Tanner Robles
The Washington Huskies’ second game this season at Safeco Field in Seattle drew a crowd of 4,296, close to half of them fans of the visiting Oregon State Beavers. They got to see a strong performance by Beaver starter Tanner Robles, who got his first win of the season in his sixth start.
Robles, a left-hander who is back in action after an injury, went 6 1/3 innings, held the Huskies scoreless on two hits and one walk, and threw 77 pitches.
The Beavers led all the way. They opened the scoring in the top of the second, when CF John Wallace drew a walk off Huskies starter Jorden Merry with the bases loaded, bringing in 1B Jared Norris, who reached on a single.
The Beavers got their second run in the fifth, on an RBI single by DH Adalberto Santos. They got the winning run in the sixth, when 3B Stefen Romero hit a triple with the bases loaded. Romero was batted in by Norris, and Robles left the game with a 6-0 lead.
The Huskies got on the board, and back into the game, in the bottom of the eighth. They loaded the bases with no outs on two walks and a hit batter by reliever James Nygren. Nygren struck out the next batter, and was replaced by Mark Grbavac. Grbavac proceeded to walk in two runs, and was replaced by Kraig Sitton. Sitton struck out 1B Troy Scott. The next batter, 3B Aaron Russell, hit a single that brought in two runs, and made the score 6-4. The Beavers then brought in their third pitcher of the inning, Kevin Rhoderick. He got out of the inning when pinch-hitter Doug Cherry hit a high popup that was caught by C Ryan Ortiz in foul territory.
Rhoderick went the rest of the way. The Huskies opened the bottom of the ninth with a single by CF Caleb Brown, but Rhoderick struck out the next two batters, and got a fly out to end the game and collect a save.
Ortiz was 2-3 with a double for the game, Norris was 2-3, and Romero was 2-5. The Huskies were out-hit 8-4, and Merry got the loss.
The win brought the Beavers’ record to 29-12, 12-7 in the Pac-10. They moved past UCLA for second place in the conference. The Huskies are now 21-24, 10-9 in the Pac-10.
Most of the eye candy that is visible at Mariners games, including video replays on the center field scoreboard, was in operation for this game. The Huskies added their marching band. However, aficionados of Pacific Northwest micro-brews will be disappointed to hear that beer was not being sold on this occasion.
Story from U. of Washington site: #25 Beavers Beat UW, 6-4, At Safeco
Story from Oregon State site: Robles’ Strong Outing Paces Beavers Past Washington At Safeco Field
Safeco Field scoreboard
Pat Casey
Welcome to Safeco Field and Husky Baseball
Jake Rife
