In a MasterClass on baseball efficiency, the sixth-ranked Oregon State baseball team produced Saturday’s 8-1 victory over Hawaii at Goss Stadium in Corvallis, Ore.
A crowd of 4,090 saw the Beavers take the first two of this three-game series to improve to 32-9 overall. They are 14-3 at Goss Stadium. The ’Bows, who fell to 20-18, are 2-4 on this 11-day, seven-game road trip.
“It was a clinic by Oregon State,” UH coach Rich Hill said in a telephone interview. “Just a clinic in two-strike hitting, the bunting game, using the middle of the field, and power to all fields from the offensive side. Defensively, they made no errors, and were making diving plays. Pitching was stellar. It was as good a game (as) you can play in college baseball.”
OSU shortstop Tyler Inge led the way, going 3-for-4 with a run and two RBIs.
“Seeing it well and staying confident,” said Inge, whose average went from .242 to .301 after hitting 7-for-11 in the past three games. “I’m staying loose. I’m trying to help the team.”
In the batter’s box, Inge relies on a relaxation technique in which he tenses his muscles and then deeply exhales.
“It gets me in the right head space,” Inge said in a postgame television interview. “It gives me confidence. It makes my whole body loose. It’s pretty cool.”
He also picked up fielding tips from his father, Brandon Inge, a third baseman/catcher for 13 MLB seasons, including 12 with the Detroit Tigers. In the ninth inning, Tyler Inge made a sprawling stop and then threw out Josh Martin at first.
“I love plays like that,” Inge said. “I’m lucky to have the ball hit to me. You work on (diving for grounders) in practice. I like to dive in practice. It keeps the game fun.”
The ’Bows tried to counter with a lineup of seven right-handed batters and switch-hitter Taylor Takata against OSU left-hander Ethan Kleinschmit. Kleinschmit entered averaging 1.7 walks per start and 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings.
“Kleinschnit has a very good average against left-handed hitters,” Hill said. “I thought we had a good plan with some righties.”
But the ’Bows managed only five hits overall, including three in five innings against Kleinschmit.
In the fourth inning, the ’Bows placed runners at third and first with no outs. After Evan Rolbiecki popped out, Noah Rodriguez hit a grounder back to the mound. Tate Shimao was caught in a rundown between third and home before being tagged out. The ’Bows eventually scored on a two-out, bases-loaded walk. But there was potential for a more productive inning.
UH right-hander Hekili Robello allowed six hits and three runs in four innings, exiting after the pitch odometer reached 68. John Alkire surrendered five runs, four of them earned, in three innings.
OSU catcher Jacob Galloway drove in a run with a two-out double in the second inning, then scored on Inge’s single.
Inge’s run-scoring single in the fourth expanded OSU’s lead to 3-1.
AJ Singer and Adam Haight added run-scoring singles in the fifth inning. Singer’s RBI double capped a two-run sixth for the Beavers. In the seventh, Galloway hit a solo homer, his first in 125 at-bats this season. Five of the Beavers’ runs came on two-strike hits.
Hill said Brody Martin-Grudzielanek, who lasted an inning in Tuesday’s start against top-ranked UCLA, will pitch in today’s series finale.