Ex-Knight Andrew Susac of OSU Named Pac-10 Player of the Week.

Former and Future Knights Lead Beavers to Four-Game Sweep of Hartford

The dreaded sophomore jinx apparently does not apply to Oregon State's Andrew Susac.

The second-year Beaver catcher, who played for the Corvallis Knights in 2009 following his graduation from Jesuit High School in Sacramento, earned Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Week honors for his stellar performance in five OSU victories between February 28 and March 6.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder hit .500 (8-16) for the week, with two home runs, three doubles, eight RBIs and 10 runs, with a 1.055 slugging percentage and .608 on-base percentage.

Susac was 7-for-13 (.538) over the weekend as the Beavers battered Hartford in a four-game sweep at Goss Stadium. He had a solo homer in the second game, and then hit a three-run bomb in the series finale. He scored nine times and drove in eight runs in the series, and had two hits in three of the four games.

The onslaught prolonged an explosive start to Susac's second season at OSU, and raised his batting average to .441 heading into today's (March 8) game against Oregon at Goss Stadium. To date, he has recorded three homers, 14 RBIs, an eight-game hitting streak, an .853 slugging percentage and a .571 on-base percentage.

He also has 12 walks, has not committed an error in 81 chances, has thrown out 3 of 9 would-be base-stealers, and has several pickoffs.

Susac hit .208 with the Knights in 2009, with two homers and 13 RBIs, after turning down the Philadelphia Phillies, who had selected him in the 16th round of the 2009 MLB draft. Following his first (summer) season of college baseball, he was named the West Coast League's #1 prospect by Baseball America.

Last year, he hit .260 with two homers and 13 RBIs for the Beavers as a frosh and then was a Cape Cod League all-star with the Falmouth Commodores over the summer (and rated the #5 Cape prospect by Baseball America).

Andrew was just one of several current or former Knights to have big weekends against Hartford. Pitchers with Knights ties won all four games, and hitters other than Susac with Knights connections made big contributions.

Freshman southpaw Ben Wetzler, a future Knight, won his first college game on Saturday with an outstanding performance. He gave up just one run and two hits over seven innings, and had nine strikeouts in a 16-1 blowout victory in the second game of a doubleheader.

In the opener, ex-Knight junior right-hander Sam Gaviglio (2009) allowed just two hits over six shutout innings and struck out 5. He has not allowed an earned run this year, and has 15 consecutive shutout innings. He had a complete-game, 2-hit shutout against #14 Connecticut in his previous start.

On Sunday, Knights' alum senior James Nygren (2009) turned in an efficient, 106-pitch 6-hitter against Hartford for his first career complete game. Nygren struck out five.

In the nightcap, former Knight junior Josh Osich (2008) continued his recovery from elbow surgeries that cost him the 2009 and 2010 seasons by going a season-high 3.1 innings. He consistently threw in the mid-to-upper 90s and fanned seven of the 13 batters he faced.

Ex-Knight Matt Boyd (2010) also pitched an inning of scoreless relief. For the weekend, Knights' pitchers allowed just two earned runs over 26.1 innings, a 0.68 ERA.

Freshman infielder/catcher Jake Rodriguez (pictured), who started his college career last summer with the Knights, had three hits in each game of Saturday's doubleheader and was 7-for-16 (.438) for the weekend, with four runs and an RBI.

Ex-Knights' sophomore 1B/DH Danny Hayes (2010) hit .333 (4-12), with five RBIs, and former Knight junior third baseman Carter Bell (2009) had three RBIs.

The Beavers face Oregon tonight in a non-conference Civil War game at Goss. The Ducks feature ex-Knight and All-American southpaw Tyler Anderson and future Knights frosh outfielder Connor Hofmann and freshman pitcher Jimmie Sherfy.