Baseball

Beavers hang on to defeat ’Zags — Trevor Larnach hit his second home run in as many games this season as No. 2 Oregon State beat Gonzaga 4-3 Saturday afternoon in Surprise, Arizona. Larnach’s homer broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the eighth. Fiver batters later, Andy Armstrong’s first hit of the season drove in Preston Jones for an insurance run which proved to be the difference in the game. Christian Chamberlain — in his college debut — picked up the win, pitching 32⁄3 innings of scoreless ball out of the bullpen in relief of starter Sam Tweedt. Chamberlain retired 10 of the 12 batters he faced, striking out three and walking two.

Ducks pitchers tagged for nine runs in loss — After the Ducks jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the third, UNLV chased Oregon starting pitcher Cole Stringer after 42⁄3 innings on Saturday in Las Vegas during the Marucci Desert Classic. The Rebels plated four runs on seven hits during that span, with three of those runs coming in the fifth inning. The next four Oregon pitchers combined to give up five runs on four hits while walking three and hitting a batter. The UNLV pitchers did just enough to get the job done, as winning pitcher Larry Quaney III allowed three runs over 52⁄3 innings, in which he faced 24 batters, struck out three and walked two. The Rebels’ bullpen — also far from perfect — held Oregon scoreless over the last 31⁄3 innings where five pitchers surrendered two walks and three hits. Kenyon Yovan doubled in the top of the third for Oregon’s only extra-base hit. Kyle Kasser was 3-for-5 with an RBI.

Softball

OSU splits Saturday games at Purple and Gold Challenge —Junior Meehra Nelson and freshman Mariah Mazon combined on a shutout to lift Oregon State to a 2-0 win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday to open the second day of the Purple and Gold Challenge in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Nelson pitched 51⁄3 innings of three-hit ball, striking out two for the Beavers, who went on to lose to Louisiana State University 3-2 later in the day. Mazon pitched the final 12⁄3 innings to earn her second save. Hope Brandner’s sacrifice fly and Kayleen Shafer’s RBI single in the first inning plated the game’s only runs. Oregon State (7-3) took a 2-0 first-inning lead against LSU on a run-scoring triple by Shelby Weeks and sacrifice fly by Alysha Everett, but the Tigers (9-0) erupted for three runs on three hits and an error in the fourth inning to go ahead. Allie Walljasper held the Beavers to five hits — two of those coming in the first inning — over seven innings. She struck out two.

Ducks fall in extra innings — Oregon’s Megan Kleist pitched 81⁄3 innings of shutout ball until Mississippi’s Elantra Cox knocked in Paige McKinney for the games only run in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Kaitlin Lee pitched a nine-inning complete game shutout for the Rebels, striking out 5, walking one and scattering four hits. The Ducks did not reach second base until the top of the seventh inning.

Motor sports

Xfinity race’s finish is closest in NASCAR history — Tyler Reddick needed five overtimes, a brief red flag and the closest finish in NASCAR history to take Dale Earnhardt Jr. to victory lane. Reddick won the Xfinity Series’ season-opening race at Daytona by beating JR Motorsports teammate Elliott Sadler in a photo finish. The margin of victory was 0.000 seconds, breaking the mark set by Butch Miller when he beat Mike Skinner by 0.001 seconds to win the Truck Series race July 15, 1995, at Colorado National Speedway. “How do I protest that? It’s a tie, and it should go to the elder,” joked veteran Sadler of the win that went to the 22-year-old Reddick.

— From staff and wire reports