Beavers beat Wright State, 13-2, Wetzler gets win in first appearance.

Ben Wetzler made his first start of the 2014 season 16 days later than he anticipated.

After the well-documented NCAA suspension, Wetzler, the senior left-hander, was forced to miss the first 11 games of his senior season.

Sunday’s series-ending game against Wright State was the 12th game of the season for the No. 4 Oregon State baseball team.

It was Wetzler who took the ball, went to the Goss Stadium mound he’s grown to know and love, pitched 7 2/3 quality innings and put his suspension behind him.

“I felt like a little kid going out to make his first start again,” Wetzler said. “It was fun.”

Wetzler said he felt a little jittery in the first inning or two, but then settled down to deliver a productive outing in the Beavers’ 13-2 win to close out the series against Wright State (3-8).

Head coach Pat Casey has been outspoken in his dissatisfaction with the NCAA ruling. Casey said he’s glad Wetzler and the team can move past it.

“This whole thing has been a troubling situation for Ben, and that makes it troubling for me when you take baseball out of it,” Casey said. “It’s an unjust situation that he had to go through and endure for a long time.”

The senior needed only 89 pitches to get through 7 2/3 innings. He allowed one run on four hits and a walk, while striking out five batters in the win.

“I did an OK job,” Wetzler said. “The first couple innings, I was kind of antsy and amped up. Casey told me all week just (to) kind of control your emotions and do the best you can to just be you and control yourself. I think I was able to do that decently.”

Wetzler was modest about his season debut, but his battery counterpart, freshman catcher Logan Ice, gave the lefty more credit.

“Ben’s been through all the wars and battles,” Ice said. “He handled it well, and he knew how to handle it. There were no worries on my part or anyone else’s that he’d be too antsy and not do what he was supposed to do.”

OSU (9-3) took a while to get going offensively. The Beavers scored two runs in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, and then were held scoreless through the first three innings Sunday.

Then, in a five-inning stretch, OSU racked up 13 runs. The Beavers tallied five runs apiece in the sixth and seventh inning, batting around in the order in both innings.

They went 3-1 over the weekend. Casey hasn’t been overly impressed with his team in the early going.

“I think that there’s a lot more to the club than what (we’ve) been showing,” Casey said. “If we want to play in the Pac-12, we’ve got to be better.”

The Beavers play again Tuesday in a nonconference game against the University of Portland. Freshman Jake Thompson is expected to start for the Beavers.

Warner Strausbaugh, editor-in-chief

On Twitter @WStrausbaugh

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