187 COMMENTS

  1. A truly huge series. Beavers have a very, very slim chance at a conference title, in order to have a chance against Oregon they have to sweep the Cougars and then must sweep Oregon. It can be done but not likely because of how inconsistent this group has been and it is a tall order. Hopefully we see this group begin to put it all together this weekend. Starting pitching is definitely in the Beavers’ favor. Overall the Beavers’ offense is better as far as producing runs. They’re third in the conference runs scored, Cougars are 6th. Cougars have the edge in batting average but Beavers have the better on base %. So, the Beavers have the edge in starting pitching and the slightest of edges offensively, but have a feeling the bullpen will play a big role.

    Cougars’ bullpen may actually be worse than the Beavers’ bullpen. Only 3 guys who come out of the bullpen have an ERA below 5. Beavers can do some damage against that ‘Pen.

    With Keyes and Hayes starting to heat up, the offense should be productive this weekend, hopefully they finally start hitting with RISP like they did on Tuesday. If they do that I like their chances at a sweep. They’re better than WSU in all the major areas, if they’re focused they should do well. I’d hope they would be focused considering how critical the series is.

    Go Beavs, get it done this weekend.

  2. Tyler Smith with the bunt base hit as the Cougars’ 2nd baseman got over to first base way too late. Runners on first and second and no outs for Conforto

  3. Michael Conforto with a three run bomb to left. 3-0 Beavers. Conforto now tied for first again in home runs with 12 and now has 66 RBI’s. He’s so good.

  4. Wetzler pitched poorly with a nice lead against the Utes, he has a nice lead right away tonight, hopefully he pitches better this time

  5. And Wetzler walks 2 of the first 3 batters he’s facing. He’s pitching like a guy with a one run lead, not a 4 run lead. Needs to pound the zone and pitch to contact.

  6. Wetzler looking pretty shaky, but somehow manages to give up only 1 run after walking 4 and nearly walking the final batter with bases loaded.

  7. 4-1 Beavers after an inning. Wetzler walked 4 guys in the first. Beavers are going to have to go to the ‘Pen much earlier than I’m sure Casey would like. Wetzler had to have thrown 35+ pitches at least

  8. All we needed was one or two of these guys that have been in season-long slumps (i.e. Hayes, Keyes, etc) to get hot. Keyes has been better as of late, and obviously Hayes is crushing tonight. It makes the offense more balanced by adding two solid Left handed bats.

    • Completely agree. What it also does is gives Conforto protection. Pitchers won’t be able to just pitch around Conforto when you got a guy like Hayes who is killing the ball, batting behind him. Teams will have to pitch to Conforto and that gives him an opportunity to do damage

  9. Unacceptable. Beavers get runners on second and third and no outs and don’t score. That simply can’t happen. Keyes was jumping at the ball and struck out, Dylan Davis had a similar approach. Some of the guys get far too anxious with runners in scoring position. They would be fine if they just relax.

  10. Cole Brocker gives up another home run. Solo shot this time. 8-2 Beavers. He can only go 2 batters without giving up an extra base hit. Yeskie and Casey know this but keep going to him.

  11. Back-to-back bunt singles by Barnes and Smith, then Conforto is hit by a pitch. Bases loaded and no outs for Danny Hayes

  12. Boyd gives up a hit and a walk with 2 outs. Trying to throw perfect pitches with 2 outs. Just needs to pitch to contact

  13. Bullpen has gone 3 1/3 innings and given up just 2 hits and 1 run on a virtually meaningless solo home run. Boyd looking more like the 2011 version of himself. Solid job by the bullpen tonight. Could be a confidence boost if they keep this up all weekend.

    • My bad, was actually 2 outs there. Barnes flies out to retire the side. 10-2 Beavers going to the bottom of the 9th

  14. Game is tied at 2 now. This where the Beavers needed Fry to come out and throw a shutdown inning and get the offense back up at the plate. But he’s been a mess so far.

  15. Smith drives one to deep right with Barnes on at first and it was called a catch but the right fielder dropped it. Bad break for the Beavers. Two down for Conforto

    • That was robbery. It was clearly not a catch, even if it looked like an impressive athletic play by the outfielder. Umps blew that call big time

  16. Hate the sacrifice with Smith. He’s a guy who goes the other way consistently hit and run there would give the Beavers a chance at a bigger inning. Their pitcher is hardly shutting down the Beavers’ offense. Hate giving away free outs.

  17. Beavers cannot catch a break. Gordon smokes a ball that would have scored a run but the 2nd baseman stretches out and makes the play. Tied at 4 going to the bottom of the 6th

  18. Cougars have been far more fortunate today. They’ve just found more holes and caught more breaks on hits. Beavers smoke a pitch and it’s caught, Cougars hit a grounder back to Fry and it goes off his glove. May just be one of those games. If the umps make the correct call in the third and the Beavers may have scored 2-3 runs in the inning, instead they only got one. Really unfortunate for the Beavers.

  19. Dunn sacrificing and Hayes moves to second. Not sure about that move. Let’s see how this plays out. Keyes up with 1 out

  20. And the Beavers blow a golden opportunity to tie the game. Again, the decision to bunt Dunn was questionable at best. He had just crushed a ball the previous at-bat and provides the Beavers a power threat and is a good hitter. Keyes has struggled so far this series, would think the coaching staff would be more comfortable with Ryan Dunn hitting there. But I guess not.

    • It is definitely questionable. But in the 8th with two good hitters behind him you can at least understand the thought process.

  21. Works out for Casey, but the probably of getting a hit with 1 out in the 9th is ~41%. Much less than the probability of successfully stealing a base.

  22. That was a terrible pitch. Heartbreaking loss for the guys. Offense came back in the 9th and the bullpen again loses the game

  23. Pop up behind second and Tommasini doesn’t even bother to look for it and it drops. Runners on first and second and 1 out for the Cougars

  24. Michael Conforto with a three run bomb and it’s 4-0 Beavers. 13 home runs and 69 RBI’s for Conforto on the season. 69 RBI’s is a new school record

  25. Gordon singles and it’s a two base error by the left fielder and scores Keyes from first to make it 7-3. That should have been a single but it took a really bad bounce. Beavers very fortunate there, bad break for the Cougars.

  26. Really was surprised the Beavers didn’t pinch run for Hayes. It cost them a run and could be a big run. 7-4 Beavers in the bottom of the 9th. Lead-off batter singles. Child done for the day

  27. So next week OSU plays UO. UO also plays University of Portland on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. How will those 2 extra games affect them coming into our series? As far as conference record goes, OSU is 15-12 and UO is 19-8, so even if we sweep, Oregon will own a better conference record than us.

    • That’s OSU’s fault, they would have as good of a conference mark if not better if not for some bad breaks and the bullpen blowing some games. Losses to Utah, Washington, game 2 against Arizona, game 1 against Stanford, yesterday against Wazzu are all games the Beavers probably should have won. Yesterday they just couldn’t get a break to save their life. Umps blew numerous calls. The worst obviously was the right fielder dropping the ball and the ump blowing the call. Could have meant 2-3 runs or more that inning and completely changes the game. Then the “HBP” in the 9th changed it as well. So, it really is the Beavers’ fault they aren’t getting a regional but there have been good signs as of late.

      Hayes, Barnes, Keyes have been picking it up lately, they’re giving Conforto some much needed protection. Tyler Smith is starting to get back on track and Gordon has been really solid. The offense getting hot and hitting to their capabilities couldn’t come at a better time. Heading into the postseason with these guys swinging so well is great.

      Beavers are most likely heading to Gary, Indiana for the Purdue Regional. This would be ideal for the Beavers. I think they would win that regional.

      I hope the Beavers give Dylan Davis as the closer over the weekend against Oregon. Not really any better options and give him some experience as a closer before the postseason. Then it can get him ready for the playoffs where you’ll need a closer and you can better assign roles to other members of the bullpen.

      A series win over UO would be a nice way to head into the postseason. Hopefully they get it done.

  28. Dan Spencer has been fired at Texas Tech. I wonder if Pat Casey would consider bringing him back as pitching coach next season. I’d be okay with letting Yeskie go. Hasn’t exactly impressed me as a pitching coach.

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