Box Score
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State reached the No. 1 ranking in the country thanks to a dominant pitching staff, and the Beavers showcased it Thursday night in the first game of a four-game series against ACU.
OSU starting pitcher Luke Heimlich was dominant over eight innings and then Max Engelbrekt finished it off as the Beavers blanked the Wildcats, 9-0, at Goss Stadium in front of 3,432 fans. The shutout was just second of the Wildcats this season, who lost a 3-0 game against No. 4 TCU on March 21 (the game was completed May 2 in Fort Worth).
Heimlich scattered four hits and one walk over those eight innings and struck out six Wildcats to run his season total to 120 strikeouts in 111 1/3 innings of work, and lowered his ERA to 0.81 on the season. The win pushed his record to 10-1 on the season as he joined Jake Thompson (12-0) as 10-game winners on the OSU staff. Thompson – who has struck out 94 batters and given up just 55 hits and 12 runs in 98 innings of work – is likely to take is 1.01 ERA to the mound in the second game of the series Friday night.
ACU starting pitcher
Austin Lambright struggled to find the plate with consistency as he delivered 110 pitches in five innings with just 53 of them going for strikes. He walked nine Beavers and gave up six runs (five earned) in five innings of work, although he did strike out six and gave up just two hits.
Oregon State struck for five runs in the second as Lambright walked three men and all three scored, two of them coming home on a Preston Jones triple that glanced off
Derek Scott's glove. OSU added a single run in the fifth to make it 6-0, and then two errors in the bottom of the eighth helped the Beavers add three more runs off relief pitcher
Blake Bouffard.
The Wildcats managed just five singles off Heimlich and Engelbrekt with
Luis Trevino collecting a pair of hits and
Anthony Dominguez,
Aaron Draper and Koby Claiborne each singling once.
