The Oregon State Beavers scored six runs in consecutive innings to turn a close game into a 15-1 rout of Gonzaga in a nonconference college baseball game Tuesday night in Corvallis.
The Beavers led 3-1 heading to the bottom of the sixth, and then the Goss Stadium crowd of 3,241 watched as the runs started piling up. OSU opened the inning with a walk, a single and a walk to load the bases. Canon Reeder scored on a wild pitch. Garret Forrester singled to drive in two more runs. Micah McDowell walked. Mason Guerra singled to bring home Forrester. The Beavers (21-11) pushed two more runs across before they were done in the sixth.
The onslaught continued in the seventh. Travis Bazzana walked with one out. Forrester doubled to right. Those two scored on McDowell’s single up the middle. Guerra ripped an RBI double down the right-field line. Ruben Cedillo hit a two-run homer to left. Dallas Macias doubled, then scored when Reeder reached on a bunt single.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs (12-17) couldn’t generate any runs beyond the one they put up on Sam Stem’s RBI single in the top of the first. Six OSU pitchers combined to shut out Gonzaga the rest of the way, with Tyler Mejia (1-0) getting the victory after tossing two scoreless frames.
There were big offensive performances up and down the lineup for the Beavers, who totaled 16 hits. McDowell hit a solo homer in the first inning that evened things at 1-1 and he finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs and four runs scored. Guerra was 3 for 5 and drove in two runs. Kyle Dernedde drove in the go-ahead run for the Beavers in the fourth and went 3 for 5. Forrester had two hits and two RBIs.
It all added up to a lopsided victory for OSU.
Next up: Oregon State opens a three-game home series against USC at 7 p.m. Friday (TV on Pac-12 Oregon).