PULLMAN, Wash. -- Joe Pistorese fired a four-hitter and Washington State knocked off No. 5 Oregon State 4-1 in the opener of a three-game Pac-12 series on Friday night at Bailey-Brayton Field.
Pistorese (3-1) recorded his second consecutive complete game, the first Cougar to accomplish that feat since Adam Conley in 2011. Ben Wetzler (6-1) suffered his first loss in seven starts this season.
“Joe is one of the best competitors in the conference,” Washington State head coach Donnie Marbut said. “He faced a guy with ridiculous numbers and was better than him tonight.”
Nick Tanielu staked the Cougars (16-14, 7-3 Pac-12) to a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI-single and the Beavers (25-7, 9-4) tied the game with a run on two hits in the second. Pistorese did not give up another hit until he had two outs in the ninth.
In the third, Washington State scored three times against Wetzler, who had given up three runs this season prior to Friday. Trek Stemp led off with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice by Collin Slaybaugh. An infield single by Tanielu gave the Cougars a 2-1 lead.
Yale Rosen was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second. P.J. Jones flied out to center for the second out as Tanielu tagged and headed to third. The throw to the cutoff man by centerfielder Jeff Hendrix was low and allowed Tanielu to come into score. An error on a ground ball off the bat of Michael Monda brought up Rosen with the second unearned run of the inning.
Five Oregon State pitchers combined to issues 11 free passes, 10 walks and a hit batter. Pistorese walked four and struck out four in becoming the first Cougar hurler since Chad Arnold in 2010 to have three complete games in a season.
With the victory, Washington State moved within a half game of Oregon State and percentage points ahead of the Beavers for second place in the Pac-12.
