CORVALLIS — When Mitch Canham landed Elijah Hainline in the transfer portal, he touted the infielder’s hitting prowess and drive to win a championship.
After years of leaning on a light-hitting, defensive wizard at shortstop, the Oregon State baseball team — finally — had an offensive force to pair with slugger Travis Bazzana up the middle.
It just took a couple weeks for it to materialize.
Hainline broke out of a two-week funk in emphatic fashion Thursday night and the sixth-ranked Beavers overcame a sloppy first inning to beat the North Dakota State Bison 19-7 in seven innings in their home opener at Goss Stadium.
“We know what Hainline is capable of doing,” Canham said, smiling. “And we saw quite a bit of that tonight.”
On a miserable, wet and cold evening, Hainline had his hottest performance at Oregon State, finishing with three hits and a career-high five runs. The Beavers’ relentless lineup run-ruled a team for the second time this season, while reaching double figures in both runs and hits (11) for the fifth time, and Hainline was seemingly in the middle of it all.
He laid a beautiful bunt single down the third base line to fuel a three-run fourth inning. He smacked a double to left field with the bases loaded in the fifth inning. And he ripped a two-run single to left in the sixth inning. It added up to a 3 for 4 night, during which Hainline scored two runs, drew a walk and reached his career high in RBIs, surpassing the four he recorded against Villanova last season with the Washington State Cougars.
And it was a welcomed sight for the Beavers (8-1), who had watched the 5-foot-10 junior spray the ball all over the field in the fall and during preseason camp, before starting the season in a slump. Hainline entered the game hitting .091, with just two hits in his first seven games with OSU. He was scuffling so badly, Canham elected to pinch hit for him in the ninth during a one-run game against Arkansas last week, which was followed by a day off against Michigan.
Behind the scenes, Hainline was unfazed, Canham said, approaching each day as if he were hitting .400 and working as hard as ever. During a video session with hitting coach Ryan Gipson last week, it was relayed to him that he was using the right approach and smashing balls on a line — they just happened to soar directly at defenders.
“Everything’s fine,” Gipson told Hainline, according to Canham. “You’re having some bad luck right now.”
His luck finally changed Thursday.
“It’s a long season, so you can’t get too discouraged at the start of the season,” Hainline said. “Honestly, I’ve had (this) experience. I’ve been through the scuffle before. So it’s nothing new. Obviously, you want to make a good (first) impression. But you know the guys are with you and the guys that you’re actually in the fight with are really there.”
There was plenty of fight in the home dugout at Goss Stadium, where rain periodically fell, wind howled, and temperatures dipped into the 30s.
Trent Caraway continued his torrid start, going 2 for 3 with three RBIs, three runs and two walks. Bazzana finished 2 for 3 with a two-run triple, two runs scored and three walks. And Micah McDowell went 1 for 3 with three RBIs and two walks.
The day wasn’t without frustration. Starter Ian Lawson couldn’t manage an out, let alone make it out of the first inning, as he walked five and surrendered one hit before being pulled after facing just six hitters. The senior right-hander threw 28 pitches and only nine were strikes as he struggled in the second start of his career.
The erratic opening spotted the Bison (2-6) with a five-run lead before the Beavers stepped to the plate.
“He didn’t throw strikes and it makes it tough,” Canham said. “I know we have a little bit of chill and some precipitation, but (you have to) find the pitch that fills up the strike zone and keep hammering it. The message to the guys at the end (was), ‘I don’t care if the other team gets hits. There are times to try to miss bats and there are other times to just let them put it in play. We’ve got a good defense, guys are going to run around, and we’ve got a good offense. So let them put it in play. See what happens.’ You can’t defend ball four.”
Fortunately for Lawson, the Beavers’ lineup — and bullpen — bailed him out.
Oregon State answered with four runs in the bottom half of the first to inch back into the game and finished with crooked numbers in five of their six offensive innings.
AJ Hutcheson (1-1) relieved Lawson and earned the win, surrendering just one run on three hits, in three solid innings. And Noah Ferguson and Tyler Mejia combined to allow just one run over the final four innings.
In the end, the Bison were no match for a team — and a shortstop — with championship aspirations.
“I’m glad they responded the way they did and they didn’t start chasing and pressing or anything like that,” Canham said. “Going down five in the first and continuing to put runs up. It was good. We know our offense is capable of doing that.”
Next up: The Beavers and Bison resume their four-game series at 4:05 p.m. Friday at Goss Stadium
— Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.