CORVALLIS — Nelson Keljo really seems to be taking a liking to this whole Friday night starter thing.
The Oregon State baseball reliever-turned-ace had another dominant outing and the Beavers kept their winning streak alive Friday night at Goss Stadium, easing past the Grand Canyon Antelopes 6-4 before 3,406 in Corvallis.
Keljo tossed six shutout innings to win his second consecutive start and the eighth-ranked Beavers (13-3) withstood a late Grand Canyon rally to win their season-high seventh consecutive game on a miserable night that featured steady rain, swirling winds and temperatures that felt like they were in the 30s.
“His intent was at a really high level,” OSU coach Mitch Canham said of Keljo. ”He was making quick adjustments. I liked what he was doing with his slider tonight. When he shows that kind of attitude on the mound, you know he’s in a good spot.”
And the 6-foot-3 left-hander was in pretty good spot most of the night, befuddling GCU hitters with an electric, mid-90s fastball and a pair of off-speed pitches that included a nasty, practically unhittable, slider. He worked ahead in the count, facing three-ball counts on just two batters. He was efficient, needing just 76 pitches to breeze through six innings. And he was in control, allowing no walks for the first time this season.
As a result, for the second consecutive week, Keljo (2-0) did not allow a run while setting a career high in innings pitched. All four of strikeouts were looking, with three coming thanks to his wicked slider. Keljo still has not surpassed the 80-pitch mark in a start — let alone reached triple digits — but he is slowly getting there, methodically transforming himself from a reliever into a starter.
“Getting to 100 pitches is definitely the goal,” he said. “We don’t necessarily need that right now. But, definitely toward the end of the season, I’ll get there. I could have gone more than 76 today. I was pretty efficient out there.”
It would have been even more efficient if right-fielder Josh Wakefield wasn’t penciled in atop the Grand Canyon (12-6) lineup card. The Antelopes' leadoff hitter went 4 for 5 on Friday, including 3 for 3 against Keljo. He led off the game with a rocket to left field for a double and spent the rest of the night tormenting OSU pitching.
Before the start of the sixth inning, pitching coach Rich Dorman looked at Keljo and said, “One more,” meaning Keljo’s night was over if he allowed a baserunner. And, sure enough, it was Wakefield standing in the batter’s box to lead off the inning.
He smacked a single to right field.
But, to Keljo’s surprise, Dorman did not pull him. And Keljo rewarded the faith, retiring the next three hitters on eight pitches, wrapping a pair of flyouts around a strikeout.
After the inning, he turned to Dorman and pleaded: “One more?” Dorman shook his head no.
“But I’m glad he let me finish (the sixth),” Keljo said.
As Keljo cruised, the OSU lineup battled, finishing with 10 hits. Easton Talt had a clutch two-run, two-out single in the third inning. Gavin Turley ripped an RBI double down the left field line in the fifth. And Trent Caraway hammered a line drive two-run homer in the sixth.
Caraway’s bullet proved to be the difference. Sophomore right-hander Eric Segura, who has been so dominant most of the season in his new role as a “piggyback” reliever behind Keljo, had an off night, allowing four runs in 1 1/3 innings — including one on a bases-loaded walk — to let the Antelopes back in the game.
But closer Matthew Morrell, who entered the game with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth, worked around an untimely throwing error by shortstop Aiva Arquette to avoid catastrophe, then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his third save of the season.
The game ended when slugger Zach Yorke smoked a ball to right-center field into the swirling wind, which more than once caused chaos for fielders on fly balls and pop-ups.
As the ball flew awkwardly, seemingly zigzagging in the wind, it sent Canon Reeder and Talt zooming toward the same spot at the warning track. At the last second, Talt knelt to his knee with his glove raised, poised to make the catch. But, out of nowhere, just before the ball was inching toward Talt’s glove, Reeder darted in front, diving head-first to the turf.
It was impossible to tell who made the catch — whether you sat in the stands or watched a video replay — except for one thing.
As Reeder lifted himself up from the turf, Talt peered down at his teammate and lifted his glove in the air, revealing the ball.
When asked to describe the wild play afterward, Canham smiled and quipped.
“Right on,” he said. “Totally excellent.”
He might as well have been talking about Keljo, who took another step in his evolution into the Beavers' ace.
Next up: The Beavers host the Santa Clara Broncos at 5:35 Saturday night.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of the story inaccurately reported that Reeder made the game-ending catch.
— Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | @freemanjoe.bsky.social | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.