Gazette-Times

ATHENS, Ga. — Mitch Canham belted a three-run homer in the top of the seventh inning to give Oregon State the lead for good as the 15th-ranked Beavers defeated Georgia 6-2 on Sunday afternoon to complete a three-game nonconference baseball sweep at Foley Field.

Canham’s two-out blast broke open what had been a tight game.

OSU had taken a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning, only to have Georgia knot the game with single runs in the bottom of the third and fourth innings.

With the win, the Beavers matched their best start in the past 45 years; the 2004 team had also gotten off to a 7-0 start, and that is the best season-opening mark by any OSU squad since the 1962 club won its first 18 games.

OSU’s big inning began with Joey Wong singling to center field against Georgia reliever Trevor Holder; with one out, John Wallace added another single to center to put runners at first and second. Canham came to the plate with two out, and he drove Holder’s two-ball, one-strike pitch to the base of the scoreboard beyond the rightfield fence to make it 5-2.

Oregon State added a run in the top of the eighth inning as Koa Kahalehoe led off with a double down the rightfield line, then scored on Darwin Barney’s two-out single down the leftfield line for a 6-2 lead.

Georgia made a run at the Beavers in the bottom of the eighth inning as Jonathan Wyatt singled off Beaver reliever Blake Keitzman with one out, then Keitzman hit Matt Cerione with a pitch.

That brought OSU closer Eddie Kunz into the game and he fanned Gordon Beckham for the second out, but cleanup hitter Joey Lewis singled to right to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate. Ryan Peisel went after the first pitch from Kunz and flied out to center to end the threat.

Kunz retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth, earning his first save of the season.

Junior righthander Daniel Turpen got the win for the Beavers to improve to 1-0, pitching six innings and allowing two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out to.

Canham was 2-for-4 with the homer for Oregon State. Drew George and Wong were also 2-for-4 for the Beavers, with Wong scoring a pair of runs. For Georgia, Luke Stewart and Blake Cannady were both 2-for-3 and Stewart drove in a run.

OSU will play in the Coca-Cola Classic in Surprise, Ariz., next weekend. The Beavers will face Gonzaga on Friday at 2 p.m., Arizona State on Saturday at 2 p.m., and Missouri on Sunday at 9 a.m.