AJ Lattery took a brief pause, pondered the question and quickly stopped searching for an answer.
What does he like most about the way the red-hot Oregon State baseball team is playing right now?
“Personally,” he said Sunday, “I just like everything.”
The Beavers are playing that well.
Oregon State defeated the No. 23 USC Trojans 6-3 Sunday afternoon at Goss Stadium, completing an impressive sweep of the three-game Pac-12 series to add more momentum to its midseason renaissance.
If it was the last time the programs will play — USC is bolting the Pac-12 for the Big Ten Conference next season — it was a memorable and satisfying way for the Beavers to close a 72-year-old series between the pair of storied college baseball programs.
The Beavers (24-11, 10-8 Pac-12) defeated Trojans for the sixth consecutive time, sweeping three-game series in each of the last two years, and continued a run of impressive baseball that has renewed hope after an awful start to conference play. Oregon State has won six in a row, 12 of its last 15, and earned four consecutive series victories along the way, surging from last place to sixth place in the Pac-12.
“We’ve been talking a lot about status versus service and not worrying about ourselves,” coach Mitch Canham said. “Going out there and competing for the guys next to us, handling our job. That’s been a big difference and there’s a lot more fun being had. Obviously, when you’re scoring runs and the arms continue what they’re doing, it tends to lighten the mood quite a bit, take some pressure off some guys.”
The mood was certainly light Sunday.
The Beavers, as they have done so often during their resurgence, struck first against the Trojans (21-13-1, 9-6). Leadoff hitter Travis Bazzana opened the bottom of the first inning with a line drive single up the middle, then stole second base. Three batters later, after Garret Forrester worked a walk and Micah McDowell moved them into scoring position with a grounder to first, Mason Guerra smacked an RBI groundout to second base to give OSU a 1-0 lead.
Oregon State never trailed again.
The Beavers scored an unearned run in third, Mikey Kane belted a leadoff home run over the left field bullpen in the fourth, OSU scored two more in the fifth on a McDowell groundout and a wild pitch, and Guerra added an insurance run in seventh when he ripped a run-scoring single through the hole to left.
It wasn’t an overwhelming win like Friday’s 10-4 laugher. It wasn’t a dramatic win like Saturday’s 13-inning walk-off. It was methodical and workmanlike, with solid defense, commanding pitching, timely hitting — and a heavy dose of fun.
“We’re having fun,” said Bazzana, who went 2 for 3 with three runs scored, three stolen bases and a walk. “Everyone’s playing their role and just doing the little things better offensively. So it’s still a ways to go, but it’s really solid.”
Sunday’s win did not come completely without challenges, however. Starting pitcher Jaren Hunter, who missed time last month with tightness in his throwing arm, departed the game in the second inning. After Hunter threw a third-pitch ball to cleanup hitter Johnny Olmstead, pitching coach Rich Dorman and an OSU trainer visited the mound to check on the right-hander and quickly pulled him in the middle of the at-bat. The nature of Hunter’s injury — and how long he might be sidelined — was not immediately clear Sunday.
“We just noticed he was starting to take a little off (his pitches),” Canham said. “He’s never one to say anything. He wants to go out there and compete. If you took his arm off, he’d find a way to throw with the other one or kick (the ball) across the plate. But we’ve got to just keep an eye on it and make sure … we take care of him.”
Lattery (4-0) relieved Hunter and pitched well, allowing one run on two hits and two walks, while striking out three, over four innings to earn the win. Tyler Mejia and Ben Ferrer pitched the final four innings, allowing two runs on two hits. Ferrer tossed the final three innings, striking out four, to earn his first save of the season.
The Beavers’ bullpen, which has been exceptional all season, has been especially dominant in April, going 4-1 with a 2.22 ERA, 41 strikeouts and four saves in 44 2/3 innings.
“The bullpen has been amazing,” Lattery said. “We have shut everybody down and that’s all you can ask.”
The same could be said, suddenly, for most of the team. After sputtering in March, the Beavers have turned around a season in peril and pushed themselves back in the thick of the conference race.
“Big momentum,” Canham said. “But momentum is only what you end up making it the next day. So (Monday) is an off-day, they’re going to take care of their schoolwork, rest and recover, and then we’ve got a game on Tuesday. Every opponent that we face is going to know that we’ve got good arms and we’ve got an offense that’s getting after it and is on the rise.”
Next up: The Beavers host the Seattle Redhawks Tuesday night at 5 in a midweek matchup at Goss Stadium.
Joe Freeman reported from Corvallis
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