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"Ultimately, tonight's game came down to us not handling our responsibility and making a play." George Horton stated post game, "two good teams that pitched really well and unfortunately we came up on the short end of the stick." One night after falling to UCLA 1-0, the Ducks were again unable to get a run across as the Bruins won another pitcher's duel 1-0. Nick Vander Tuig was able to stifle the Oregon line up as the Ducks struggled offensively for the second consecutive game. Through 7, Vander Tuig only allowed two hits and struck out 5. Zack Weiss and David Berg combined to keep the Oregon bats at bay and off the scoreboard. For the Ducks, Cole Irvin pitched the complete game, his only run allowed was unearned.
UCLA was able to get their offense started early with some aggressive baserunning by Eric Filia. Filia drove the ball to left center and legged out a double as the relay from the outfield didn't get in quick enough. After advancing to third, Filia scored as Mitchell Tolman booted a grounder for his third error of the series.
As per usual, the Ducks were resilient late in the game, getting runners on. However, they just weren't able to get the runs like they usually do. In the seventh, Tyler Baumgartner would lead off with a double and Connor Hofmann would bunt him over to third. With one down, Oregon would call on Ryan Hambright to try to bring in the run. He would swing through three fastballs and JJ Altobelli would pop out to first to end Oregon's first major scoring threat.
Aaron Payne was back to his old tricks in the eighth, getting hit by a pitch for the second time in the game and then stealing second. Ryon Healy would then battle with Zack Weiss, spoiling several pitches but with a full count, Healy would walk and Payne would be thrown out trying to take third. "He got the green light to run, obviously he thought he had a good enough jump but he didn't." Horton said on the play.
Having dropped the first two in the series, Oregon will play to avoid the sweep tomorrow as Jake Reed takes the mound in a noon tilt at PK Park. "All we have is tomorrow, and we'll see what we're really made of tomorrow," added Horton, "Hopefully, they'll wake up in the morning with a quick turnaround and be as anxious as me and the rest of the coaching staff to get back on the field."