Baseball: Beavers continue to haunt Ducks on diamond

Oregon Baseball has definitely been priming itself for a postseason run with their play as of late. Unfortunately, a familiar thorn emerged in their side once again as a trip to Corvallis ended in another frustrating defeat, 11-6.

It’s no secret that Oregon has had a rough time against Oregon State in baseball, primarily due to the Beavs’ success in the sport. This season, however, it could easily be argued that the Ducks are the more talented team, having climbed above OSU in the rankings after this past weekend.

The troubles continued on Tuesday though.

Oregon started the game off on the right foot, as Drew Cowley blasted a 2-run homer in the top of the first to put Oregon in front. The Beavers notched a run of their own in the bottom of the inning to make it 2-1 after the first.

With the bases loaded in the top of the second for Oregon, Rikuu Nishida drove home another run with a single to make it 3-1 and the Ducks looked to be in good shape.

But in the bottom of the second, a plethora of errors led to Oregon State reclaiming the lead. The Ducks battled back one more time to go on top in the top of the third, but a five-run bottom of the inning by OSU put them in front for good, and the Beavers’ relief pitching made sure Oregon would not rally, allowing only four hits and compiling nine strikeouts over the final six innings.

The loss, however disappointing, was not derailing though, and the confidence Oregon gained winning series against national powers Stanford and Arizona State should bode well as they head down to Los Angeles for a series with the USC Trojans this weekend.