PULLMAN, Wash. – Gabe Clark collected four hits and four RBI to lead No. 5 Oregon State past Washington State 12-5 in Pac-12 baseball, Saturday.
With the victory, the Beavers (26-7, 10-4 Pac-12) evened the weekend series with the Cougars (16-15, 7-4). The rubber game will be Sunday at noon.
“We did not get a good start on the mound and you cannot do that against a good team like Oregon State,” Cougar Head Coach Donnie Marbut said. “Our goal is to win a Pac-12 series, especially at home, and we still have a chance to do that tomorrow.”
Oregon State scored a run on two hits in the top of the second against Washington State starter Tanner Chleborad (2-3), but the Cougars responded with two runs in their half of the innings off Beaver starter Andrew Moore (3-2).
Nick Tanielu led off with a double, one of his career-high tying four hits, and scored on a single by Ben Roberts. P.J. Jones singled and Ian Sagdal moved the runners to second and third with a sacrifice. A ground out by Matt Mendenhall scored Roberts to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead.
The Beavers scored three times on three hits in the third to take a 4-2 lead. The Cougars clawed back within 4-3 by scoring a run in the fourth. Jones and Sagdal opened with singles and Mendenhall sacrificed. After Trace Tam Sing walked to load the bases, Jones scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Collin Slaybaugh.
Oregon State chased Chleborad with two runs in the fifth and tacked on two runs in the sixth for an 8-3 advantage. Tanielu delivered a two-out, two-run double closed the gap to 8-5 in the bottom of the sixth, but the Beavers picked up four unearned runs in the seventh to put the game away.