Beavers' Winning Streak Ends At Five
April 23, 2004 | Baseball
April 23, 2004
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Oregon State's five-game winning streak ended with an 8-4 loss to Southern California on Friday night in Pacific-10 baseball at Dedeaux Field. Aaron Mathews extended his hitting streak to 16 games but Jake Postlewait took just his third pitching loss in the last two seasons for OSU (24-12 overall, 4-6 Pacific-10).
The Beavers and Trojans (20-19, 6-4) continue their series Saturday at 2 p.m. and conclude it Sunday at 12 noon. Both games can be heard on KEJO-AM (1240) and www.osubeavers.com
On Friday, USC scored five runs off Postlewait in the bottom of the sixth inning, capped by Baron Frost's three-run homer, to take a 6-1 lead. OSU got within 6-4 on Paul Richie's run-scoring single and Mathews' two-run single with two out in the top of the seventh, but Michael Moon blunted the Beavers' momentum with a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh.
Oregon State had chances to get to Trojan starter Ian Kennedy early in the game, but the Beavers left the bases loaded in both the first and second innings against the freshman righthander. OSU did pick up an unearned run when Shea McFeely drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the first inning, but USC evened the score in the bottom of the inning.
"We swung at some bad pitches and got down in the count," said OSU centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who was 2-for-4. "We've just got to come out Saturday and do some things better ... we've got to make some adjustments and put balls in play."
Kennedy and three relievers combined to record 12 strikeouts. Kennedy improved to 6-2 with the win, going six innings and allowing one unearned run on four hits and three walks while striking out eight.
Postlewait dropped to 8-2 this season, with the senior lefthander losing to a team other than Arizona for the first time since his sophomore season. In five innings, he allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits and one walk while striking out three.
When USC took the lead with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning, it ended Oregon State's string of 52 consecutive innings that ended with the Beavers either in the lead or tied. OSU had last trailed in a game at the conclusion of its loss to Stanford on April 10.
Chris Kunda matched his career high with three hits, going 3-for-4 for OSU. Oregon State catcher Paul Richie was 2-for-5 and also threw out a pair of Trojans attempting to steal.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 8, OREGON STATE 4 Oregon State 100 000 300 - 4 8 2 Southern California 100 014 20x - 8 13 1Postlewait, McCormick (6), Aselton (7) and Richie. Kennedy, Friedman (7), Williams (7), Wentworth (8) and Clement. W-Kennedy (6-2) L-Postlewait (8-2). 2B-Metropoulos (USC). HR-Moon (USC), Frost (USC).
HITS: Oregon State 8 (Ellsbury 2x4, Richie 2x5, Mathews 1x4, Kunda 3x4), Southern California 13 (Sharpe 2x4, Moon 2x3, Metropoulos 2x4, Clement 1x4, Frost 1x3, Hart 1x2, Hankerd 1x3, Brewster 2x4, Perales 1x4). RUNS BATTED IN: Oregon State 4 (Richie 1, Mathews 2, McFeely 1), Southern California 7 (Moon 2, Metropoulos 1, Clement 1, Frost 3).
Oregon State 4 (24-12,4-6 PAC-10) Southern California 8 (20-19,6-4 PAC-10)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI --------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- Jacoby Ellsbury cf......... 4 1 2 0 Blake Sharpe ss............ 4 2 2 0 Mike Lissman dh............ 3 1 0 0 Michael Moon 2b............ 3 2 2 2 Chris Campos lf............ 4 0 0 0 Joey Metropoulos 1b........ 4 1 2 1 Paul Richie c.............. 5 1 2 1 Jeff Clement c............. 4 1 1 1 Aaron Mathews rf........... 4 0 1 2 Baron Frost lf............. 4 1 1 3 Shea McFeely 3b............ 3 0 0 1 Billy Hart 3b.............. 2 1 1 0 Andy Jenkins 1b............ 3 0 0 0 Cyle Hankerd rf............ 3 0 1 0 Cole Gillespie ph/1b...... 1 0 0 0 Jon Brewster dh............ 4 0 2 0 Tony Calderon ss........... 3 0 0 0 Daniel Perales cf.......... 4 0 1 0 Mike Hass ph.............. 1 0 0 0 Ian Kennedy p.............. 0 0 0 0 Chad Schroeder ss......... 0 0 0 0 Michael Friedman p........ 0 0 0 0 Chris Kunda 2b............. 4 1 3 0 Jon Williams p............ 0 0 0 0 Jake Postlewait p.......... 0 0 0 0 Clayton Wentworth p....... 0 0 0 0 Jake McCormick p.......... 0 0 0 0 Kyle Aselton p............ 0 0 0 0 Totals..................... 35 4 8 4 Totals..................... 32 8 13 7
Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Oregon State........ 100 000 300 - 4 8 2 Southern California. 100 014 20X - 8 13 1 -------------------------------------------
E - Campos; Calderon; Hart. LOB - Oregon St. 9; So. Calif. 4. 2B - Metropoulos. HR - Moon; Frost. HBP - Lissman; Hart. SH - Moon; Hankerd. SB - Sharpe. CS - Ellsbury; Hart 2; Perales.
Oregon State IP H R ER BB SO ------------------------------------------------ Jake Postlewait L,8-2..... 5.0 9 6 5 1 3 Jake McCormick ............ 1.2 2 2 2 0 1 Kyle Aselton .............. 1.1 2 0 0 0 2
Southern California IP H R ER BB SO ------------------------------------------------ Ian Kennedy W,6-2......... 6.0 4 1 0 3 8 Michael Friedman .......... 0.2 1 2 2 1 1 Jon Williams .............. 0.1 2 1 1 0 0 Clayton Wentworth ......... 2.0 1 0 0 0 3
WP - Williams 2. HBP - by Kennedy (Lissman); by Aselton (Hart). BK - Postlewait.
Umpires - HP: Gus Rodriguez 1B: Ken Eldridge 3B: Darrel Mason Start: 7:04 pm Time: 2:54 Attendance: 375
Postlewait faced 5 batters in the 6th.
