No. 5 Oregon State Beavers baseball gets series win over Stanford Cardinal

CORVALLIS — Oregon State leaned on timely hitting and another stellar performance from its starting pitcher to stay atop the Pac-12 standings.

The No. 5 Beavers topped Stanford, 3-1, at Goss Stadium Saturday evening and secured a series win in the process.

Had they lost, the Beavers (29-4, 10-3 Pac-12) would have fallen behind No. 17 Oregon (25-9, 10-4) in the conference standings as the Ducks beat USC, 5-3, in Eugene earlier in the day. But junior catcher Wilson Weber extended his recent hot streak and provided the go-ahead knock in the fifth inning, and the Beavers never looked back from there.

“Two consecutive days of high-quality pitching and defense,” Oregon State head coach Mitch Canham said. “Controlled the heck out of the (strike zone); 12 (Stanford) walks, and we only had two there. Great grit. … Impressed by how we carried over from yesterday and how the guys went about it again today. Today was a great momentum-builder.”

Oregon State pitcher Jacob Kmatz helps lead the Beavers

Oregon State starter Jacob Kmatz, who tossed a complete game against Arizona State last weekend, produced another quality start on Saturday. The junior righty held Stanford to one earned run on six hits while striking out six in 6.0 innings of work.

Dallas Macias provided the Beavers with an insurance run when, for the second day in a row, he launched a home run that cleared that right field bleachers.

“I think it’s definitely a byproduct of putting in work with the swing,” Macias said of what has been clicking for him lately. “The guys around the team: (Travis Bazzana), (assistant coach Ryan Gipson); I went to Driveline, too, over the winter, which helped out a lot with different things. I’m also just making better swing decisions, getting the right pitch and squaring it up better.”

Stanford third baseman Jimmy Nati ambushed Kmatz for a solo homer in the top of the second to open the scoring and give the Cardinal an early advantage.

One inning later, Kmatz briefly lost command and surrendered a one-out walk to Stanford No. 9 hitter Ethan Hott, and then a single to leadoff man Owen Cobb. Cort MacDonald followed with a hard-hit single to right field, and Hott attempted to score from second.

But Beavers’ right-fielder Gavin Turley delivered an outstanding throw home to gun down Hott for the second out of the inning.

“I gave (Turley) a big hug there in the dugout,” Kmatz said. “I had to. That was pretty cool. Defense has just been on lock right now.”

The danger wasn’t over for Oregon State at that point, though. Stanford catcher Malcolm Moore, who is widely considered to be one of the top Major League Baseball Draft prospects in the nation, stepped to the plate with two outs and runners in the corners.

Moore ran up a full count against Kmatz. But the Beavers’ hurler struck him out looking with a fastball to end the inning and escape the jam.

“The goal is to get him out soft and away,” Kmatz said of his battle with Moore. “It’s pitch after pitch after pitch after pitch, and then you see a window (inside) late in the at-bat and get him leaning over the plate a little bit. So, just throwing my best heater on the inner half right there and letting it play up like it can and giving myself and the team the best chance of succeeding in that situation. Because getting that out right there was a pivotal moment.”

Meanwhile, Stanford freshman lefty Christian Lim stymied the Oregon State bats, allowing just two hits and four walks throughout his first 4.0 innings. Oregon State’s bats came to life in the bottom of the fifth, though, when Bazzana scorched a leadoff double to right-center, and then moved to second when Turley followed with a walk.

Lim bounced back and struck out Mason Guerra and Brady Kasper — the Beavers’ No. 3 and No. 4 hitters — in succession. The Cardinal then turned to hard-throwing righty Joey Volchko with hopes of escaping the inning unscathed.

But Weber greeted Volchko with a two-run single to right to ultimately serve as the go-ahead hit.

Midway through the seventh, Canham turned the game over to closer Bridger Holmes. The standout junior tossed 2 1/3 innings scoreless innings and struck out four to slam the door on the Cardinal.

In 20.0 innings this season, Holmes has struck out 27 batters, surrendered just eight hits, and has yet to allow a run.

What’s next for the Beavers?

The Beavers take on the Cardinal in Game 3 of the series at noon on Sunday. The game will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks.

Jarrid Denney is the high school sports reporter for the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at JDenney@salem.gannett.com or on X @jarrid_denney