CORVALLIS, Ore. – For the fifth time in the last seven games, the USF baseball team scored in the eighth inning or later, but the Dons' four-run eighth-inning rally was not enough to overcome an early hole in an 8-5 loss to No. 4 Oregon State at Goss Stadium on Friday evening.
 
"I liked how the guys battled back," said head coach Nino Giarratano. "I thought we had some guys in the lineup who put together good at bats the entire night, but we were just inconsistent. The speed of the game just kind of got to us.
 
"I never doubt how hard our guys are going to play, it's just whether we can hold the other team down. We just gave too much up. It's a great lesson for us because that's a really good team and we need to understand how to play at that level. It's hard for everybody else to see, but we're close." 
 
Nico Giarratano went 1-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored, while Dan James came off the bench to go 1-for-2 with two RBI of his own. Matt Sinatro scored a pair of runs on the night.
 
USF starter Anthony Shew (0-2) took his second loss of the year after throwing 5.2 innings, allowing seven runs on 11 hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
 
"I think it all comes down to the six straight hits that Anthony gave up," added Giarratano. "I might have left him in there too long from a coaching standpoint."  
 
Oregon State (11-1) struck in the bottom of the first when Shew walked the leadoff hitter, Cadyn Grenier, on four straight pitches. Grenier came around to score three batters later when KJ Harrison popped up to shallow center field, taking second baseman Aaron Ping away from the plate and not allowing him a chance to turn and throw out Grenier tagging from third after making the catch.
 
The Beavers followed that up with two runs in the bottom of the second on an RBI triple lined into the right field corner by Christian Donahue, while the next hitter, Steven Kwan, lined the first pitch up the middle to score Donahue and give OSU a 3-0 lead.
 
After giving up three runs in the first two innings, Shew settled in to retire nine of the next 10 hitters - while striking out three – between the third and fifth innings.
 
On the other side, however, OSU starter Drew Rasmussen was sitting down Dons hitters with startling efficiency, striking out 11 of the first 14 USF hitters he faced through the fifth inning.
 
USF (2-13) finally got on the board in the top of the sixth when Sinatro slapped a leadoff single to left field – giving USF its first hit off Rasmussen since the second inning – and came around to score two batters later on Giarratano's RBI groundout to third.
 
The Beavers wasted no time in distancing themselves again, as they plated four runs in the bottom half of the sixth behind back-to-back triples by Logan Ice and Trever Morrison to lead off the inning, a two-run home run to left by Kyle Nobach and an RBI single from Grenier to pull ahead 7-1. OSU's first four hitters of the inning tallied base hits to spur the rally.
 
OSU tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh when Ice led off the inning with a long home run to right field that put the Beavers ahead by an 8-1 tally.
 
True to form, the Don offense rallied late in the game, putting up four runs in the top of the eighth. USF got its first four hitters aboard to start the inning before Giarratano stroked an RBI single to center and Allen Smoot pushed across a run with a bases-loaded RBI ground out. Two batters later, James looped a two-run single over the third baseman to cut the Beavers' lead to 8-5, which would be the closest the Dons would get.
 
Rasmussen (3-0) totaled six innings, allowing one run on two hits while striking out 12 and walking two.
 
Max Engelbrekt picked up his sixth save with a pair of strikeouts and a fly out to close the game.
 
Logan Ice ( 3-for-3, 2 R, RBI) and Kyle Nobach (3-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI) helped lead the Beavers offense.  
 

WEB GEMS: 3B Allen Smoot used the wet turf to make a sliding snag in the bottom of the fourth with a runner on second and two outs. Smoot slid to his left on a grounder in the hole, popped up and fired a strike across the diamond to end the inning without allowing a run to score.
 
NOTES: RF Beau Bozett extended his on-base streak to nine consecutive games with a single to lead off the top of second… DH Blake Valley extended his team-best hitting streak to nine games… RHP Connor Brewster made his collegiate debut coming on in relief with a scoreless eighth inning… Riley Helland made his first appearance at catcher in the eighth inning – he has now played second, third, catcher and pitcher this season… the Dons have scored runs in the eighth inning or later in five of their last seven games… Oregon State came into the weekend ranked as high as No. 3 by Baseball America and came in at No. 4 (D1Baseball.com, USA Today, NCBWA) and No. 6 (Collegiate Baseball) in other national polls… the Beavers entered the contest ranked sixth in the NCAA in hitting (.343 avg.).
 
UP NEXT: The Dons and Beavers continue their series with game two on Saturday afternoon at 1:35 p.m. from Goss Stadium. LHP Chase Gardner (0-1, 8.25) is lined up to face OSU's RHP Jake Thompson (1-1, 4.61).