Baseball Recap: Peterson, McCullough Shine, Ducks Blow Past Trojans 6-2

LOS ANGELES, California— David Peterson recaptured his winning ways, while the Ducks’ offense, led by Morgan McCullough, broke out of their recent slump with thirteen hits, as Oregon beat up on the host USC Trojans Friday 6-2.

After arguably his worst start of the season against Oregon State last week, junior left hander David Peterson (11-3) brought his ‘A’ game against USC (19-30, 6-19), allowing only two runs on five hits while striking out nine and walking one in his seven innings of work. Righties junior Brac Warren and freshman Kenyon Yovan each pitched a scoreless inning in non-save roles to close out the game for Oregon (27-22, 10-15).

The much-maligned Oregon offense had their best showing in two weeks, cracking thirteen hits while plating six runs, with freshman second baseman doing the most damage, going 3-5 for the game, with a run scoring single in the fourth, and a two-run home run in the sixth to put the game away. Junior shortstop Kyle Kasser also came through big, going 2-5 with two runs scored and an RBI single in the fourth. Connor Lunn (0-4) took the loss for the outmatched Trojans, giving up four runs on nine hits while striking out four and walking two in just four innings. He also uncorked a wild pitch in the top of the first which allowed Kasser to score Oregon’s first run of the game. Chris Clark pitched the final five innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out four and walking two.

The series continues Saturday, with first pitch from Dedeaux Field scheduled for 4:00 pm.

Game notes: Peterson took a no-hitter into the fifth, before USC shortstop Frankie Rios broke it up with a single leading off the inning... McCullough’s home run was his first of his Duck career... freshman first baseman Gabe Matthews and redshirt senior centerfielder Jake Bennett also had three hit games for the Ducks.