Armstrong’s Homer Sends Beavers To 9-8 Win
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Andy Armstrong hit a solo home run in the eighth inning to send Oregon State to a 9-8 win over Washington State Sunday afternoon at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.
With the win, Oregon State (13-4, 2-1 Pac-12 Conference) wins the three-game series over the Cougars (11-4, 1-2). The Beavers won the second game of the series, 10-3, after WSU opened it with a 5-2 victory.
On Sunday, Armstrong's home run, his second of the season, came on an 0-1 pitch from WSU reliever Dakota Hawkins. It capped a seesaw battle for the Oregon State offense, which totaled 11 hits and nine walks off seven Cougar pitchers. It was also the Beavers' first extra-base hit of the day.
It also helped punctuate a mini comeback for the Beavers, who once led 5-1, but then found themselves down 7-5 after Washington State scored one in the fourth and five in the fifth.
OSU evened the score at seven in the bottom half of the fifth; Garret Forrester scored on a wild pitch and Kyler McMahan made it an 8-7 Beaver lead with a single to left. The Cougars, however, tied the game at eight in the seventh when Justin Van De Brake scored on a wild pitch.
Preston Jones led the Beavers with three hits, and the senior also drove in three and swiped two bases. Forrester had his second consecutive multi-hit effort with a 2-for-4 afternoon.
Bryant Salgado earned the win for OSU, improving to 2-0 this season. He stranded a runner at third after entering with one down in the seventh. The righty ended his outing with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Jake Mulholland worked a perfect ninth, striking out two, for his fifth save of the season.
Hawkins was saddled with the loss and drops to 1-2 on the year.
Next Up
Oregon State stays at home for two more non-conference games. The Beavers host Santa Clara Tuesday and Wednesday, both at 5:35 p.m. PT.
Follow The Midweek Series
Each game will be live streamed; the link can be found by visiting osubeavers. Live stats, info on the Beaver Sports Network and TuneIn and more can also be found by visiting osubeavers.com.
First Inning Zeroes
Jake Pfennigs set Washington State down in order in the first. Oregon State's staff has yet to allow a first-inning run this season. Opponents are batting just .155 with nine hits and two walks in 17 games this season. OSU's pitchers have struck out 20.
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OUR MISSION
Oregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS).