CORVALLIS, Ore. (March 21, 2021) – Washington State dropped the rubber game of the Pac-12 Conference opening series 9-8 after an eighth inning solo home run by No. 18 Oregon State at Goss Stadium Sunday afternoon. WSU won Friday's opener 5-2 and the Beavers claimed Saturday's contest 10-3.
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The Cougars (11-4), who were seeking their first series win against Oregon State in Corvallis since 2009, were tied at eight heading into the bottom of the eighth before OSU (13-4) hit the go-ahead solo home run to left field.
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WSU received a three-hit game from third baseman
Jack Smith, three walks and two runs scored from leadoff man
Kodie Kolden and a game-tying two-run double from right fielder
Collin Montez. Left fielder
Jacob McKeon drove in two runs and first baseman
Kyle Manzardo doubled in a run to extend his on-base streak to 40 games, second longest in WSU history. Oregon State used 11 hits and took advantage of nine free passes to hold off the Cougars.
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KEY MOMENTS OF THE GAME
In the second, OSU took advantage of a couple Cougar miscues as a hit-by-pitch and a couple wild pitches led to a run coming across and a couple walks, a two-out single back up the middle plated two more for a 3-0 Beaver advantage.
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In the third, Manzardo drove a pitch the other way for an RBI-double to left field and Kolden raced around from first for the run. In the bottom of the inning, OSU caught a break as a batted ball was initially ruled foul but the umpires met and changed to a single, and the Beavers added a pair of runs with two outs for a 5-1 lead.
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The Cougars again answered in the fourth inning as Smith singled to right field with two outs and
Keith Jones II drew a walk before McKeon punched a single through the right side for an RBI-single, cutting the OSU lead to 5-2. WSU nearly added another run on a first and third play but the Cougar runners was tagged out at home on the play to end the inning.
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In the fifth, WSU caught a break as a potential ground ball double play was booted and the Cougars scored a run on the play. Following a walk, Montez doubled home two runs with shot to right-centerfield to tie the game at five. Smith and McKeon each followed with sacrifice flies to give WSU a 7-5 lead.
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Oregon State evened things up with two runs in the fifth on just one hit but took advantage of two hit-by-pitches, two walks and two wild pitches by the Cougar bullpen. The Beavers used a leadoff walk and a pair of singles to take an 8-7 lead in the sixth.
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In the seventh,
Justin Van De Brake and Smith each singled back up the middle start the inning and both moved up a base on a balk before Van De Brake raced home on a wild pitch to even things up at eight.
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In the bottom of the eighth, Oregon State took a 9-8 lead with a leadoff solo home run to left field.
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INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Jack Smith singled to RF in the 2
nd inning to extend his on-base streak to 11 games
Manzardo doubled in the 3rd inning to extend his on-base streak to 40 games, 2nd-longest in WSU history (42, Brady Everett – 2005)
Tristan Peterson singled 5th to extend his on-base streak to 15 games
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NEXT UP
The Cougars head to Las Vegas for a two-game set with UNLV Tuesday and Wednesday before heading to Tempe for a weekend series at Arizona State.
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