Feb. 16, 2002
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - In the first game of a double-header Saturday, the Western Kentucky baseball team could not get its offense untracked, falling to Oregon State, 6-2, at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The loss drops WKU to 3-2 on the season.
After a scoreless first inning, Oregon State jumped out to the early lead when Beaver outfielder Seth Pietsch smacked a solo home run to left-center off Hilltopper starting pitcher Ryan Bicondoa (Sr., Lovelock, Nev.), putting the Beavers ahead 1-0.
Western would answer in the top of the fourth inning when Nick Turner (Sr., Louisville, Ky.) slammed a solo shot over the left field fence off Beaver starting pitcher Ben Rowe , knotting the score at one.
The game would remain tied through five innings of play, and with the Toppers unable to get things going in the top of the sixth, Oregon State took advantage. The Beavers collected two straight singles to lead off the inning from outfielder Tom Creighton and Brian Barden , and Chris Biles placed a triple in the gap between right and center, scoring Creighton and Barden to take a 3-1 lead. Seth Pietsch came up and knocked a three-bagger of his own, scoring Barden to increase the advantage to 4-1 after six innings of play.
WKU would get one more in the top of the seventh when Patrick Ransdell (Sr., Bowling Green, Ky.) scored on a wild pitch by Beaver reliever Don Stykel to cut the lead to 4-2, but would come no closer as the Beavers would score two more in the bottom of the eighth to take a 6-2 lead into the ninth.
The Toppers began the inning with a Jeff Pacholke (Sr., Prairie DuSac, Wisc.) single, but the comeback attempt came up short as Oregon State reliever Jared Sanders retired the next three batters, sealing the win.
Rowe earned the victory for the Beavers, improving his record to 2-1 on the year. He gave up one run off three hits in six innings pitched.
Bicondoa pitched 7 1/3 innings, giving up six runs off 12 hits with four strikeouts, earning the loss to drop his record to 1-1.
The Hilltoppers return to the field this evening to play San Diego State, beginning at 9 p.m. (CST)
