Oregon State
37-18, 17-12
Oregon
42-16, 19-10
Play At Plate Sends Baseball To 3-2 Win, Series Victory
May 26, 2012 | Baseball
May 26, 2012
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Michael Conforto's third outfield assist of the 2012 season was far and away his biggest of the year.
The freshman made a catch on Ryon Healy's line drive and threw out Aaron Payne attempting to tag up from third to send the 23rd-ranked Oregon State baseball team to a 3-2 win over No. 5 Oregon on Saturday afternoon. The Beavers have clinched the series and go for the sweep on Sunday.
Payne led off the ninth with a double off Dan Child, making his first relief outing of the season. He moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and was in scoring position with just one out for Healy, who hit a home run in Friday's game.
Healy hit a sinking liner to left that was narrowly caught by a running Conforto, who then threw a one-bounce strike to catcher Ryan Gorton, who made the tag for the game-ending double play.
It earned Dan Child his first save of the season after he went 1 2/3 innings, where he allowed one hit with one strikeout, throwing 22 pitches. Dylan Davis got the win after getting the final out of the seventh in relief of Jace Fry.
Nick Rulli ended the contest as the Beaver (37-18 overall, 17-12 Pac-12 Conference) with the game-winning hit. In just his fifth plate appearance of the season, he lined a one-out double down the left field line off Oregon reliever Thomas Thorpe. That enabled Kavin Keyes to score from second with the game-winning run.
Oregon (42-16, 19-10) scored first for the second consecutive game, taking a 2-0 lead in the third on runs driven in by Kyle Garlick and Brett Hambright. But the Beavers tied the game in the sixth when Danny Hayes hit a two-run home run to right, his fifth round-tripper of the season.
Fry started for the Beavers and worked 6 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits and two runs. He did not figure in the decision.
Oregon's Jake Reed took the loss to drop to 6-4 this season. He allowed five hits and three runs in 6 1/3 innings.
Hayes led the Beavers with two hits while Aaron Jones had three to lead the Ducks.
The teams finish their three-game series and regular season Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PT.
Follow the game on the Beaver Sports Radio Network and Beaver Nation Online (osubeavers.com) with Mike Parker calling all the action.
For more information on the Oregon State baseball team, follow the club's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/Beaver_Baseball or by Facebook at Facebook.com/OregonStateBaseball.
OREGON STATE NOTES: Danny Hayes extended his hit streak to 10 games ... OSU improved to 33-0 when leading after eight ... OSU is 9-8 against top 25 teams and 4-3 against top 10 clubs ... The Beavers improved to 8-1 against Oregon at Goss Stadium since the Ducks reinstated their program in 2009 ... Jace Fry's start was his eighth quality start in 12 games this season ... The Beavers are 20-7 when getting a quality start ... OSU improved to 9-8 in one-run games, including 4-2 at home games.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Davis, Dylan (1-0)
L: Reed, Jake (6-4)
S: Child, Dan (1)
Batting:
2B: Payne, Aaron 1 ; Hambright, Ryan 1 ; Hambright, Brett 1
RBI: Garlick, Kyle 1 ; Hambright, Brett 1
SH: Altobelli, J.J. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Altobelli, J.J. 1 ; Jones, Aaron 1
SB: Altobelli, J.J. 1
HBP: Garlick, Kyle 1
Batting:
2B: Hayes, Danny 1 ; Rulli, Nick 1
HR: Hayes, Danny 1
RBI: Hayes, Danny 2 ; Rulli, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Conforto, Michael 1 ; Hayes, Danny 1 ; Keyes, Kavin 1
HBP: Barnes, Ryan 1
