By Dannielle Lowe
The Pilots faced the Oregon State Beavers at PGE Park Tuesday for four innings before rain forced the game to be called for the evening and suspended to April 23, when the Pilots will resume play in Corvallis at Goss Stadium with the Beavers leading by three.
"(The rain out) sucks because it was our only game at PGE and everyone was working forward to it," senior outfielder Billy Krause said. "It was so cold. The best part of the night was batting practice."
The Pilots put up a valiant effort holding the Beavers scoreless for three wet innings. But before officials suspended the game in the middle of the fourth inning, OSU posted three runs on the board.
In the top of the fourth, the rain and the Beavers went to work. With bases loaded, Drew George scored the first OSU run on a wild pitch by starter Brenan Thorpe. By this time, the rain really began to come down, the Pilots continued play.
A deep sacrifice fly to center allowed the runners on second and third both to tag and advance, making it two nothing Beavers. Jason Ogata followed that with a tricky dribbler down the third base line. The ball looked as if it could roll foul, but as luck would have the ball stayed fair, bringing in run number three.
With the close of the inning, the game went into a 45 minute rain delay before officials decided to suspend the game.
Despite the wet weather, fans trickled into PGE Park. At times it looked like a sea of orange and black, but amidst the orange were pops of purple.
"My good friend Megan persuaded me to come," senior Bridget Burke said. "I don't usually watch baseball, but the fact the Pilots were playing OSU at PGE Park is kind of a big deal."
Some students attended the game for the atmosphere and some to support the team. One student said the change of venue will bring new support to the program.
"I came today because I don't think that baseball gets enough recognition at our school," senior Megan Morris said.
The majority of the students were hiding in the upper level, huddled closely together under layers of blankets with beers or hot chocolates in hand. Students watched the game as they fought to stay warm.
Students had multiple reasons for attending. Sophomore Jessica Berning and junior Emily Jacoby came out to support their boyfriends.
"Rain or shine, these boys look good in their uniforms," Jacoby said. "And we like baseball. I always have. Being as how we're American, we're really big fans of the sport."
Berning agreed with Jacoby. Although excited for the game at PGE, she really missed the dollar hot dogs.
"We usually come for the dollar dogs in the ninth inning, but since the game is at PGE and there are no dollar dogs, we actually came to watch the game today," Berning said. "Plus we're here because we have friends on the team, and it's exciting that it's at PGE Park. It makes it seem more important."
This isn't the first rain out for the Pilots, who've been battling the showers all season. They will resume play against OSU again on April 23 in Corvallis.
