Drew Rasmussen tosses perfect game Photo by Scobel Wiggins courtesy Oregon State Athletics
Drew Rasmussen Tosses First Ever Perfect Game For Oregon State
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Freshman right-hander Drew Rasmussen tossed a perfect game, the first in Oregon State Beavers history, as the Beavers (17-5) topped the Washington State Cougars (12-10) by a 3-0 final at Goss Stadium on Saturday. The perfect game was the first in the Pac 12 since 1973 and couldn’t have come at a better time for the Beavers as they look to jump into the Top 25.
Rasmussen threw only 103 pitches, 76 strikes, while striking out 10 Cougars in the perfect game effort.
“It’s been an unreal day. It’s been awesome. It’s been so much fun. Not much more I can say,” stated Rasmussen in the post-game, “Pretty surreal right now. It was a fun game and I had a lot of help behind me and let’s go get a series sweep tomorrow.”
The 6’1” 225-pound Spokane-native improved to 3-0 on the year and dropped his ERA to 1.36 and he has now struck out 40 in 39.2 innings pitched while holding hitters to a .204 average with a miniscule 0.86 WHIP.
On the outing, Rasmussen kept the ball down with 11 groundouts versus six fly outs and it seems suitable that freshman KJ Harrison would drive home the first run of the game for the Beavers with a first-inning, RBI single for a 1-0 lead.
Oregon State is getting far more than any team could expect out of freshman as the Rasmussen-Harrison duo is stepping up quickly to lead this squad into Top 25 consideration. The Beavers have clinched the series and look to sweep Washington State with a win on Sunday.
Bruins Continue Domination
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – After pounding the Utah Utes (7-14) to the tune of 19 hits and 14 runs on Friday, the No. 7 UCLA Bruins (16-5) chose a different route on Saturday as Bruins hurlers shutout Utah 3-0 at Jackie Robinson Stadium to clinch the series.
Starter Grant Watson (Sr., LHP) allowed three hits and a walk over six scoreless frames while striking out four and then the pen took over as a pair of sophomore right-handers tossed two no-hit innings each as Forbes Tucker and Grant Dyer got the game to closer David Berg (Fr., RHP). Berg hurled his own no-hit inning to earn his fourth save on the year, his eighth consecutive scoreless inning.
The Bruins didn’t need much on offense and didn’t get much as they scratched across three runs on the day in support of their pitching staff. Freshman third baseman Chris Keck drove in the game’s first run with a fielder’s choice in the first inning. The other two runs came late as Christoph Bono (Fr., CF) drove in a run with a double in the sixth and Ty Moore (Jr., LF) singled in the final run in the seventh to build the 3-0 advantage.
Kellogg Dominates Ducks
EUGENE, Ore. – Junior southpaw Ryan Kellogg tossed a complete game to lead the No. 13 Arizona State Sun Devils (15-6) to a 2-1 win over the No. 24 Oregon Ducks (14-8) at PL Park on Saturday to clinch the series. Kellogg allowed an earned run on three hits and two walks while striking out seven but needed more late-inning magic for the win.
The Ducks got to Kellogg in the seventh after he issued a pair of two-out walks as junior left fielder Phil Craig-St. Louis smacked a single back up the box to score Brandon Cuddy (Jr., 1B) and tie the game at 1.
However, the Sun Devil offense responded in the next half inning as Andrew Snow led off the inning with a single to the gap and moved over to second on a Johnny Sewald (Jr., CF) sacrifice. After sophomore pinch hitter Zach Cerbo was walked to set up the double play ball, clutch-hitting Colby Woodmansee (So., SS) drove an RBI single to right that scored Snow and took the 2-1 lead.
Kellogg retired six of the Ducks’ final seven hitters to preserve the win as the Sun Devils continue to exert their clutch, late-inning will on the opposition and look to pull off the road sweep over top-ranked Oregon on Sunday.
Twomey Finds Groove As No. 10 USC Pounds Cal Poly
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The No. 10 USC Trojans (18-5) had a measured response to the upset loss on Friday night to the Cal Poly Mustangs (7-12) that included 15 hits, 13 runs and a shutout on the mound as the Trojans rolled 13-0 on Saturday to even the series at Baggett Stadium.
Junior lefty Kyle Twomey tossed six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and a walk, to improve to 4-1 on the year and while junior left fielder Bobby Stahel paced the USC lineup with three hits.
Junior center fielder Timmy Robinson drove in three runs while David Oppenheim (Jr., DH) drove in four runs. The only extra-base hit on the day belong to junior third baseman Blake Lacey who had an eighth inning RBI-double as he drove in three runs himself.
The USC offense churned out two-run, four-run and seven-run innings against the Mustangs pitching staff that struggled to find an answer.
The Trojans look to take the series win on Sunday.
