Oregon State powers past Washington in marathon Pac-12 Tournament opener
There were 33 combined hits in a game that spanned over four hours late Wednesday night, but it was Oregon State who emerged with the win to remain on the winner’s side of the bracket at the inaugural Pac-12 Baseball Tournament opener.
Garret Forrester and Gavin Logan each homered in the effort, helping give the 2-seed Beavers a 13-8 win over 7-seed Washington. With the win, the Beavers (42-13) notched their 11th straight over the Huskies (30-25). Oregon State is also 15-1 against UW in the last 16 meetings.
Forrester hit his fifth home run of the season in the fourth inning, a five-run frame that immediately answered Washington’s five runs in the top of the inning. The three-run blast began a night in which he drove in four runs.
Logan, Jacob Melton, and Jake Dukart all had three hits to pace the OSU offense, which saw all nine starters notch at least one hit. Logan’s homer was his third on the year. Wade Meckler added one hit to go with two walks, two RBIs and two runs scored. His sacrifice fly in the eighth capped the Beavers’ scoring on the evening.
Washington’s Ryan Velazquez took the loss after allowing one hit and three runs in one inning. It was his first earned loss of the year (3-1). The win went to Mitchell Verburg, who improved to 5-3 with one and a third innings of relief.
Ben Ferrer and Ryan Brown combined to hold UW scoreless over the last four innings, allowing just five hits and striking out six batters faced.
UW will face UCLA Thursday in an elimination game, with first pitch coming roughly 45 minutes after the completion of Stanford-Arizona (4:45 p.m. PT). The Beavers will face Cal in the mid-day slot.