Stanford: Beavers win marathon at Sunken

By Alex Gyr - April 28, 2007

Mitch Canham and Jordan Lennerton had three RBIs each to propel Oregon State to a 13-7 win over Stanford in a game that took over four hours. Mike Stutes and Jeremy Bleich both looked very hittable in a matchup of Friday night starters that looked more like a midweek pitching showdown. Stutes surrendered six earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, whil Bleich gave up nine runs (seven earned) while also lasting 4 1/3.

Oregon State took advantage of a number of free passes issued by the Cardinal, needing only eight hits to tally their 13 runs. Canham and Lennerton each had bases-clearing doubles after Stanford pitchers allowed multiple walks and hit batsmen. Stanford, on the other hand couldn't take care of business in key spots and used 14 hits to score their seven runs.

The loss may mean the end of Stanford's already miniscule hope of reaching an NCAA Regional. The Card are now 2-11 in the Pac-10 with just 11 conference games left to play. Another loss to the Beavers (or anyone else, for that matter) would almost certainly be the final blow. Stanford was in last place in the Pac-10 last season at the midway point of the season and came back to make a Regional last season, but the Card also had five wins over Texas and Cal State Fullerton under their belts. This year, Stanford went just 1-5 against those two teams. Hard to believe Stanford may be out of it already with still a month to go in the regular season.

Oregon State, on the other hand, showed that even when their pitching struggles, the offense can pick up the slack. Entering the game Oregon State sported a .295 team batting average, nothing special for the Pac-10. But tonight, when their ace Stutes didn't have his best stuff, they took advantage of every opportunity that Stanford gave them. They have the look of a team that could easily find themselves back in the CWS, especially if they get a Regional and a Super at home, which is very possible and probably deserved. It's especially amazing considering that six of eight position players are basically new to the lineup and the top three pitchers from a year ago are all playing pro ball.

Stanford has seen the best of the Pac-10 so far this year and Oregon State gave me the impression that they could repeat. I still think ASU is the team to beat in the conference race, but OSU has the experience and the talent to compete. I think Arizona will continue to cool off and UCLA will run into trouble when they face the top teams in the conference (they opened with Stanford, Washington, USC--not exactly the toughest road to the top).

Game Two will be tomorrow at 1:00 here on the West Coast. It will be Joe Paterson going for the Beavers facing freshman righthander Jeffrey Inman for Stanford. I'll be back with some pregame coverage as always before hitting the air waves.