June 23, 2006
Red-hot Beavers move on
Beaver Notes
By ABE WINTER
for The Mail Tribune
His team had suffered a humbling 11-1 loss in the first round of the College World Series. But that didn’t seem to faze Jonah Nickerson, an Oregon State junior who probably will sign soon
with the Detroit Tigers.
"If any team can come back from the losers bracket, it’s us," said the pitcher.
Nickerson, who struck out nine, gutted out a strong 72/3 innings against the Owls, surrendering just a harmless two-out single in the second and a double in the seventh before turning it over to
closer Kevin Gunderson.
He said the key was getting ahead of the hitters.
"I was going to give it all I had because this might have been our last game of the season," he said.
FEW HITS: Oregon State and Rice managed only five hits, a testament to good pitching, Rice coach Wayne Graham said.
"Even with the best of teams, the bats can go cold," Graham said. "I always notice that when the bats go cold it’s because of the other team’s pitching."
Rice’s two pitchers held OSU to three hits, all in the two innings in which the Beavers scored their two runs.
But the Owls couldn’t solve Nickerson or Gunderson.
"Our bats just went dead," said Josh Rodriguez, Rice’s cleanup hitter. "We couldn’t get anybody on. We just couldn’t get it done."
ANOTHER BIG CROWD: The Beavers and Owls played in front of 19,161 fans, boosting the 13-game, 11-session total to 240,190 (average of 21,836 per session).
3 IS MAGIC NUMBER: Give up only three runs and the Beavers usually are successful.
Including Thursday’s game against Rice, the Beavers have surrendered more than three runs in only one game — the 11-0 loss to Miami in the CWS — since May 19. They are 13-2 in
those 15 games.
WAIT, THERE’S MORE: Closer Kevin Gunderson garnered his 19th save Thursday. It was his second this week. He also pitched in another game in which he was effective but
didn’t’ qualify for a save. The pitcher some consider the best bet to reach the majors has a 2.28 ERA. Nickerson improved his record to 13-4 and lowered his ERA to 2.35... Bill
Rowe’s double gave him a nine-game hitting streak. That’s the longest current streak on the team because Cole Gillespie’s season-high 20-game streak ended when he went 0-for-3.
