No. 9 Oregon State Meets Rival Washington this Weekend

OSU’s attack is led by junior catcher Mitch Canham;.369 batting average, 8 home runs, and 50 runs batted in.

OSU's Joey Wong Photo: OSU Athletics

SEATTLE, Wash. - A game on a big-league field, a series against one of your regional rivals, two teams tied in the Pac-10 baseball race - it’s got all the makings of a great weekend.

Ninth-ranked Oregon State (34-9 overall, 6-6 Pac-10) visits Washington (21-20, 6-6) for a Pac-10 series with games Friday at 7:30 PM at Safeco Field, Saturday at 2:00 PM at Husky Ballpark and Sunday at 1:00 PM at Husky Ballpark.

“It’s going to be a great experience for our guys to play in maybe the best ballpark in the country,” OSU head coach Pat Casey said. “A lot of our players have been to games there and it’s going to be a dream come true for them to step no that field. And a lot of our fans also go to games there, and I think it’s going to be a thrill for them to see the Beavers play there. All through this season, we’ve had an unbelievable number of fans follow us on the road; with this series being so close to Corvallis and with a game being played on a major league field, it’d be great to see a big chunk of Beaver Nation come up for the weekend. When our guys have gone on the road and seen all that orange in the stands, it’s been an unbelievable lift for them.”

Tickets for the Friday night game at Safeco Field – the home ballpark of the major league Seattle Mariners - are sold as general admission seating and are $5 apiece for adults and $3 for children and seniors. Group ticket and family plans are also available. Call the Washington ticket office at (206) 543-2200 for more information.

Parking in the Safeco Field garage, located off of Edgar Martinez Way on the south side of the stadium, will be available for $5 as long as space is available. The stadium gates at the home plate entrance to Safeco Field will open at 6:30 PM, one hour before game time.

Kids age 12 and under will have the opportunity to join the host Huskies on the field during the national anthem and will also be allowed to take a lap around the bases following the game.

Oregon State was No. 9 in this week’s USA Today/ESPN national baseball coaches poll for the fourth straight week. The Beavers have been ranked in the nation’s top 10 for the past nine weeks in the poll. OSU is also ranked No. 8 by Baseball America magazine, No. 8 by Collegiate Baseball newspaper and No. 9 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association this week.

The Beavers and Huskies are tied for fourth place in the Pac-10 standings, trailing UCLA (24-18, 10-2), Arizona State (34-12, 11-4) and Arizona (32-11, 10-5).

After OSU and Washington come California (23-21, 7-8), Southern California (23-22, 6-9), Washington State (21-20, 4-11) and Stanford (18-23, 3-12).

“Top to bottom, this is as even as I can remember this conference being,” Casey said. “Every series is huge for every team. You’ve already seen some upsets over the past few weeks, so anything can happen in this race. All we can do is go out and try to get better every day, play the game the way it’s supposed to be played, and let the rest sort itself out.”

OSU’s attack is led by junior catcher Mitch Canham (.369 batting average, 8 home runs, 50 runs batted in), junior first baseman Jordan Lennerton (.362, 6, 38), senior outfielder Mike Lissman (.331, 5, 40), junior shortstop Darwin Barney (.302, 2, 39) and sophomore infielder Jason Ogata (.294, 2, 26).

Among the Pac-10 leaders, Canham is tied for second in RBIs; is fifth in batting average, slugging percentage (.631) and on-base percentage (.492); and is tied for eighth in home runs.

Lennerton is tied for fifth in doubles (14); is sixth in on-base percentage (.471); is eighth in slugging percentage (.614); and is ninth in batting average.

Oregon State’s pitching staff continues to have the lowest earned run average in the Pac-10 at 3.33 and the lowest batting average by its opponents at .236.

Keying that performance have been junior righthander Mike Stutes (9-1 record, 2.90 ERA), junior lefthander Joe Paterson (6-4, 3.57), junior rigthhander Daniel Turpen (7-1, 3.82) and freshman righthander Jorge Reyes (3-0, 2.70) in the starting rotation, and junior righthander Eddie Kunz (2-0, 2.45, 9 saves), sophomore righthander Mark Grbavac (0-1, 2.45, 3 saves) and freshman lefthander Blake Keitzman (1-0, 4.68, 1 save) out of the bullpen.

OSU, which has made just two errors in its last 10 games, moved into the lead in both the Pac-10 and the nation in fielding percentage this week with a .980 mark. Between the Beavers’ pitching and defense, OSU has limited opponents to three or fewer runs in 24 of 43 games this season.

Washington visited Utah Valley State last weekend for a non-conference series, losing 8-5 and 17-9 before winning the finale 20-7.

Pacing the Huskies have been junior utility player Matt Hague (.348, 9, 33), senior first baseman Curt Rindal (.340, 9, 41), sophomore infielder Bradley Boyer (.338, 3, 20) and freshman outfielder Ty Rasmussen (.319, 7, 22).

The game between Oregon State and Washington at Safeco Field will mark the Beavers’ first appearance in a major league ballpark since they were swept by Minnesota at the Metrodome from March 26th-28th, 1999, by scores of 14-6, 16-9 and 11-6.

OSU also played in the Mariners’ former home, the Kingdome, in a series against Washington from April 16th-18th, 1993, losing 4-1 and 5-0 before winning 4-0.

Beaver teams from another sport have also played several games in major league ballparks, as Oregon State’s football team made a number of late-season trips east in the 1920s and 1930s.

On Nov. 29th, 1928, the Beavers beat New York University 25-13 at Yankee Stadium; on Nov. 19th, 1932, Oregon State lost to Fordham 8-6 at the Polo Grounds (home of the New York Giants); and on Nov. 18th, 1933, the Beavers beat Fordham 9-6 at the Polo Grounds.

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