OSU baseball: Meckler's blast helps Beavers win series finale with Ducks

The blast, and some nifty escapes by Jake Pfennigs and four relievers, allowed the Beavers to salvage the series finale with a 3-1 win over the Ducks.

Meckler said he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the ball leave the yard.

"Honestly off the bat I thought it was caught," Meckler said of his first collegiate home run and just the second of his playing career, adding he hit it "just hard enough to get over the fence."

It was a big moment for Meckler, but also a bit of a painful one when he returned to an ecstatic dugout. In the celebration, Meckler took an elbow to the chin from Kevin Abel.

"That hurt a little bit a couple minutes afterwards when the adrenaline wore off but the dugout was going crazy. It was a great feeling for sure," Meckler said.

While it may not become a trend, it was a big hit for the sophomore who started in right field Sunday.

"I've been hitting balls harder than I ever have in my life this year, I've gotten a lot stronger," Meckler said. "A lot more juice opposite field, too. I've been hitting a lot of balls to the warning track. ... I'm not trying to hit home runs, it's not really my game long-term but if it happens I'm not going to be complaining about it."

The Beavers would certainly take more home runs from Meckler and Sunday's was a big boost after being held scoreless for 22 innings.

Troy Claunch opened the fifth with a first-pitch single and Garret Forrester followed with a single up the middle on the first pitch he saw. Joe Casey nearly beat out a sacrifice bunt that advanced the runners before Matthew Gretler grounded out to deep short, driving in Claunch for the Beavers' first run. Meckler then went to the opposite field for a 3-0 lead.

"Obviously that was a big inning and got the energy going," coach Mitch Canham said. "And of course if you get the lead with the arms that we have and the defense we have, you anticipate a strong outcome."

The Oregon State rally came just after Pfennigs worked out a jam in the top half of the frame.

Gavin Grant doubled down the third-base line with one out in the fifth before Pfennigs struck out Tanner Smith. The Beavers elected to put Kenyon Yovan on with an intentional walk before a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third.

Pfennigs then got Gabe Matthews swinging on a 1-2 pitch to keep the game scoreless.

That as the last pitch for Pfennigs, who went five innings, allowing four hits while walking two and striking out six.

"I felt good," Pfennigs said. "As the game went on I felt I was getting more control of the zone with my offspeed pitches. When you fill up the zone with multiple pitches it makes pitching easier."

The Ducks got a run back in the top of the sixth off reliever Chase Walker. Aaron Zavala opened with a single and went to second on a groundout before advancing to third on a wild pitch with one out. Pinch hitter Sam Olsson delivered a grounder to shortstop to drive in Zavala to make it 3-1.

Yovan and Matthews opened the eighth with singles, but Mitchell Verburg got two fly outs to center and a strikeout to end the threat and keep the lead at 3-1.

Sam Novitske opened the ninth with a leadoff single, but Jake Mulholland rolled a 6-4-3 double play and a grounder to first to pick up his fourth save of the season.

The Ducks threatened in a couple early innings but Pfennigs worked his way out of each jam.

Yovan doubled with one out in the first but didn't advance. The Ducks got a one-out single by Anthony Hall but a fielder's choice and foul out ended the threat.

Oregon State (11-3) will open Pac-12 play at home with a 5:35 p.m. first pitch against Washington State. The teams play at 1:35 p.m. on Saturday and close out the three-game set at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday.

Oregon, which saw its six-game winning streak snapped, hosts Arizona State on Friday in the first of a three-game set. First pitch Friday is 4 p.m. with games at 2 and noon on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.