Baseball sweeps into Pac-10 lead
Jacoby Ellsbury has record day on Sunday, helping OSU complete a weekend road sweep of UCLA
Barometer Staff Report
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Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury set Oregon State's school record for runs in a career as No. 10 OSU beat UCLA 16-3 in Pacific-10 baseball Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
With the win, the Beavers completed a three-game sweep of the Bruins.
On Friday, OSU rallied to win 3-1, giving manager Pat Casey his 500th career win.
Sophomore closer Kevin Gunderson broke the OSU single season saves record, as well as the career mark.
Saturday, six runs in the sixth inning propelled the Beavers to a 10-4 victory. Cole Gillespie drove in three of those runs with a triple.
It was Ellsbury's turn to shine on Sunday, finishing 4-for-6 with three doubles and two runs batted in.
His three doubles tied the OSU record for doubles in a game.
The Beavers (36-8 overall, 14-4 Pac-10) moved into first place in the conference race, one-half game ahead of Arizona.
Ellsbury scored in the first inning Sunday against UCLA (11-33, 1-14), the 150th run of his career, matching Ken Bowen's mark set from 1984-87.
The junior from Madras made the record his own in the fourth inning when he and Tyler Graham hit back-to-back doubles, plating his 151st run. Ellsbury later added another run in the eighth inning.
He also shined in the field, making a diving catch of a line drive hit by pinch-hitter Aaron Markel with the bases loaded to end the seventh inning.
OSU right-hander Jonah Nickerson got the win to improve his record to 8-0 after struggling through the first two innings.
In six innings, he allowed three runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out six.
Graham, Darwin Barney and Mike Lissman all had three hits for OSU, but Andy Jenkins saw his career-best hitting streak end at 13 games.
The Beavers finished with 19 hits, exceeding their previous season-high of 18 accomplished April 16 at Arizona.
The OSU offense staked Nickerson to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning and a 3-2 lead in the top of the second, but the Bruins tied the score in the bottom half of the inning each time.
The Beavers finally broke the game open with three runs in the fourth inning and two more in the fifth for an 8-3 lead.
OSU went in front 6-3 with a four-run fourth inning.
Shea McFeely led off with a single and took second on an error on the play. Then, Mike Lissman bounced an infield single up the first baseline and McFeely scored all the way from second when the ball skipped into foul territory.
Graham and Ellsbury then delivered their doubles to drive in the final two runs.
The Beavers extended their advantage to 8-3 in the top of the fifth. Barney led off with a single, and Mitch Canham drove his fifth homer of the season over the right-center field fence to chase UCLA starter Brant Rustich from the game.
OSU tacked on five more runs in the top of the seventh inning, keyed by Ryan Gipson's two-run double and run-scoring singles by Barney and pinch-hitter Danny Anderson.
The Beavers had taken a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after Ellsbury led off with a single and Graham walked.
Jenkins' groundout moved the runners up. Then, Gillespie delivered a run-scoring groundout and Barney a run-scoring single to right-center.
In the bottom of the inning, Nickerson retired the first two hitters, but a walk and consecutive singles by Hector Ambriz, Brett McMillan and Sean Carpenters tied the game 2-2.
The Beavers went in front 3-2 in the top of the second when Lissman singled with one out, was sacrificed to second by Gipson and scored when Ellsbury sliced a double just inside the left field line.
UCLA again tied it in the bottom of the inning when Nickerson hit Eric Taylor with a pitch and Taylor eventually scored on Will Penniall's two-out single.
The Beavers continue their string of road games next weekend at Washington, with games Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games can be heard on KEJO-AM (1240).
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