, Gerber 1, Carter 1).
GAME TWO - OREGON STATE 9, CAL STATE-NORTHRIDGE 3
Cal State-Northridge 001 101 000 - 3 6 0 Oregon State 201 510 00x - 9 13 3Loe, McDermott (4) and Allec, Thompson (5). Johnson and Biles. WP-Johnson (2-1). LP-Loe (0-4). 2B-Arroyo 2 (CSUN), Biles (OSU), Gerber (OSU), Hudson (OSU). HR-Mendoza (CSUN), Gordon (OSU).
HITS: Cal State-Northridge 6 (Mendoza 2x4, Arroyo 2x4, Koba 2x4), Oregon State 13 (Hedges 1x4, Biles 1x5, Gerber 1x3, Carter 2x5, Dryden 2x4, Davis 1x2, Gordon 1x3, Stark 2x4, Hudson 2x3). RUNS BATTED IN: Cal State-Northridge 3 (Stotts 1, Mendoza 1, Arroyo 1), Oregon State 9 (Gerber 4, Carter 2, Gordon 2, Hudson 1).
