Oregon State Advances With Win Over Cal

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Cooper Hjerpe and Reid Sebby combined to strike out 10 California batters as second-seeded Oregon State advanced with a 3-1 win over sixth-seed California Thursday night at Scottsdale Stadium.
 
The Beavers improved to 2-0 at the Pac-12 Conference Tournament and 43-13 this season with the win. Cal, meanwhile, dropped to 29-27 on the year.
 
Wade Meckler, Garret Forrester and Greg Fuchs all drove in runs for the Beavers. Fuchs opened the game's scoring with a sacrifice fly in the fourth, then watched as Meckler and Forrester drove in one run apiece in the fifth. Meckler hit a two-run triple, plating Justin Boyd. Forrester then laced a single to center to push the Beavers' lead to two.
 
Hjerpe won his 10th game of the season after limiting Cal to five hits and a run with five strikeouts in five innings. His lone blemish was a solo home run by Caleb Lomavita in the fourth.
 
Sebby came on in relief in the sixth and worked four innings for his third save of the season. He retired the first nine batters he faced, and ended his night with five strikeouts.
 
Steven Zobac started for Cal and took the loss, dropping to 4-4. He scattered six hits and three runs in 4 23 innings.
 
Boyd and Gavin Logan each had two hits to pace the Oregon State offensive attack.
 
Next Up
Oregon State advances to action on Saturday in Scottsdale. The Beavers will play the winner of UCLA and California's on Saturday at approximately 12:30 p.m. (45 minutes following the completion of the first game of the day). It will air live on the Pac-12 Networks.
 
Oregon State Notes
- The game started at 10:15 p.m. PT.
- Cooper Hjerpe has now held California to 15 hits and five runs in 16 career innings against the Golden Bears. He's also struck out 21 while issuing one walk.
- Hjerpe now has 140 strikeouts on the year, which are 19 shy of tying for the Oregon State single-season record (Luke Heimlich with 159 in 2018).
- Hjerpe also has 254 strikeouts for his career, which ranks ninth at OSU. He surpassed Scott Christman (249 from 1991-93) and Andrew Moore (251 from 2013-15).
- Garret Forrester extended his hit streak to five games. He has also driven in eight runs over his last three games.
- Justin Boyd and Wade Meckler extended their hit streaks to four games.
- Meckler also scored his 67th run of the season, tying him with Jason Stranberg (1997) for fourth-most.
- Boyd scored his 58th, which ranks seventh in a single-season at OSU.
- Garret Forrester drew his 53rd walk, tying him with Adley Rutschman (2018) for third.
 
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