CORVALLIS — As Mitch Canham strolled from the Oregon State baseball postgame huddle to a gathering with reporters, he sported a displeased, virtually irritated look.
The No. 7 Beavers had simply dismissed the Lengthy Seashore State Dirtbags 12-8 within the second sport of a three-game sequence at Goss Stadium, clinching a victory within the ultimate sequence of the common season. Nevertheless it was removed from an ideal outing for a workforce with nationwide championship aspirations, which let the Dirtbags cling round with a barrage of shoddy late-game pitching.
“I believe you may see from my face how I really feel,” Canham, the Beavers’ coach mentioned. “My expectations of us are simply extraordinarily excessive.”
It was a kind of nights for the Beavers (40-12-1). Freshman right-hander Dax Whitney was dominant. Canon Reeder was a menace. Trent Caraway had his finest efficiency in a month. And Easton Talt ended an 0-for-35 hunch.
By the fourth inning — after Reeder belted a grand slam and Caraway hit a three-run homer — Oregon State sported a commanding 8-0 lead and appeared effectively on its option to a run-rule victory within the penultimate sport of the common season.
Then the bullpen imploded, placing that scowl on Canham’s face.
The Dirtbags (22-30) scored 5 runs within the seventh inning, utilizing a slew of free passes and a pair clutch swings to make the sport nearer than it ought to have been. Lengthy Seashore State despatched 11 batters to the plate within the hard-to-watch body, profiting from erratic performances by Tanner Douglas and AJ Hutcheson. Douglas opened inning and managed only one out, permitting two singles and hitting a batter, earlier than Canham and pitching coach Wealthy Dorman had seen sufficient.
Hutcheson, who inherited two base runners, momentarily stopped the bleeding, recording a three-pitch strikeout. However then he walked two, gave up a pair of singles and hit a batter — with the bases loaded — giving Lengthy Seashore State life. He was in the end pulled for Zach Kmatz, who quelled the rally with an inning-ending groundout, sustaining an 8-5 lead for Oregon State.
However the Beavers’ bullpen blues weren’t over. After Kmatz pitched a scoreless eighth, Nelson Keljo entered for the ninth and added to the frustration, permitting a stroll and 4 hits, together with a two-run homer to Armando Briseno. The Dirtbags by no means actually brought about the 4,108 at Goss to worry a couple of loss, however the sloppiness was disconcerting and the ultimate rating nearer than it ought to have been.
“Clearly, on the pitching facet, it was not clear,” Canham mentioned, including later, “It was completely totally different from yesterday, (after we have been) so crisp, placing up zeros left and proper.”
Luckily for Canham and the Beavers, Whitney had an distinctive begin and the offense had its most explosive efficiency in additional than a month.
Whitney overpowered Lengthy Seashore State for five 1/3 innings, placing out six and permitting only one hit, breezing to a win for the second consecutive week. He had one hiccup within the fourth, when he walked three batters — after sitting for an prolonged interval through the Beavers’ seven-run third — however was wonderful general. He held the Dirtbags to 1 second-inning single, utilizing all 4 of his pitches, together with a 96-mph fastball and 81-mph changeup — with equal precision.
It was the second consecutive inspiring begin for Whitney, who has allowed only one run, 4 hits and recorded 17 strikeouts in his 11 1/3 innings, throughout which he’s earned victories over Iowa and Lengthy Seashore State.
“I’m actually assured proper now,” Whitney mentioned.
The lineup regarded assured, too.
Reeder went 3 for 4 with two house runs, three run scored and a career-high seven RBIs. He blasted a grand slam to left-center within the second, when the Beavers scored seven runs to take an 8-0 lead, and added a three-run homer within the eighth, placing an exclamation level on a well timed late-season surge. The junior outfielder is hitting .455 (10 for 22) with three homers, 12 RBIs, 5 runs scored and two doubles during the last six video games.
In the meantime, Caraway, broke out of a monthlong hunch in emphatic vogue, going 3 for five with a homer, double and 4 RBIs. It was his first multi-hit effort since Might 2 and simply the second sport within the final 9 he’s recorded successful.
Talt additionally took a step away from his funk, delivering a second-inning double right down to the correct subject nook. It was his first hit since since April 21, a 14-game stretch.
Tyce Peterson (2 for five with a homer) and Aiva Arquette (2 for five) added multi-hit performances for a lineup that bashed 16 hits and produced its most hits and runs since April 19.
“I believe it’s all coming collectively,” Reeder mentioned. “Pitching workers’s doing their job, and the hitters are beginning to rake. So it’s a superb mixture.”
Simply not ok to forestall that irritated look from Canham.
Subsequent up: The Beavers and Dirtbags play the ultimate sport of the common season Friday afternoon at Goss. First pitch is scheduled for 12:35.
— Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | @freemanjoe.bsky.social | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the most recent information and prime tales.
