Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short In Oregon State’s Loss To No. 3 Arizona State

The Beavers will return to action on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. PT., as they take on Arizona State in the second game of the series.

Salem-News.com Sports

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State rallied for two runs in the ninth inning, but it was not enough to overcome four early runs from No. 3 Arizona State in a 4-2 loss Friday night at Goss Stadium. A regular season record crowd of 3,129 was on hand to watch the game.

Entering the bottom of the ninth down 4-0, Ryan Ortiz led the inning off by drawing a walk off of Arizona State (33-9 overall, 16-3 Pacific-10 Conference) starter Mike Leake. Stefen Romero followed that with a double off the left field wall and Jared Norris was then hit by a pitch to bring the tying run to the plate in the form of Adalberto Santos.

Santos drove the ball into right field, but was robbed on a diving catch on the warning track by Matt Newman that turned the play into a sacrifice fly. Koa Kahalehoe followed that up with a deep fly ball to left that scored one more run, but Michael Miller grounded out on the next pitch to end the Beavers’ threat.

Tanner Robles (0-1) started on the mound for the Beavers (25-12, 9-7) for the fifth time this season and struck out a season-high six hitters in five innings of work. The southpaw did not walk a batter for the second straight start. His five innings pitched equaled his February 20 outing against Tennessee for his longest of the season.

Robles was followed by three Beaver relievers who held the Sun Devils scoreless for the final four innings of the game. James Nygren came on in the sixth inning and went 1 2/3 innings for his 10th scoreless outing in 13 appearances.

Josh Osich relieved Nygren with one out in the seventh inning and retired all five hitters he faced. The Beavers’ left-hander has held opponents scoreless in eight of his 10 appearances. His outing on Friday lowered his ERA .57 points to 2.20 for the season.

Romero went 2-for-4 on the day for his 16th multi-hit game of the season. He is second only to Ortiz for most multi-hit games for the Beavers this season.

Joey Wong singled past first basemen Riccio Torrez the first inning for the Beavers’ first hit of the game. The Oregon State shortstop has a hit in eight of his last nine games.

Leake was dominant for Arizona State, throwing his fourth complete game of the season and allowing just two OSU hits before the ninth inning. Leake, who came into the game tied for the nation’s lead in wins, improved to 11-1 on the year.

Drew Maggi hit leadoff for the Sun Devils and reached base and scored in his first three plate appearances.

The Beavers will return to action on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. PT., as they take on Arizona State in the second game of the series. Greg Peavey (3-2, 3.93 ERA) will take the mound, while the Sun Devils’ starter is still undecided. Catch the game live on the Beaver Sports Network and Beaver Nation Online (osubeavers.com).

Oregon State Notes: Tanner Robles six strikeouts were the most the left-hander has had since April 26 of last season, when he struck out seven against Arizona at Goss Stadium … Stefen Romero’s double in the ninth inning was his team-leading 20th extra-base hit of the season … Friday’s game lasted 2:15, the quickest game of the season and four minutes shorter than the Beavers’ April 4 game against California.

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