A little home cooking, a lot of dominant pitching and a nine-game winning streak have boosted the Oregon State Beavers‘ status in the college baseball national rankings.
The Beavers on Monday moved up in three of the five major college baseball polls, surging to a season-high No. 6 on one ballot, after another undefeated week.
Oregon State climbed to No. 6 in the D1Baseball Top 25, No. 8 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 9 in the Perfect Game Top 25, dropped a spot to No. 10 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Poll and held steady at No. 11 in the Baseball America Top 25.
The Oregonian/OregonLive.com uses the D1Baseball poll for its rankings.
The Beavers went 5-0 last week at Goss Stadium, sweeping a two-game midweek series against Washington State and a three-game weekend series against Grand Canyon and Santa Clara.
The stellar play pushed OSU’s winning streak to a season-high nine games, which includes an 8-0 run at home.
The hot play has come, in large part, thanks to sensational starting pitching by an OSU staff that has been nearly impossible to score on in recent weeks.
The Beavers’ rotation has allowed just one earned run in 41 1/3 innings at home this season — producing a ridiculous ERA of 0.22 — while combining to record 46 strikeouts and surrendered just 25 hits. Grand Canyon and Santa Clara were overwhelmed last weekend, as ace left-hander Nelson Keljo (six scoreless innings), freshman right-hander Dax Whitney (five no-hit innings) and sophomore left-hander Ethan Kleinschmit (six scoreless innings) combined for 19 strikeouts, seven hits and four walks in three shutouts.
The Beavers have allowed three runs or less in seven of their last eight games, tossing two shutouts along the way, and rank fourth in the nation in ERA (2.81), sixth in hits per nine innings (6.2) and 17th in WHIP (1.19) this season.
The dominant pitching has helped pick up the slack for an inconsistent OSU offense that has been decent, but hardly dominant, despite featuring a deep mix of MLB draft prospects, preseason all-Americans and breakout candidates.
During the Beavers’ eight-game homestand, they’re hitting just .278 and have been held to four runs or less four times.
Oregon State concludes its season-long nine-game homestand on Tuesday, when it hosts Rutgers at 5:35 p.m. at Goss Stadium.
— 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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