A forgettable seventh inning on Sunday had an unforgettable affect on the Oregon State Beavers’ standing in the college baseball national rankings on Monday.
The Beavers tumbled outside the top 10 in four of the five major college baseball polls, falling as low as 13 on one ballot, after the team suffered its first series loss of the season.
Oregon State dropped to No. 11 in the D1Baseball Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Poll, No. 12 in the Baseball America Top 25 and No. 13 in the Perfect Game Top 25. OSU remained inside the top 10 — at No. 9 — in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Poll.
It’s the first time this season the Beavers (20-6) have not been ranked among the top 10 in the D1Baseball poll, which The Oregonian/OregonLive.com uses for its rankings.
The Beavers’ slide comes on the heels of a rough weekend, during which they lost two of three games against the struggling Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers entered the weekend sitting four games under .500, saddled with a 2-7 Big Ten record and lacking a win in any three-game series this season. Their offense was one of the worst in college baseball, averaging just 5.4 runs per game and hitting .246.
But Nebraska teed off on OSU pitching in the series, hitting .370, scoring 28 runs and mashing 37 hits, including eight home runs.
The series dagger came on Sunday, during a disastrous seventh inning, when Nebraska embarrassed the Beavers’ bullpen with a nine-run outburst that fueled a 16-7 win.
Relievers Joey Mundt, Zach Edwards and James DeCremer combined to surrender five hits and six free passes (two walks and four hit batters) as the Cornhuskers sent 13 men to the plate in the inning, erasing a 7-6 OSU lead.
The Beavers had their moments over the weekend. Gavin Turley belted five home runs, including a school-record three on Saturday, when the Beavers clubbed a school-record eight during a 16-5 win.
Freshman right-hander Dax Whitney finished with a career-high 11 strikeouts on the way to his third victory. And relievers Zach Kmatz (three strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings on Friday) and Laif Palmer (two scoreless innings on Sunday) had impressive outings.
But every other Oregon State pitcher coughed up runs, as Eric Segura (five), Wyatt Queen (two), AJ Hutcheson (two), Tanner Douglas (two), Ethan Kleinschmit (six), Mundt (three), Edwards (five), DeCremer (one) and Adam Haight (one) surrendered a combined 27 runs in 16 innings.
It didn’t help that the Beavers played without Friday starter Nelson Keljo, who missed his first start and is considered is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Also, the Beavers navigated their second series without closer Matthew Morrell, who is facing season-ending surgery.
Even so, it was a humbling weekend for the Beavers, who saw their RPI dip from 15th to 23rd.
And things don’t get any easier this weekend — the Beavers will host red-hot UC Irvine (21-5), which has won 10 in a row and surged to No. 12 in the D1Baseball Top 25.
— 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.
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