#2 Beaver Baseball sweeps UCLA at Goss

Jun 15, 2013; Omaha, NE, USA; Oregon State outfielder Michael Conforto (8) catches a fly ball hit during the third inning of their College World Series game at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Dave Weaver-USA Today Sports

#2 Oregon State Beaver baseball kept their winning ways, sweeping UCLA in convincing fashion at Goss Stadium over the weekend. The Beavers outscored the Bruins 24-7 in the three game series.

Ben Wetzler tallied his record setting 33rd career win as an Oregon State Beaver on Friday as the Beavers scored four runs in the eighth to take a 4-2 winning advantage over the Bruins. The senior righty allowed eight hits, two runs, and struck out eight while retiring his final eight batters in order before handing the reigns to closer Scott Schultz for the final inning. Schultz struck out two and earned his fifth save of the year. This after Schultz went 4 1/3 innings earlier in the week, snagging the win in a 12 inning affair with Oregon.

UCLA allowed a two-out rally in the eighth, allowing five straight Beavers to reach base safely. Dylan Davis and Michael Howard singled, before a Gabe Clark walk loaded the bases again. Bruin relievers then walked two straight batters to give the Beavers the 4-2 advantage they would need to close out the first game of the series.

Gabe Clark had a career day on Saturday, driving in four runs as the Beavers cruised to a 9-3 rout of UCLA. The win clinched the series for the Beavers, marking six consecutive series victories in the Pac-12 conference.

Clark singled twice and smacked a sacrifice fly, matching his career high for RBIs. Dylan Davis added to his conference leading RBI total, driving in two runs to set his season mark at 56. The Redmond, Wash. native lead the conference in RBIs in 2013 as well, knocking in 61 runs as a sophomore. Jeff Hendrix added to the rout, slapping three singles, scoring three times, and stealing two bases.

Sophomore Andrew Moore earned his third win of the season, moving to 3-0, after scattering ten hits and three runs over 6 2/3 inning. Zack Reeser, Brandon Jackson, and Max Englebrekt combined for the last 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief pitching. Jackson relieved Moore with the bases loaded in the sixth, but struck out the final batter of the inning to steam the tide of a Bruin comeback.

Michael Conforto secured his place atop the record books at Oregon State on Sunday as the Beavers clobbered UCLA 11-2 in the series finale.

Conforto set the program record for career RBIs in the seventh inning by launching a ball over the right field bleachers, pushing his career total to 175 and breaking the game’s 2-2 tie. Conforto then blasted a two run home run in the eighth, finishing with 5 RBIs on the day, and 177 in his active Beaver career.

Dylan Davis, who currently leads the conference with 57 RBIs in 2014, made it back-to-back jacks by following up Conforto’s eighth inning homer with one of his own. The two also went back-to-back last season in the NCAA regional versus Kansas State at Goss Stadium.

Starter Jace Fry got off to a rocky start, allowing two runs in the first, but settled in to throw seven innings of two hit ball. Englebrekt and Jackson closed the door, securing Fry’s tenth win in eleven starts.

The sweep marked Oregon State’s ninth, tenth, and eleventh win in a row, putting the #2 Beavers overall record at 38-8 and 20-4 in the conference.

Sophomore Corvallis, Ore. product Jeff Hendrix earned Pac-12 player of the week honors over the weekend, batting .444, scoring six runs, stealing two bases, and driving in five RBIs with a home run and two doubles. Hendrix’s sac-fly in the twelfth inning against Oregon gave the Beavers the 4-3 lead they would need to finish off the Ducks in a mid-week non-conference matchup in Eugene.