Baseball Recap: Peterson Tosses Another Jewel, Lassos Broncos 2-1

EUGENE, Oregon— David Peterson added another masterful pitching performance to his portfolio, and Jake Bennett provided just enough offense as Oregon doubled-up the Broncos of Santa Clara University 2-1 in game two of their four game series Friday night at PK Park.

Fresh off his 17 strikeout performance against Mississippi State last week, the junior right hander took the hill against Santa Clara (3-10) and proceeded to mow down the Broncos, pitching seven-and-a-third shutout innings while giving up only three hits and striking out fourteen for his third win of the season. Freshman reliever Kenyon Yovan entered in the eighth and pitched the final inning-and-two-thirds for his fourth save.

Santa Clara held the Ducks’ bats in check most of the night, thanks to quality pitching of their own. Broncos’ starter Eric Lex (1-3) was the hard luck loser, allowing only an RBI ground out to sophomore center fielder Bennett in the third, and an RBI sacrifice fly, also off the bat of Bennett, in the seventh.

Oregon’s record now stands at 9-4, good enough for a tie for fourth place in the tough PAC-12 with only two more games until the start of the conference play.

The Ducks and Broncos return to the field on Saturday, first pitch scheduled for 2:00 pm.

Game notes: Peterson’s back-to-back strikeout total of 31 is the most since the program returned in 2009... Peterson now leads the PAC-12 in strikeouts with 40, two more than UCLA’s Griffin Canning... Freshman second baseman Morgan McCullough walked twice in the game to bring his season total to eleven, tying Bennett for the team lead, and good enough for second place overall in the PAC-12...