FORT WORTH, Texas — Garret Forrester homered down the right-field line leading off the bottom of the ninth inning after Dallas Baptist had tied the score in the top half of the inning and Oreg.on State staved off elimination with a 5-4 victory in the Fort Worth Regional on Sunday.
Jake Mulholland came on in the ninth to try to preserve a 4-3 lead for the Beavers, but No. 9 hitter Ryan Wrobleski hit a one-out double. Mulholland, a left-hander, retired the next batter before yielding way to right-hander Mitchell Verburg (2-0) to face the right-handed-hitting Jackson Glenn, who singled to knot the score.
Austin Bell hit a two-run homer in the first inning for the Patriots (39-16) after Jace Grady reached base on a two-out error by OSU third baseman Jake Dukart. The Beavers got a run back in their half of the first when Justin Boyd doubled, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout by Troy Claunch. Ryan Ober homered to pull OSU even in the fourth, but the Patriots retook the lead when Wrobleski, who finished with three hits, led off the fifth with a homer.
The Beavers grabbed the lead in the sixth off DBU starter Ray Gaither. Andy Armstrong and Dukart had back-to-back singles with one out and Gaither’s day was done after issuing walks to Kyle Dernedde and Wade Meckler, respectively, to force in the tying run. Kragen Kechely came on in relief and walked Boyd to plate the go-ahead run before retiring the next two hitters. Kechely (3-4) surrendered Forrester’s homer.
Oregon State and Dallas Baptist will play an elimination game on Monday for a berth in the Super Regionals.
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