Pac-10 Baseball: No. 9 Oregon State Hosts WSU This Weekend

OSU is in fifth place in the Pac-10 standings, trailing UCLA, Arizona State, Arizona and Washington.

Photo: OSU Athletics

CORVALLIS, Ore. - The Pac-10 baseball race is well into its second half, and Oregon State goes into its final homestand of the regular season looking to climb in the standings.

The six-game stretch on the home diamond of the ninth-ranked Beavers (35-11 overall, 7-8 Pac-10) begins this weekend against Washington State (23-21, 6-12) with games Friday at 5:00 PM, Saturday at 1:00 PM and Sunday at 1:00 PM at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.

Oregon State then hosts ninth-ranked Arizona State the following weekend, then finishes the regular season at 25th-ranked UCLA.

“We’re down to three weeks left in the regular season, and we’ve got to play three weeks of very good baseball to get into the postseason and give ourselves a chance to play at home in the postseason,” OSU head coach Pat Casey said. “The things that have gotten us where we are this season - pitching and defense - we’ve got to do with the consistency that we’ve had most of this spring. We’ve also got to compete at the plate, make ourselves tough outs, and get enough runs to win games.”

The Beavers dropped the first two games of a series at Washington last weekend but rebounded to win the finale 8-2.

“Sunday showed what I think this ballclub is about,” Casey said. “We got great pitching and some outstanding defense, and we came up with some hits at key times. That’s how we’ve been able to win games this season, and that’s how we’re going to have to win down the stretch. Hopefully, that game is a springboard for these final three series.”

The Beavers return home after two straight weekends on the road, and OSU is 14-2 in its home ballpark this season.

“It’s always great to play at home, especially when you’ve been on the road for a while,” Casey said. “Our park has a great atmosphere and our guys love it. Last weekend, it was almost like being at home (when OSU had nearly as many fans as host Washington for the three-game series), and we want to thank all those fans who went up to Seattle and supported us. That was outstanding, and our club is very, very grateful to all those people.”

Oregon State is in fifth place in the Pac-10 standings, trailing UCLA (12-3), Arizona State (11-4), Arizona (10-5) and Washington (8-7).

OSU is one-half game ahead of California (8-10) and one game ahead of Southern California (6-9). Washington State is in eighth place and Stanford (4-14) is ninth.

OSU continues to be paced at the plate by junior catcher Mitch Canham (.355 batting average, 8 home runs, 50 runs batted in), junior first baseman Jordan Lennerton (.355, 6, 39), senior outfielder Mike Lissman (.324, 5, 43), sophomore infielder Jason Ogata (.315, 3, 32) and junior shortstop Darwin Barney (.304, 2, 39).

Oregon State’s pitching staff continues to lead the Pac-10 in earned run average at 3.48, led by junior righthander Mike Stutes (9-2 record, 3.24 ERA), junior lefthander Joe Paterson (6-5, 4.13), freshman righthander Jorge Reyes (4-0, 2.45) and junior righthander Eddie Kunz (2-0, 2.37, 9 saves).

WSU’s home game against Lewis-Clark State on Tuesday was cancelled due to lightning.

Last weekend, the Cougars took a Pac-10 series from Stanford as they lost the opener 6-4 before winning 8-6 and 4-2.

Offensively, the Cougars have been led by junior outfielder Simi Reynolds (.352, 0, 12), junior utility player Scott Suttmeier (.330, 1, 13), junior infielder Paul Gran (.319, 3, 27) and senior infielder Jeff Miller (.317, 7, 31).

Mainstays in the starting rotation have been senior righthander Wayne Daman Jr. (3-4, 3.77) and senior righthander Nick Ison (4-6, 5.37).

RADIO: Live on KEJO-AM (1240) in Corvallis area; live on KUIK-AM (1360) in Portland area; live on KKNX-AM (840) in Eugene area; live on KICE-AM (940) in Bend area. Live in Spanish on KXQR-AM (660) in Eugene area.

INTERNET VIDEO AND AUDIO: Live via subscription on Beaver Nation Online at www.osubeavers.com.

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