No. 15 Oregon State Bangs Out 6-2 Win Over New Mexico

Mike Stutes improved his record to 3-0 this season with the win.

Photo: OSU Athletics

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Drew George went 4-for-5 with a double, one run batted in, two runs scored and a stolen base for Oregon State as the 15th-ranked Beavers beat New Mexico 6-2 on Saturday afternoon at Olsen Field on the second day of the Domino’s Pizza Aggie Baseball Classic.

Mike Stutes pitched into the seventh inning to earn the win for OSU (12-3 overall).

Against New Mexico (6-10), the Beavers came up with 12 hits -- a significant improvement from their five in Friday night’s loss to Texas A&M -- but still left 13 runners on base.

OSU also committed a pair of errors and had two runners thrown out stealing.

“We talked after the game about how we got away with one,” OSU head coach Pat Casey said.

“We played average baseball, and fortunately the mistakes we made didn’t hurt us. We have to be satisfied with winning, but we can’t be satisfied with the way we played. We’re very much in no-man’s land right now as far as what our thought process is playing the game. We just need to get better.”

OSU took the lead for good with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning.

Koa Kahalahoe was hit by a pitch from Lobo righthander Stephen Smith with one out, then Braden Wells’ single put runners at first and second.

Joey Wong followed with a single through the right side that scored Kahalehoe for a 2-1 lead and sent Wells to third, then Wells scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-1.

Oregon State bumped that to 6-1 with a three-run top of the fifth inning.

The frame included a run-scoring single up the middle by John Wallace, an RBI double to the centerfield wall by George, and a run-scoring groundout by Kahalahoe that came as he race to first base ahead of a throw that could have completed an inning-ending double play.

New Mexico had tied the game and threatened to take the lead against Stutes in the bottom of the third inning.

The junior righthander hit a batter, walked a batter, and then gave up back-to-back one-out singles to Matt Foote and Jay Russell to tie the game at 1-1 and keep the bases loaded with one out and the heart of the order coming up.

Stutes then snuck a third strike past Jordan Pacheco on a full-count pitch for the second out, and he retired cleanup hitter Daniel Stovall on a flyout to leftfield to end the inning with the game still tied.

Oregon State had taken a 1-0 lead with a two-out rally in the top of the second inning.

George shot a single through the left side and stole second, then Jordan Lennerton walked to put runners at first and second; Kahalehoe came up and drove a single into left-center to score George and put OSU in front.

Stutes improved his record to 3-0 this season with the win, working 6 1/3 innings and allowing one run on four hits and one walk while striking out four.

Stutes had also beaten the Lobos last season in Corvallis with one of his most impressive performances of 2006, when he pitched eight innings and allowed one run on four hits and a walk while striking out 11.

Jorge Reyes followed with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for OSU as the freshman righthander allowed one hit and no walks while striking out three.

Junior righthander Eddie Kunz pitched the ninth, allowing an unearned run on a hit and a walk.

George’s four hits are the most he’s had in a game during the junior infielder’s first season at OSU.

He was the only Beaver with more than one hit, as nine different Beavers had a hit.

Oregon State continues the tournament against St. Louis on Sunday at 10:30 AM PST against St. Louis, then concludes the event against host Texas A&M on Monday at 12:30 PM PST.

Both games can be heard live on KEJO-AM (1240) in the mid-Willamette Valley and on KUIK-AM (1360) in the Portland area, and via subscription on the internet at www.osubeavers.com.

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