Ducks (22-16) score a season-high 21 to begin road trip in Washington. Oregon heads back to Eugene winning 6 of the last 7, averaging 10.14 runs per game during current hot-streak.

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Washington State

Ducks 21 - Cougars 3

• Oregon had the bats going early and often in the first game of the road series against the Washington State Cougars. The Ducks scored a season-high 21 runs nearly tying the school’s record for runs in a game (23). Each of Oregon’s starters scored at least one run against the Cougars. While 10 batters recorded an RBI in Friday’s game, the Ducks were led, in part, by their core group of freshman; including DH Aaron Zavala, third-baseman Sam Novitske and second-baseman Max Foxcraft.
• 5 runs in the 1st, 4 runs in the 3rd and an absurd 11 runs in the 6th is all you really need to know. Oregon’s bats could seemingly do no wrong at the dish. Lot of career-high’s for several underclassmen in game 1 against WSU. Zavala set a career-high in hits (4). Novitske (4) and Foxcraft (3) set a career-high in RBI’s in a single game and sophomore Jonny DeLuca tied a career-high in hits (3).
• Following the early-inning run production, Oregon’s pitching staff settled in for the rest of the game. Sophomore Robert Ahlstrom got the start on the mound earning the win after a solid 5.0 IP allowing only 1 ER and 5 hits. The Cougars plated two late runs in the 8th and 9th inning for a 21-3 Oregon Ducks final.
• Notable Offense:

Aaron Zavala: 4-4, RBI, 2 R

Jonny DeLuca: 3-5, 3 RBI, 2 R, 2 2B, 3B

Sam Novitske: 3-6, 4 RBI, 3 R

Max Foxcraft: 1-3, 3 RBI, 3 R

Spencer Steer: 3-4, 2 RBI, 2 R, SB

Tanner Smith: 2-4 ,2 RBI, 2 R, 2B, 3B

• Ahlstrom, R. (W, 4-3) 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 3 K

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Washington State

Ducks 11 - Cougars 8

• While the Ducks only scored about half as many points in Saturday’s game as they did in game 1, it was more than enough to propel them to victory. Sophomore right-hander Cullen Kafka was commanding in his start earning the win, allowing only 2 ER in 6.0 innings of work.
• Right-fielder Tanner Smith started the scoring for Oregon with a solo shot to right-center on the first pitch, giving the Ducks a one-run lead in the top of the 3rd. Oregon scored in five consecutive inning following the 3rd inning home run. Ducks Evan Williams and Spencer Steer hit two bombs of their own in the 5th and 6th inning. Williams hit a solo shot in the 5th inning for a 4-0 score, but it was Steer who pushed the game out of reach. With one swing of the bat Steer cleared the bases hitting a grand-slam, and the Ducks’ third homer of the game. Giving Oregon an 8-0 lead entering the bottom of the 6th.
• Washington State rallied back in the later innings putting two runs on the board in the 6th on a double by left-fielder Collin Montez. Cougars’ DH Kyle Manzardo followed up with a single for WSU second run of the game. Manzardo hit a bases-loaded double in the 8th as well, scoring three runs and decreasing the Ducks’ scoring margin to 10-5.
• With the Saturday night W, Oregon has won 9 of their last 11 played. Oregon scored a run in 6 of the 9 innings at bat in game 2 and have combined for 10-or-more hits in their fifth consecutive game.
• Kafka, C. (W, 4-2) 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 K, HBP

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Washington State

Ducks 7 - Cougars 8 (10 innings)

• WSU snaps Oregon’s five-game win streak in extra innings. The Cougars jumped on top in game three. Cougars DH, Jack Smith, doubled to left-center with two runs on base, giving WSU a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st. WSU’s first-baseman, Dillon Plew, put another run on the board with a RBI single in the 2nd, putting Oregon into an early 3-0 hole.
• Steer continues to stay on fire through game 3 hitting two homers and spoiler alert, smashing grand slams in back-to-back games. The Ducks’ home run leader (5), Steer, hit his first homer of the night sending a solo shot to left-center for Oregon’s first run of the game.
• The Cougars extended their lead to 6 with a three-run 5th inning on a fielding error by Sam Novitske and a two-run double to right-center by WSU third-baseman Kodie Kolden. Washington State added another run in the 6th for a 7-1 lead.
• Oregon had a late rally in them starting with a pair of sacrifice fly’s. Novitske hit a sac-fly in the 7th scoring DH Taylor Adams. Tanner Smith followed up with a sac-fly of his own bringing in Cameron Campbell from third. The comeback was completed in the 9th. With two outs and the bases-loaded Steer sent the game to extra innings with a grand slam to make it a 7-7 game.
• Oregon’s Ryne Nelson came in for the 9th inning and kept the Cougars from ending the game in the bottom of the 9th. Things unraveled for the Duck’s in the 10th however. WSU’s Collin Montez singled and advanced to second on a throwing error by second-baseman Max Foxcraft. Montez advanced to third on a wild pitch by Nelson then scored on a passed ball just moments later ending the game in extra innings.
• While the comeback was thwarted the are positives to take away from the series. The Ducks have been on a roll in the past two series, in-part, thanks to the play of Steer. The shortstop was 7-14 with 3 HR, 11 RBI’s and a stolen base in the three-game series. Steer extends his hitting streak to 14 games heading into the single-game matchup with Gonzaga to close out Oregon’s road trip.
• Nelson, R, (L, 2-1) 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 WP

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Gonzaga

Ducks 7 - Bulldogs 6

• Oregon successfully rallied back against Gonzaga after watching their rally in game 3 of the WSU series slip away from their fingertips. The long-ball was the story of the game as Tanner Smith completed the Ducks’ rally with a three-run blast solidifying the comeback.
• Gonzaga struck first with a ground-out to starting pitcher Tyler Frazier bringing in Zags’ shortstop Ernie Yake. The Ducks took the lead back with a pair of fly-outs to left field in the 2nd and 4th by Evan Williams for 2-1 score. The Zags answered back quickly in the bottom of the 4th with a four-run inning on a couple of homers by Austin Pinorini and Nick Nyquist.
• The Ducks’ had another late rally in their bag of tricks. Down by four runs in the top of the 8th, Oregon center-fielder Jonny DeLuca sent a two-run shot out of the park bringing the Ducks within one heading into the final inning. With momentum under their wings, Oregon worked to get two men on as Smith came to the plate and the rest is history. Smith’s three-run homer gave the Ducks the lead for the first time heading into the bottom of the 9th.
• Junior reliever Nico Tellache was sent in to close-out the game and successfully kept the Zags off the board, giving the Ducks their third come-back victory in the last week and closing out their Washington road trip winning 3 of 4.
• Somers, K. (W, 1-2) 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 WP
• Tellache, N. (S, 5) 1.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K

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STATE OF THE PAC

#4 Stanford (27-6-0) / Conf. (13-2-0)

#2 Oregon State (28-8-1) / Conf. (14-4-0)

#1 UCLA (30-7-0) / Conf. (14-4-0)

#16 Arizona State (30-8-0) / Conf. (12-6-0)

California (19-12-0) / Conf. (7-5-0)

USC (17-20-1) / Conf. (8-9-1)

Oregon (22-16-0) / Conf. (7-8-0)

Arizona (18-19-0) / Conf. (6-12-0)

Washington (17-17-0) / Conf. (5-10-0)

Utah (12-21-0) / Conf. (4-14-0)

Washington State (7-23-0) / Conf. (1-13-1)

*Rankings determined by Pac-12.com and D1Baseball.com Top 25

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DUCK OF THE WEEK

Spencer Steer

The junior out of Long Beach, California earns Duck of the week for the second week straight. Steer has continued to stay red-hot over the better part of two weeks. In the past four games including the WSU series and facing Ganzaga, Steer went 8-18 (.444) hitting 3 HR and 11 RBI’s while scoring 5 runs and nabbing a stolen base. Steer currently leads the Ducks in all triple-crown categories including AVG, HR’s and RBI’s.

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On Deck:

#4 Stanford (27-6-0)