June 2, 2013

Wetzler Pitches Beavers Past Aggies

By Patrick Meyers

Special to CollegeBaseballInsider.com

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Beaver Nation was on edge the entire game, hoping to celebrate a trip to the Super Regionals, until Oregon State cracked it wide open in the ninth inning to defeat Texas A&M 6-1 Sunday night at Goss Stadium.  After trailing much of the game, the Beavers finally wore down the Aggies and delivered a knockout punch to set up a Super Regional date with Kansas State.

On a perfect evening in Corvallis, the Beavers gave up an early run in the first inning and didn’t take the lead until the fifth.  The Beavers played from behind much of the weekend, but delivered when it mattered most.

“I thought we played well, we swung the bat well and Benny Wetzler was really, really good,” Oregon State coach Pat Casey said. “The one thing that [Texas A&M] Coach Childress said was, ‘I can’t believe how well you guys play together.’ I don’t think there is a better compliment other than that to our kids.”

Wetzler, OSU’s starter, pitched a complete game with four hits and one run. The lefty tied a career high with 10 strikeouts and totaled 121 pitches in his second complete game of the year. 

“It started off pretty rough, but as soon as I got the ball down, things started to change a little bit for me,” said Wetzler, who was named to the All-Regional Team. “We definitely feed off of each other. We try to have our defense feed off of our offense and our offense feed off of our defense.”

Grayson Long held the Beavers (48-10) in check, allowing six hits and one unearned run in 5.2 innings. After he departed, the Aggies (34-29) did not have an answer for Wetzler or the Beavers, reaching deep in the bullpen and using five pitchers.

Danny Hayes went 2 for 5 and broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the seventh with a two-run double down the right-field line. Hayes added an RBI single in the ninth, as did Ryan Barnes (3 for 5) and Kavin Keyes.  

“I felt like we got off to a good start,” Aggies coach Rob Childress said. “Grayson gave us a quality start, and we went to the bullpen and didn't get it done. Give Oregon State credit, they did a very good job. They got some key hits, grabbed the lead and extended it in the ninth inning. I felt like we made some mistakes in giving them the lead, but I think that’s why Oregon State has 48 wins, they don’t make mistakes, and they are a very good team.”

Aggies freshman left fielder Jonathan Moroney had two of A&M’s four hits.

“He was a great pitcher,” Moroney said. “He stayed strong throughout the whole game. He kept his composure up there on the mound. He wasn’t better than us for sure, we just had an off day. He was hitting his spots and couldn’t be beat.”

The Beavers will appear in the Super Regionals for the fifth time and will host for the fourth time. The will be trying to reach Omaha for the fourth time and first since 2007.