Spring Break
Fortunately fortunate
Jeff Ellis
Issue date: 4/21/09 Section: Sports
Beaver baseball is undoubtedly a national powerhouse. Winning back-to-back national championships brought along with it not only the support of fans and media coverage but a beautifully reconstructed home park incomparable to that of years prior.
The ever-growing buzz surrounding Corvallis and Goss Stadium is on a constant high. The talent level has not been the only contributor to the team's recent success, however. The team's ability to execute during key moments throughout the game played a huge role in weekly rankings and their consistent place among the nation's elite.
This past weekend the team's inability to capitalize during clutch situations resulted in the then-No. 14 Beavers' series loss to USC and a slide in the USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 baseball coaches poll to the 20th spot, tied with Clemson.
The key mistake Saturday came in the eighth inning, as the Beavers threatened and rallied to take the lead. Stefen Romero bunted into a double play, ending the inning and leading to a three-run ninth inning for the Trojans and a USC Pac-10 victory.
Trojan Billy Pinkerton's one-out double drove in the go-ahead run and Alex Sherrod put the nail in the coffin by lacing a two-run double and finalizing the 5-2 score.
The Beavers' lack of offensive execution and failure to drive runs in seemed to cause the loss. According to Oregonlive.com, Coach Pat Casey said "It's just lack of execution, lack of offensive production, lack of potency at the plate, lack of competitiveness at the plate. We've got to be a better offensive club to compete in this league."
Luckily, the final game seemed to reverse error roles and the USC Trojans were unable to sweep the Beavers. The key play of the game came in the 10th inning when John Tommasini came to the plate. Facing a similar situation to Saturday's game, which had a sour result, Tommasini was given the sign to bunt.
After bunting the ball back toward the USC pitcher Daniel Cooper, a similar fate was to be determined. Fortunately for the Beavers, the baseball gods were kind, and Cooper sailed a throw to third, allowing the runner at third to score easily.
Currently, Oregon State is tied for second with Washington State in the Pac-10 Conference, with an overall record of 29-9 and a conference record of 8-4. Next up for the Beavers is a trip to Los Angeles to face the UCLA Bruins in a three-game series, which will begin April 24.
Make sure to support the team when it returns to Corvallis for a Civil War matchup against Oregon in Corvallis April 28 at 5 p.m.
Jeff Ellis, sports writer
sports@dailybarometer.com
The ever-growing buzz surrounding Corvallis and Goss Stadium is on a constant high. The talent level has not been the only contributor to the team's recent success, however. The team's ability to execute during key moments throughout the game played a huge role in weekly rankings and their consistent place among the nation's elite.
This past weekend the team's inability to capitalize during clutch situations resulted in the then-No. 14 Beavers' series loss to USC and a slide in the USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 baseball coaches poll to the 20th spot, tied with Clemson.
The key mistake Saturday came in the eighth inning, as the Beavers threatened and rallied to take the lead. Stefen Romero bunted into a double play, ending the inning and leading to a three-run ninth inning for the Trojans and a USC Pac-10 victory.
Trojan Billy Pinkerton's one-out double drove in the go-ahead run and Alex Sherrod put the nail in the coffin by lacing a two-run double and finalizing the 5-2 score.
The Beavers' lack of offensive execution and failure to drive runs in seemed to cause the loss. According to Oregonlive.com, Coach Pat Casey said "It's just lack of execution, lack of offensive production, lack of potency at the plate, lack of competitiveness at the plate. We've got to be a better offensive club to compete in this league."
Luckily, the final game seemed to reverse error roles and the USC Trojans were unable to sweep the Beavers. The key play of the game came in the 10th inning when John Tommasini came to the plate. Facing a similar situation to Saturday's game, which had a sour result, Tommasini was given the sign to bunt.
After bunting the ball back toward the USC pitcher Daniel Cooper, a similar fate was to be determined. Fortunately for the Beavers, the baseball gods were kind, and Cooper sailed a throw to third, allowing the runner at third to score easily.
Currently, Oregon State is tied for second with Washington State in the Pac-10 Conference, with an overall record of 29-9 and a conference record of 8-4. Next up for the Beavers is a trip to Los Angeles to face the UCLA Bruins in a three-game series, which will begin April 24.
Make sure to support the team when it returns to Corvallis for a Civil War matchup against Oregon in Corvallis April 28 at 5 p.m.
Jeff Ellis, sports writer
sports@dailybarometer.com
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