CORVALLIS, Ore. — Saturday’s meeting wasn’t the same nailbiter as Friday’s 5-3 Oregon State victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
For the host Beavers, it didn’t matter, because coach Pat Casey earned his 600th victory. He got it as Oregon State won in convincing fashion, 12-2 in seven innings, to clinch the series with one game left.
The series concludes with a 3:05 p.m. Central game today. UAPB (6-27-1) then travels to Oregon for an 8 p.m. Monday game.
Casey, who has an OSU record of 600-367-4 in 18 seasons, is the 15th coach in Pac-12 Conference history to reach that plateau. He’s now 13 wins away from tying Jack Riley for the most in an Oregon State uniform.
Ryan Dunn and Joey Matthews each hit solo home runs for Oregon State (22-11), which won the 2006 and 2007 NCAA championships. The game was called when the Beavers went up by 10 runs on Matthews’ round-tripper.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Vince Newton (0-2) started and took the loss for the Golden Lions. He allowed five hits and three runs in four innings of work. Eliot Jackson and Leo Fuentes each worked an inning in relief, but the Beavers tagged Jackson for six earned runs on five hits.
Cody DeMera, Wilton Guzman and James Boulware each had a hit to account for UAPB’s hitting.
Michael Conforto led the Beavers with three RBI, giving him 46 on the year. All three came on a triple that highlighted the Beavers’ five-run sixth inning.
Dunn, Matthews and Jake Rodriguez all had two RBI. Tyler Smith walked three times but saw his hit streak snapped at 14 games after going 0 for 1.
Jace Fry (3-2) worked a full seven innings in the win, needing just 64 pitches to improve to 3-2 this season.