Pac-10 Baseball: Arizona Sweeps No. 2 Oregon State

Oregon State righthander Daniel Turpen suffered the first loss of his career after 10 victories.

OSU's Mike Lissman Photo: OSU Athletics

TUCSON, Ariz. - Oregon State rallied for six runs in the top of the ninth inning but the second-ranked Beavers fell to 25th-ranked Arizona 17-14 in Pac-10 baseball Sunday afternoon at Kindall Field at Sancet Stadium.

The Beavers (23-6 overall, 0-3 Pac-10) outhit the Wildcats (25-6, 3-0) by an 18-16 margin but Arizona won its 12th straight game.

On Sunday, OSU had one of its most productive offensive games of the season but came up empty in some key situations that might have allowed the Beavers to keep pace with the Wildcats.

OSU also allowed six walks, hit six batters and committed three errors.

“We just played poorly for the whole weekend,” OSU head coach Pat Casey said. “I don’t think three games are going to define our entire season. It’s certainly a bad time to play as poorly as we played, and Arizona played very, very well. I’m disappointed that we didn’t have people compete well in certain situations, and because the game ended up the way it did in the last inning, if we had done things right, with that finish, we had a chance to win the ballgame.”

“We played poorly against a team that’s playing very well. It frustrates me and I take responsibility because I’m the coach. But you’re not going win many games when between walks and hits and errors you’re putting that many guys on base ... that’s pretty tough. You’d better be pretty good offensively if you’re going to give them that many runners.”

Oregon State righthander Daniel Turpen suffered the first loss of his career after 10 victories.

Turpen fell to 6-1 this season, pitching 2 1/3 innings and allowing seven runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out one.

OSU, which faced its biggest deficit of the day at 17-8 entering the bottom of the ninth inning, eventually brought the go-ahead run to the plate.

Oregon State had six hits and a walk in the inning and took advantage of a pair of Arizona errors.

The inning included a pinch-hit double by Scotty Berke, a run-scoring single by John Wallace, a run-scoring single by Erik Ammon, a run-scoring fielder’s choice by Darwin Barney, and a two-run double that bounced off third base by Mike Lissman.

After Lissman’s hit, Jason Ogata singled through the left side and Berke reached on an error that scored Lissman to make it 17-14.

When Joey Wong poked a single through the left side of the infield, the Beavers had the tying run on base with Drew George coming to the plate but UA reliever Cory Burns was able to strike out George to end the game.

Hopkins was 3-for-3 with four runs scored for the Beavers; Barney was 3-for-5 with a double and four runs batted in, and Lissman was 3-for-6 with a double and two RBIs.

Arizona’s runs and hits were both season-highs allowed by the Beavers. C.J. Ziegler was 5-for-5 for UA with a pair of doubles.

Oregon State hadn’t been swept in a series since dropping all three games at Arizona State near the end of the 2004 sesason.

OSU hadn’t lost three straight games since a seven-game losing streak near the end of the 2004 season that included that sweep at ASU.

Oregon State now returns to Goss Stadium at Coleman Field for a 10-game homestand, starting with a series against Southern California next Thursday at 5:00 PM, Friday at 5:00 PM and Saturday at noon.

All three games can be heard live on KEJO-AM (1240) in the Corvallis area, KUIK-AM (1360) in the Portland area, KKNX-AM (840) in the Eugene area and KICE-AM (940) in the Bend area.

Live audio and video for the games will be available on the internet via subscription on Beaver Nation Online at www.osubeavers.com.

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