Takeaways from Oregon State baseball's midweek loss to rival Oregon

EUGENE — Despite an early-inning power surge, No. 6 Oregon State struggled to find consistency at the plate on Tuesday.

The Beavers fell to rival Oregon, 9-5, at PK Park in a nonconference showdown. OSU took two of three games from the Ducks in Corvallis over the weekend, but has now lost two straight to its in-state rivals.

Jacob Krieg smashed a grand slam, and Travis Bazzana lifted his 21st home run of the season. But that wasn't enough for a Beavers' offense that tallied just four hits and struck out 15 times on the night.

As OSU sets its sights on this weekend's upcoming series with Washington State in Pullman, here are four takeaways from the Beavers' up-and-down showing in Eugene.

Jacob Krieg taps into impressive power

There aren't many players on Oregon State's roster who possess as much sheer power in their bat as Krieg, the sophomore first baseman.

The the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Krieg has been a breakout figure in the middle of the order this spring and ranks third among all Oregon State players with a .580 slugging percentage on the season.

On Tuesday, Krieg uncorked a towering grand slam that was hit so hard Oregon left fielder Mason Neville didn't even bother moving after it left the bat. The ball traveled an estimated 461 feet over the Oregon State bullpen beyond the left field fence.

"I would have to be standing in left-center in order to hit the ball that far," Oregon State coach Mitch Canham quipped.

Krieg's importance to the Beavers has been magnified in recent weeks. With all-conference junior Mason Guerra struggling of late, and standout senior Micah McDowell sidelined due to injury, OSU has relied on Krieg to do plenty of heavy lifting out of the cleanup spot.

"He's big, he's strong. He's an animal," Canham said. "He's got the physicality. He's been developing his swing and perfecting his approach; working into advantage counts and being ready to hit his pitch. It's good. ... he's growing in the game quite a bit."

Travis Bazzana matches OSU home run record

The milestones continue to pile up for Oregon State star second baseman Bazzana.

Bazzana launched his 21st homer of the season on Tuesday, matching the OSU program record set by Jim Wilson in 1982. Earlier this season, Bazzana took hold of the program's career home run record, too, and now sits at 38 long balls during his time with the Beavers.

"Obviously he's crushing the baseball," Canham said. "We've seen him use the opposite field like that over and over, then also be able to do the kind of stuff he does to the pull-side."

Bazzana, who is expected to be a top-five pick in the 2024 Major League Baseball draft this summer, ranks sixth nationally in home runs this season. He ranks second nationally in on-base percentage (.576), slugging percentage (.932) and on-base plus slugging (1.508).

Pitching, defensive struggles persist

Despite Krieg and Bazzana giving the Beavers a big early lead, OSU was undone by its pitching and defense for the second game in a row.

Beavers' starter Jaren Hunter found himself in a second-inning jam after surrendering back-to-back singles to Jeffery Heard and Maddox Molony to lead off the frame. Hunter battled back to force two outs, and nearly escaped unscathed.

But an error by Bazzana allowed Heard to score. The next batter, Bryce Boettcher, flipped the game with a three-run homer to left to cut OSU's lead to 5-4.

Two innings later, Boettcher tagged Hunter again for a two-run homer.

"We had an opportunity to get out of that one — we just didn't make the play," Canham said. "The inning continued and the ball was moving out of (PK Park) like something else. ... (Hunter) got hit around a little bit. Some hard-hit balls. If we're getting balls on the ground, he's sinking it really well. If the ball creeps up or flattens out, they tend to hit the ball."

The future of the Oregon - Oregon State rivalry

Tuesday marked the last-ever regular season baseball matchup between Oregon State and Oregon while both programs are members of the Pac-12.

The Ducks are moving onto the Big Ten next season, while the Beavers have entered a two-year affiliation with the West Coast Conference.

So, what does that mean for the future of the rivalry?

"The Big Ten hasn't put out a schedule yet, so we haven't even been able to attempt to schedule anything yet," Canham said. "We'll have to see where (Oregon's) bye week lands and all that other stuff. Obviously we wanna play the games. So we'll have to figure all that out when all their schedule stuff pops up. We've been in communication, like with all the schools. (University of Washington), down here, everybody else; trying to figure out when and if it works.

"But there's so much movement right now in that space. You're just waiting for someone to figure it out."

During a midweek press conference in Eugene last week, Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski was also non-committal on the future of the rivalry.

"I haven't even thought about it," Wasikowski said.

Jarrid Denney covers high school sports and Oregon State for the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at JDenney@salem.gannett.com or on X @jarrid_denney

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon State baseball stumbles in midweek loss to rival Oregon