3 Takeaways From Oregon State's Sweep of Long Beach State
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Oregon State took care of business this past weekend against Long Beach State, bumping them up to #7 in the national rankings and boosting their chances of hosting a regional.
The Beavers scored seven or more runs in all three games of the series, and their pitching was rock-solid as well. However, there's still plenty to improve on if they want to make another deep postseason run.
Here are three key takeaways from the series against the Dirtbags of LBSU.
The starting rotation is still elite
It's important to preface this section by pointing out that the Dirtbags are a poor offensive team, with a lowly RPI in the 200s. However, credit should still be given where credit is due.
Over the weekend down in Southern California, OSU's starting pitching allowed only five earned runs in 16 innings pitched, all while posting a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 22 to 4. True freshman left-hander Trey Morris, who was recently inserted into the weekend rotation after Dax Whitney's injury, had an especially impressive start on the hill in the concluding game of the series. On Sunday afternoon Morris completed six full innings, surrendering just two runs and striking out nine Dirtbags.
Junior Eric Segura turned in an impressive outing of his own in an 8-1 win on Saturday, going five innings and allowing just a single run on only two hits, and one base on balls. Segura has surrendered just four earned runs in his last 16 innings pitched, and now boasts a season ERA below two, while freshman Trey Morris now holds an ERA of 2.12. Overall, the Beavers still hold a very strong starting rotation, even with the loss of superstar Dax Whitney. The big question now becomes how these starters will fare in the postseason against much stronger competition.
Josh Proctor is heating up
It's been an up-and-down season for the talented true freshman left fielder. After a blistering hot stint back towards the beginning of the season, Proctor's batting average hit .300 following a three-hit game against Xavier. Proctor went into somewhat of a prolonged slump following this series, and his average dipped below .240 by the mid-way point of the year. But the freshman had a huge moment against Portland last Tuesday with a game-tying single in the ninth, and he certainly carried this momentum into the weekend.
Proctor put together a six-hit, four RBI series against the Dirtbags, and it would be huge for the team if the true freshman can stay hot as the month of June gets closer and closer.
They are going to need more power
Despite picking up the sweep, Oregon State mustered just one home run in the three-game set against LBSU. In today's era of college baseball, you are going to want to see more baseballs leaving the yard.
The Beavers are currently tied for 129th in the nation with 51 homers, a far cry from last year when they belted over 100 long balls. Though the small-ball type of style has worked well for Oregon State up to this point, they will likely have to hit for more power if they want a shot to win another national title.
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Ben Pahl is a sportswriter and broadcaster based in Portland, Oregon. His work covering college and professional sports has been featured by the Orange Media Network at Oregon State University as well as KBVR.fm. His other career stops in sports include the Portland Pickles baseball club and the NBA G-League's Rip City Remix.