Oregon State’s Drew Rasmussen Out For The Year

Oregon State sophomore righthander Drew Rasmussen will be sidelined for the rest of the season, a team spokesperson confirmed Friday.

Rasmussen needs Tommy John surgery, according to a report from Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball.com.

A sore back made Rasmussen a game-day decision for his start last week at California. He wound up pitching, and threw three hitless innings before running into trouble and exiting the game in the fourth.

Rasmussen took over as Oregon State’s ace this season and went 4-1, 3.41 with 42 strikeouts and 10 walks in 37 innings. He earned Freshman All-American honors last year and pitched for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team over the summer.

Righthanders Travis Eckert (2-2, 3.72) and Jake Thompson (2-2, 3.23) have followed Rasmussen in Oregon State rotation this spring, and will now be relied on more heavily. To fill the spot in the rotation, the Beavers will likely chose from lefthander Jordan Britton (0-0, 4.05), righthander Bryce Fehmel (5-0, 2.70) and lefthander Luke Heimlich (3-0, 3.58), who have all made at least one start.

Oregon State, the preseason favorites in the Pac-12 Conference, is ranked No. 11 in this week’s Top 25. The Beavers are 17-6 overall and 3-3 in conference play.