Best 18-Game Starts in Oregon State History since World War II

These are all such weird conversations to be having, when the team has scored 37 runs over the past four games...............

In 2017, Oregon State struck out 30 times in three games against UCLA and 27 times in three games against Oregon.

And that was arguably the best team in Oregon State history.

I mean LSU struck out Oregon State 29 times in the Beavers' final three games at the College World Series.  And only nine of those were Greg Street punchouts.

The key to me is to win the strikeout battle.

Against BYU, the Beavers struck out 31 times, but the Cougars struck out 37 times.

Against Oregon, the Beavers struck out 27 times, but the Ducks struck out 35 times.

Against Washington State, the Beavers struck out 26 times, but the Cougars struck out 29 times.

Against Santa Clara, the Beavers struck out 15 times, but the Broncos struck out 26 times.

As "bad" as Oregon State's hitters are, the other teams' hitters are worse.  If you win the strikeout battle, you should win the series war.  And, outside of the Oregon series, Oregon State is doing that.

Doing a deeper analytical dive into the Oregon series, because it is bothering me, a good analysis of how lucky a player/team involves BABIP.  Sabermetrics say that, if the two teams have comparable defenses, the BABIPs should equal out.  A typically good defense will usually allow a BABIP of .300.  A great defense will allow a lower BABIP and a bad defense will allow a higher BABIP.

In game one, Oregon put the ball into play 16 times and had 8 hits, which is ridiculous.  Oregon State put the ball into play 19 times and had 4 hits.  

In game two, Oregon put the ball into play 23 times and had 8 hits.  Oregon State put the ball into play 17 times and had 4 hits.

In game three, Oregon put the ball into play 26 times and had 8 hits.  Oregon State put the ball into play 23 times and had 4 hits.  

Oregon's BABIP was .369.  Oregon State's BABIP was .203.  So, is Oregon's defense .097 better than the average defense?  I personally doubt that Oregon has a better defense than Oregon State, much less a defense that would account for a BABIP differential of .166.  It looks to me that both the Ducks got lucky, and the Beavers got unlucky.  That happens every once in awhile in three-game series.  If that happens more often, it means that something else is up, but that is a small dataset.  

All of this sky is falling garbage.  Show me stats to back up the idea that Oregon State is really in trouble.  Until then, I would suggest that your eyes are playing tricks on you.

Of course you could easily have asked the same question early in the season about the 2006 team relative to any number of other previous good years for Beaver baseball.

Baseball, especially college ball...you just never know....