It turns out that the preseason buzz was well-founded.
At any rate, after four games.
The Oregon State baseball team easily defeated the Xavier Musketeers 18–6 on Monday in Surprise, Arizona, adding yet another blowout win to its reign of supremacy in the desert.
As the seventh-ranked Beavers finished sweeping their yearly season-opening series at Surprise Stadium, Jacob Krieg blasted two home runs, including a grand slam, six OSU players had multi-hit games, and the team continued to wreak havoc at the plate.
The Beavers (4-0) silenced the Musketeers (2-2) right away in the first and second innings, sending 19 batters to the plate and scoring 10 runs. The pyrotechnics began early Monday. With the bases loaded in the first inning, Krieg strode to the plate and smashed a grand slam, the most spectacular blast of the bombardment.
A black-clad OSU fan snatched the keepsake with a barehanded snag after the big first baseman hit a 2-1 fastball high onto the hill beyond the left field bullpen. Although it was Krieg’s second grand slam of the day, it would not be his final tremendous shot.
The first multi-homer game of Krieg’s career came in the fifth inning when he crushed a 0-1 pitch to deep left-center and added a two-run homer to give Oregon State a 13-2 lead. Krieg finished 3 for 5 with seven RBIs and four runs scored, adding a single in the sixth and a bases-loaded walk in the second.
Krieg leads the Beavers with three home runs, nine RBIs, and fifteen total bases after four games.
The Beavers squad on Monday, however, did not lack output.
In order to pace an attack that generated 19 hits and seven walks, Trent Caraway and Easton Talteach contributed three hits, while Aiva Arquette, Bryan Hubbard, and Canon Reeder each finished with two hits. Oregon State had six extra-base hits in the end.
Young right-handerIn his first professional start, Kellan Oakes performed well, striking out four batters despite giving up two runs on three hits. However, he was replaced by Drew Talavs after four innings and sixty-five pitches.
The West Linn sophomore right-hander earned his first career victory by pitching two scoreless innings while striking out five and walking just one.
The result might have been much more lopsided if the Beavers bullpen hadn’t given up four runs in the last three innings.
Nevertheless, Oregon State has dominated the first four games of the season, outscoring them 48-9. The lineup has hit.370 and recorded 15 extra-base hits, including seven home runs.
Next up: The Beavers play the Houston Cougars at 11 a.m. on Wednesday in Round Rock, Texas, as part of their season-opening 11-game tour.
503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman|@freemanjoe.bsky.social| Joe Freeman|[email protected]| Get the newest news and the best stories by subscribing to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts.
