Oregon State Edged In Series-Opening Pitcher’s Duel

STANFORD, Calif. – Kevin Abel struck out seven in a complete-game effort but a sixth-inning home run was the difference in Oregon State's 1-0 loss to No. 9 Stanford in the three-game series opener Thursday night at Sunken Diamond.
 
Abel, who worked a season-long eight innings, surpassed the 100-strikeout plateau for the second time in his career, becoming just the third pitcher in school history to do so. The righty has 106 strikeouts on the year, which is now 10 shy of tying for 10th for a single-season at OSU. Abel, however, took the loss due to Brock Jones' solo home run in the sixth inning that put the Cardinal on the board.
 
Abel is now 3-4 on the year.
 
Abel's counterpart, Brendan Beck, also tossed a complete game, limiting Oregon State (33-21 overall, 15-13 Pac-12 Conference) to three hits; singles by Greg Fuchs, Troy Claunch and Wade Meckler. Claunch's extended his hit streak to 15 games while Meckler pushed his to 10.
 
Beck picked up the win, improving to 7-1 on the year. Stanford, meanwhile, improved to 32-13 overall and 16-9 in Pac-12 play.
 
Next Up
The Beavers and Cardinal continue the three-game series Friday night at Sunken Diamond. First pitch is slated for 6:05 p.m. PT.
 
Follow The Game
All three games of the series with Stanford will air live on the Pac-12 Network; visit osubeavers.com for the live video direct link for Pac-12.com and Pac-12 Now. Live stats, info on the Beaver Sports Network and TuneIn and more can also be found by visiting osubeavers.com.
 
Notables
- Other Oregon State pitchers with two 100-strikeout seasons include Jonah Nickerson (2005 and 2006) and Luke Heimlich (2017 and 2018).
- Abel was already one of 13 pitchers with 100-strikeout seasons. Others, aside from Nickerson and Heimlich, include Ken Forsch (1968), Jeff Reece (1983), Scott Christman (1993), Mason Smith (1994), Chris Pine (1998), Dallas Buck (2005), Mike Stutes (2007), Sam Gaviglio (2011), Matt Boyd (2013) and Jake Thompson (2017).
- Thursday's game was the Beavers' first to last less than two hours in length since March 21, 2015 when Drew Rasmussen threw a perfect game against Washington State. That game lasted just 1:44.
 
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