It was a weekend of walk-offs, of slump-busting home runs, of splendid pitching performances and of sweeps.
And, as a result, the Oregon State Beavers saw a modest bump in multiple national college baseball polls, which were unveiled Monday.
The Beavers held steady at No. 8 in the D1Baseball Top 25 and No. 9 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Poll, climbed to No. 10 in the Perfect Game Top 25 and No. 11 in the Baseball American Top 25, and fell to No. 11 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
The Oregonian/OregonLive.com uses the D1Baseball poll for its rankings.
The Beavers (10-3) are coming off their first perfect series of the season, a three-game sweep against the San Diego Toreros at Goss Stadium. After playing the first 10 games at neutral sites in three different cities, it was clear that Oregon State was happy to return to Corvallis.
“I love being at home at Goss,” OSU Friday night starter Nelson Keljo said. “Especially after three weeks on the road … it was fun to get back and sleep in my own bed.”
Keljo was a big part of that splendid pitching. The 6-foot-3 junior left-hander fueled an 11-3 win in the opener, striking out a career-high eight in a career-high five innings. The reliever-turned-ace allowed just one hit — an infield single to the first batter of the game — and retired 15 of the 18 hitters he faced, including five of the first 10 via strikeout.
It was the beginning of a dominant trio of starts by the Beavers’ weekend rotation, as freshman right-hander Dax Whitney, sophomore left-hander Ethan Kleinschmit and Keljo combined to surrender just one run on 10 hits, while striking out 24, over 16 2/3 innings.
Whitney tossed six shutout innings on Saturday, finishing with a career-high 10 strikeouts in a no-decision, and Kleinschmit allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings, recording six strikeouts in a win.
Meanwhile, the offense produced plenty of theatrics.
After erupting in the opener for 11 runs on 14 hits, including six that went for extra bases, the Beavers leaned on a little late-game magic to polish off the sweep.
Easton Talt erased a scoreless tie with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday, clubbing a walk-off two-run homer to give OSU a 2-0 win. A day later, with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Dallas Macias broke out of his season-long funk in emphatic fashion, clobbering a three-run homer to stake OSU a 5-1 lead.
Throughout it all, third baseman Trent Caraway and center fielder Canon Reeder continued their torrid hitting. Caraway amassed six hits in the series, including three doubles and his first homer of the season, to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. And Reeder, who moved into the starting lineup during Macias’ struggles, went 5 for 10 with a double, four runs scored, one RBI and three walks.
“We’re playing loose, we’re playing fun,” Reeder said on Sunday. “That’s what it’s all about. We’re starting to play together for each other as a team, and it’s all you can ask for, really.”
The Beavers continue their season-high nine-game homestand on Tuesday at 5:35 p.m., when they open a two-game midweek series against Washington State.
— 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.
