Another record for Bazzana: OSU's all-time hit mark
Joe Trezza
Travis Bazzana keeps rewriting the Oregon State record books.
MLB Pipeline's No. 2 Draft prospect already claimed the program¡¯s all-time and single-season home run records this season. Now he has set another major school mark.
Bazzana became OSU¡¯s all-time hits leader on Sunday, setting the school record with a run-scoring double during a 15-1 rout of UCLA. Bazzana¡¯s 239th hit in his 174th career game broke the mark Darwin Barney set in 2007.
Barney, who won two national championships with Oregon State and then played eight seasons in the big leagues, is currently an assistant coach for the program.
¡°It¡¯s pretty special,¡± Bazzana said after the game. ¡°Now I need to be a leader like Darwin and take us to a national championship like he did. That¡¯s the special part, and I want to follow in his footsteps more in that way.¡±
It was another milestone in a eye-popping junior season for the native of Sydney, Australia, who has played himself onto the short list for becoming the top overall pick in this July¡¯s MLB Draft by emerging as college baseball¡¯s scariest leadoff hitter in recent memory. Earlier this season, Bazzana raked leadoff homers in four straight games. He¡¯s spent all but one game batting over .400, ranks third in the nation in homers and is nearly impossible to strike out, sporting an otherworldly 66/28 walk-to-strikeout ratio.
All told, the do-it-all infielder is batting .424 with a .589 on-base-percentage, a 1.561 OPS, 26 homers, 60 RBIs and 14 steals in only 50 games. And now he has more hits than any Beaver in history.
¡°When I¡¯m at my best, I¡¯m swinging at strikes and the swings are controlled and aggressive,¡± Bazzana said.
Bazzana has been a hitting machine since he arrived on campus. He collected 75 hits as a freshman in 2022, racked up 89 in 2023 and now has 75 this season.
Amazingly, he broke Barney¡¯s record in 105 fewer career at-bats.
Asked what he wants his legacy at the program to be, Bazzana said he wants to be remembered for ¡°having a belief to be great.¡±
¡°Go break records, go make fans and make people¡¯s days,¡± he said. ¡°Bring electricity to the game. Have fun doing it. Know there are a lot of people who look up to you when you play for Oregon State. Play hard and try to be great.¡±