Oregon State center fielder Canon Reeder hit a grand slam as the Beavers pummeled the Long Beach State Dirtbags Friday night in Corvallis.Leon Neuschwander for The Oregonian/OregonLive
CORVALLIS — The Oregon State baseball team managed just three hits Thursday night in the opener of a three-game series against the Long Beach State Dirtbags.
It surpassed that by the third inning in the encore.
The seventh-ranked Beavers rode another dominant start by Dax Whitney and a prolific night from Canon Reeder to a 12-8 victory over the Dirtbags Friday night at Goss Stadium in Corvallis.
The win clinched the series for Oregon State (40-12-1) — which reached the 40-win mark for the fourth consecutive season — with one more regular season game remaining.
Two big swings: After a quiet series opener and a ho-hum first two innings on Friday, the Beavers’ offense finally hit its stride in the bottom of the third inning, erupting for a seven-run frame that changed the game. And most of the damage came on two swings — Reeder belted a grand slam and Trent Caraway added a three-run blast, turning a 1-0 OSU lead into a rout.
Gavin Turley started the monster inning with a one-out single to center, Wilson Weber reached on an error and AJ Singer followed with a walk, loading the bases for Reeder. The junior center fielder clobbered a 1-0 pitch over the platform in left-center field, giving the Beavers a 5-0 edge. It was the second homer of the series for Reeder, who hit a two-run blast in the opener.
But unlike Thursday, when the Beavers did not score again, Oregon State padded its lead in the encore.
Tyce Peterson and Dallas Macias followed Reeder’s grand slam with back-to-back singles, bringing Caraway to the plate. And the sophomore third baseman delivered, hammering a 1-2 pitch onto the bullpen in left field, pushing Oregon State’s lead to 8-0.
Red-hot Reeder: Reeder was only getting started. He added a single in the sixth and a three-run homer in the eighth, finishing 3 for 4 with three runs scored, a walk and a career-high seven RBIs.
Reeder, who has been swinging a hot late-season bat, now has a six-game hitting streak, during which he’s batting .455 (10 for 22) with three homers, 12 RBIs, five runs scored and two doubles.
Dax delivers: Whitney made the most of the run support, delivering his second consecutive dominant start. The 6-foot-5 freshman right-hander overpowered the Dirtbags over 5 1/3 innings, allowing just one hit and striking out six, on the way to his fifth win of the season. Whitney dealt with wildness in the top of the fourth — after having to sit through the Beavers’ prodigious, but lengthy, third-inning scoring barrage — walking three Long Beach State batters. But he worked around the trouble with a double play and strikeout, escaping any damage. Otherwise, Whitney was dominant, allowing only a second-inning single. In his last two starts, Whitney (5-3) has allowed just one run on four hits and recorded 17 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings, earning wins over Iowa and Long Beach State.
A wild an unusual out: The Beavers were on the verge of taking a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when they ran into a wild and unusual out. With two outs and Trent Caraway on first base, Easton Talt ripped a 1-0 pitch into the right field corner, sending Caraway sprinting around the bases. The ball rumbled around the corner and was scooped up by Dirtbags right fielder Kyle Ashworth, who hurled a throw toward the infield.
Second baseman Trotter Enright snagged the relay and fired toward home plate, just as Caraway was barreling toward catcher Conner Stewart. The ball initially eluded Stewart, but as Caraway crossed the plate, he encountered an obstacle: Stewart’s foot. Caraway stepped on that instead of the plate and overshot the batter’s box. The Beavers’ third baseman twirled around and dove to score, but Steward had corralled the ball and tagged out Caraway before he touched the plate. After review, the play was upheld, ending the inning.
Early night for Montgomery: It was a short night for Dirtbags (22-30) starter Kellan Montgomery, who was chased by the Beavers in the third inning. The junior left-hander labored through the worst outing of what has otherwise been a stellar season, allowing seven earned runs and 10 hits over 2 2/3 innings. He gave up at least one and put multiple runners on base in all three innings he pitched, but the backbreaker came in the third, when the Beavers sent 13 batters to the plate and scored seven runs. Montgomery coughed up a grand slam to Reeder and a three-run home run to Caraway in the game-changing frame. It was a rare rough night for Montgomery, who entered the game with a 9-3 record and 4.30 ERA, while winning four of his previous five outings.
A seventh to forget: The Beavers were well on their way to a lopsided win before their bullpen blew up in the seventh. The Dirtbags scored five runs and sent 11 batters to the plate in the inning, much of it fueled by the wildness of multiple OSU relievers. Tanner Douglas and AJ Hutcheson combined to walk two batters and hit two more — including one with the bases loaded — as Long Beach State crept back into the game.
Douglas started the inning and recorded just one out, allowing two singles and plunking a batter, before Hutcheson took over with a pair of runners on base. The junior right-hander wasn’t any better. After opening with a strikeout, he walked two, gave up two singles and hit a batter, ultimately giving way to Zach Kmatz, who enticed an inning-ending groundout.
When it was all said and done, Douglas (three) and Hutcheson (two) had given up five earned runs, coughing up the Beavers’ big advantage.
Next up: The Beavers and Dirtbags play the final game of the regular season Friday afternoon at Goss. First pitch is scheduled for 12:35.
Visit oregonlive.com/beavers later Friday night for a full recap of the game.
— Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | @freemanjoe.bsky.social | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.