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Washington State dropped the rubber game of the Pac-12 Conference opening series 9-8 after an eighth inning solo home run by No. 18 Oregon State at Goss Stadium Sunday afternoon.
WSU won Friday’s opener 5-2 and the Beavers claimed Saturday’s contest 10-3.
The Cougars (11-4), who were seeking their first series win against Oregon State in Corvallis since 2009, were tied at eight heading into the bottom of the eighth inning before OSU (13-4) hit the go-ahead solo home run to left field.
WSU received a three-hit game from third baseman Jack Smith, three walks and two runs scored from leadoff man Kodie Kolden and a game-tying two-run double from right fielder Collin Montez.
Left fielder Jacob McKeon drove in two runs and first baseman Kyle Manzardo doubled in a run to extend his on-base streak to 40 games, second longest in WSU history. Oregon State used 11 hits and took advantage of nine free passes to hold off the Cougars.
KEY MOMENTS OF THE GAME
In the second, OSU took advantage of a couple Cougar miscues as a hit-by-pitch and a couple wild pitches led to a run coming across and a couple walks, a two-out single back up the middle plated two more for a 3-0 Beaver advantage.
In the third, Manzardo drove a pitch the other way for an RBI-double to left field and Kolden raced around from first for the run. In the bottom of the inning, OSU caught a break as a batted ball was initially ruled foul but the umpires met and changed to a single, and the Beavers added a pair of runs with two outs for a 5-1 lead.
The Cougars again answered in the fourth inning as Smith singled to right field with two outs and Keith Jones II drew a walk before McKeon punched a single through the right side for an RBI-single, cutting the OSU lead to 5-2. WSU nearly added another run on a first and third play but the Cougar runners was tagged out at home on the play to end the inning.
In the fifth, WSU caught a break as a potential ground ball double play was booted and the Cougars scored a run on the play. Following a walk, Montez doubled home two runs with shot to right-centerfield to tie the game at five. Smith and McKeon each followed with sacrifice flies to give WSU a 7-5 lead.
Oregon State evened things up with two runs in the fifth on just one hit but took advantage of two hit-by-pitches, two walks and two wild pitches by the Cougar bullpen. The Beavers used a leadoff walk and a pair of singles to take an 8-7 lead in the sixth.
In the seventh, Justin Van De Brake and Smith each singled back up the middle start the inning and both moved up a base on a balk before Van De Brake raced home on a wild pitch to even things up at eight.
In the bottom of the eighth, Oregon State took a 9-8 lead with a leadoff solo home run to left field.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Jack Smith singled to RF in the 2nd inning to extend his on-base streak to 11 games. . .Manzardo doubled in the 3rd inning to extend his on-base streak to 40 games, 2nd-longest in WSU history (42, Brady Everett – 2005). . .Tristan Peterson singled 5th to extend his on-base streak to 15 games.
NEXT UP: The Cougars head to Las Vegas for a two-game set with UNLV Tuesday and Wednesday before heading to Tempe for a weekend series at Arizona State.
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