Gavin Turley got the offense going Friday night with a grand slam and top-seeded Oregon State rolled to a 10-4 win over Tulane in the Corvallis Regional at Goss Stadium.
Turley’s fifth-inning bases-loaded homer to left-center field gave OSU its first lead of the game. The Beavers built from there, easily advancing into the winning bracket as pitchers Aiden May, Nelson Keljo and Bridger Holmes combined to hold Tulane to six hits.
With the win, Oregon State (43-14) faces UC Irvine, winner of a wild 13-12 decision over Nicholls State in the regional opener, at 7 p.m. Saturday. The winner of this match advances to the regional championship match. Saturday’s opener at 1 p.m. is a playoff game between Tulane (35-25) and Nicholls State.
With OSU leading 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth, the first three Beavers batters reached base to set up Turley. The second-year designated hitter sent the first pitch over the left-center field wall for his fifth grand slam of the season.
OSU added four more runs from there, including Travis Bazzana’s 27th homer of the season.
Micah McDowell went 4 for 5 and produced two hits, while Bazzana, Dallas Macias and Trent Caraway had two hits each. The Beavers had 13 hits against four Tulane pitchers.
May (7-0) had an uneven outing, leaving after 5 2/3 innings with a 6-4 lead. May allowed six hits and struck out nine, but walked a season-high four, leading to a three-run second inning.
Keljo was outstanding in his 2 2/3 inning performance, allowing one hit and striking out four. Holmes finished the game by striking out the final two Green Wave batters.
Tulane struck first, scoring three runs in the top of the second. May was wild, walking three, and Connor Rasmussen had a timely hit, a two-run single that gave the Green Wave a 3-0 lead. The three-run margin didn’t last long, as Mason Guerra hit a two-run double in the bottom of the second to cut Tulane’s lead to 3-2.
The Beavers scored at least one run in the final four innings, starting with four of Turley’s grand slams in the fifth inning. McDowell’s single in the sixth inning drove in two runs to give OSU an 8-4 lead. In the seventh, Macias doubled and scored on a Caraway single. Bazzana capped the scoring with a solo homer to center in the eighth.
Nick Daschel covers Oregon State athletics, particularly football and basketball, and can be reached at 360-607-4824, ndaschel@oregonian.com or @nickdaschel.
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