The Beavers conclude their seven-game California trip with a visit to Cal State Northridge.
The Oregon State baseball team’s crusade through California is almost complete.
The sixth-ranked Beavers open a three-game trip at the Cal State Northridge Matadors on Thursday, signaling the beginning of the end of their nine-day, seven-game trek through The Golden State.
It has been a widely successful trip so far, featuring a weekend sweep at Cal State Fullerton and an impressive 7-1 midweek victory at No. 10 UCLA. The stretch extended the Beavers’ winning streak to seven games and improved their April record to 7-1.
Below is a primer for the series, which opens Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Robert J. Hiegert Field:
(Weekly trivia: Oregon State and CSUN played a four-game series in Corvallis last year and a player on this year’s roster delivered his first career hit in the opener. Can you name him? Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)
The week that was
The Beavers (27-7) earned their second three-game series sweep of the season last weekend, opening the California trip with a trio of victories at Cal State Fullerton. OSU used the strong pitching of Nelson Keljo and Eric Segura to win 7-3 on Friday, leaned on a potent offense to win 17-10 on Saturday and held on to close with a 9-8 victory on Sunday. Then, in a Tuesday night matchup between top 10 teams in Los Angeles, the Beavers defeated the the Bruins 7-1.
The polls
The Beavers inched closer to the top five in the majority of the five major college baseball polls thanks to their weekend sweep. This includes a No. 6 ranking in the D1Baseball Top 25, which The Oregonian/OregonLive uses for its rankings.
A look at the Matadors
This is, on paper, one of the most lopsided series of the season for the Beavers.
After finishing with 30 or more wins in each of the last three seasons, Cal State Northridge has taken a step back in 2025. A significant step back.
The Matadors had a rough opening month, losing 14 of their first 16 games, and are on their way to an even rougher spring, having dropped nine of their last 11 games. Cal State Northridge (8-24) owns the fewest wins in the Big West Conference.
The Matadors’ pitching staff, in particular, has been hit hard — CSUN ranks 279th in the nation in ERA (9.00) and 259th in hits allowed per nine innings (11.27). And the staff has been roughed up in April, allowing an average of 13.0 runs over the last eight games, during which the Matadors have produced a 1-7 record.
Ryan Halamicek (2-3, 7.28) and Diego Gutierrez (2-3, 6.08), CSUN’s top two starters, boast a combined four wins and ERAs north of 6.00.
But Halamicek has won two of his last three starts and is coming off his best outing of the season, a complete-game victory over UC San Diego. The 6-foot-4 right-hander allowed two earned runs, seven hits and recorded seven strikeouts in the win, during which he threw a season-high 146 pitches.
The Matadors’ offense, which ranks 215th nationally in batting average (.263) and tied for 234th in hits (292), also has struggled. But freshman outfielder Andrew Becker, who leads the team in batting average (.327), RBIs (20) and multi-hit games (12), and second baseman Kyle Panganiban, who leads the Matadors in hits (38), runs scored (23) and doubles (8), are threats in the middle of the order. Leadoff hitter Roberto Gonzalez is batting .309 with a team-high 15 walks.
RPI
Oregon State’s road-heavy schedule and success against top-tier teams — it is 4-1 against ranked opponents this season — has fueled a surge in its RPI.
The win at UCLA nudged the Beavers up two spots in the RPI, to No. 8, placing them firmly in position to earn a top eight national seed and host through the super regionals of the NCAA baseball tournament.
With four games against the No. 16 Oregon Ducks, a four-game trip at Hawaii and a three-game trip at Iowa — which sits in second place in the Big Ten standings — remaining on the schedule, the Beavers seemingly have room to move up.
DH experiment paying dividends
Oregon State’s decision to introduce a platoon at designated hitter in late March has finally started to pay dividends, as redshirt freshman Carson McEntire and sophomore Levi Jones have started to heat up.
Over the last four games, Jones is 4 for 9 with a double, three RBIs and one run scored, while McEntire is 3 for 7 with two home runs, five RBIs and three runs scored.
McEntire had the most meaningful game of his young career in the win over UCLA, finishing 2 for 4 with a home run, two RBIs and a run scored. The 6-foot-1 outfielder delivered an RBI single in the second inning and bashed a two-run homer in the fourth, helping OSU build a 4-1 lead.
Coach Mitch Canham started rotating his starting designated hitter on March 23 at Cal Poly and has used a mix of Tyce Peterson, Gavin Turley, Paul Vazquez, Jones and McEntire in the 13 games since.
Heading into the weekend, McEntire and Jones have made the most of the opportunity.
National honor for Arquette
The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association on Tuesday named Aiva Arquette the Dick Howser Trophy National Player of the Week.
The 6-5 junior shortstop hit .500 (9 for 18) with four home runs, two doubles, 11 RBIs, seven runs scored and four walks in four OSU victories.
It’s the second time this season Arquette has won a national weekly honor; he also was named the Brooks Wallace Award Shortstop of the Week in February.
Probable pitching matchups
Thursday: OSU LHP Nelson Keljo (2-1, 2.59 ERA) vs. TBA
Friday: OSU RHP Dax Whitney (3-2, 2.88) vs. RHP Ryan Halamicek (2-3, 7.28)
Saturday: OSU LHP Ethan Kleinschmit (6-1, 3.31) vs. RHP Max Mendes (2-2, 7.71)
Series history
The Beavers and Matadors have played 23 times in a series that dates to 1999, and OSU owns a 14-9 all-time advantage and six-game winning streak. The teams played four times last season in Corvallis, and the Beavers eked out a March sweep — the last three games were decided by a combined four runs.
Trivia answer
Levi Jones. The sophomore outfielder drove in two runs with a pinch-hit, bases-loaded single in the fifth inning, and his first career hit gave the Beavers a 5-1 lead. They went on to a 9-2 win.
The at-bat was both memorable and atypical. Canham sent Jones to the plate at the last second as a pinch hitter, with so little warning he didn’t have time to take a practice swing in the on-deck circle. But Jones didn’t flinch, ripping the first pitch he saw into right field to score Tanner Smith and Easton Talt.
— Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | @freemanjoe.bsky.social | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.