Oregon swept by Arizona in conference series, dropping the last four of seven-game road trip

Ducks (23-22) continue their decent, falling to SJSU and Arizona. Oregon has lost 6 of 7 on the road and is only 2-11 in their last 13 games.

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San Jose State

Ducks 3 - Spartans 4

Late-game pitching blows Ducks’ early lead in Oregon’s single-game series against San Jose State University. Bullpen struggles late in games has been evident all season. The latest act of pitching related terror came in Monday’s game in unconventional walk-off like fashion. Going the way of the Spartans in San Jose.

Oregon took command of the game early both offensively and with their pitching. DH Evan Williams put the Ducks on the board in the 1st inning. Williams hit a 2-RBI single to left field bringing left-fielder, Tanner Smith, and shortstop, Spencer Steer around to score.

Steer added to Oregon’s early inning run total singling to right field in the 5th, scoring third baseman Sam Novitske. The Ducks held a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the inning after the RBI single. Steer’s RBI is the 113 of his career, just five behind Ryon Healy for second all-time in OU history.

Though the bullpen was primarily behind Monday’s loss, Oregon’s pitching was rather impressive through 8 innings. The freshman right-hander, Tyler Frazier started for the Ducks, allowing just 1 ER through 4.1 IP. Frazier allowed 4 hits and issued just 1 walk, while striking out 3 batters. The lone run the righty gave up came in the 5th, giving up a double to right-center plating a runner. Freshman Christian Ciuffetelli was called in by head coach George Horton to finish the inning in relief and kept the Spartans scoreless the remainder of the inning.

Junior right-hander Ryne Nelson came in to close the game with just an out remaining in the 8th. Nelson was unable to get out of the inning without giving up an unearned run thanks to a passed ball that advanced the Spartan runner into scoring position.

Up just 3-2 in the bottom of the 9th, Nelson lost command, hitting the SJSU batter. Following the hit batter, Nelson balked, advancing San Jose’s Brandon Peterson to second. SJSU’s first baseman James Shimashita tied the game up after Peterson was bunted over to third, ripping a single up the middle and tying the game at 3-3. Shimashita would reach second on an errant throw by Nelson, then advanced to third on a botched pickoff attempt. Spartans’ PH Nick Knecht ended the game with another squeeze bunt in the inning scoring Shimashita for the walk off victory.

Nelson, R. (L, 2-3) 1.1 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 BK, 1 HBP, 1 E

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Arizona

Ducks 6 - Wildcats 17

Contagious hitting brought down the Ducks as 22 of the game’s 23 runs were scored in just three innings. Oregon jumped out to an early lead in game 1 of their road series against the Arizona Wildcats, but their season-high six errors sealed their fate in the 17-6 loss.

The Ducks got out to another early lead in the 3rd, stringing a few hits together with runners in scoring position. Third baseman Sam Novitske put the first run on the board for Oregon, hitting a RBI single past the shortstop scoring catcher Cameron Campbell from second. Moments later with runners on the corners, first baseman Gabe Matthews doubled to left bringing in both runners across the plate for a 3-0 lead.

Ducks’ center fielder Jonny DeLuca stepped up to the plate the very next at bat and cleared the bases with a shot over the left field fence, pushing Oregon’s lead to 5-0. DeLuca has been on some kind of tear with the bat in his hands hitting his 12th extra-base knock in his last 14 games.

Matthews led Oregon’s bats going 2-4 scoring a run and 2 RBI’s. It was Matthews’ 14th multi-hit game, tying him for second best on the team. DeLuca was 1-4 with a HR and 2 RBI’s.

Arizona responded immediately putting up five runs on starting pitcher Cole Stringer to tie the game in the 3rd. Stringer was struggling to find the strike-zone through his 2.1 innings of work. The five walks issued by the left-hander were the most given up in one outing in his career. The Wildcats knocked Stringer out of the game before he could finish the 3rd inning, stringing together four back-to-back hits. Sophomore-righty Brett Walker took over in relief and pitched 3.0 shutout innings for Oregon.

The 7th and the 8th inning spelled troubled for Oregon giving up a combined 12 runs. Oregon’s pitching staff gave up 8 hit and 3 walks including a home run and 4 extra-base hits. Pitching got very little defensive support however, with three errors committed in the 7th inning alone. The six errors as a team ties for the most in a single game since baseball returned to Oregon in 2009, per goducks.com.

• Stringer, C.: 2.1 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 5 BB, 0 K
• Walker, B.: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K
• Keaton, C.: (L, 3-1) 1.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 IBB
• Tellache, N.: 0.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 IBB
• Ciuffeteli, C.: 0.2 IP, 2 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 WP
• Breault, H.: 0.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP
• Fuller, P.: 0.2 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K

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Arizona

Ducks 8 - Wildcats 9 (11 innings)

Oregon dropped another tough loss in a week of baseball with a lot left to be desired. The Ducks battled back after an early lead, but couldn’t close it out in regulation, losing in extras.

The Ducks got off to another quick start to begin game 2 of the road series, nearly batting around the order in the 1st. Right-fielder Tanner Smith led off the scoring with a triple down the right field line scoring lead-off man Sam Novitske. Shortstop Spencer Steer added to the run production, ripping a single to left scoring Smith from third.

Catcher, Jakob Goldfarb, double four batters later scoring Steer and nearly scoring a second run, landing Gabe Matthews at third.

With two men in scoring position DH Taylor Adams hit a single to left scoring both Matthews and Goldfarb for an early 5-0 lead.

After the rough 1st inning for Arizona’s Andrew Nardi, the lefty settled in throwing six scoreless innings. By the end of Nardi’s night the Wildcats had taken the lead. Arizona hit back-to-back solo homers to left in the 4th by Tony Bullard and Blake Paugh cutting the lead to 5-2. The Wildcats tied the game with their third home run of the game, this one off the bat of Nick Quintana for a three-run shot to even it up. Paugh doubled a few batters later bringing across two runs for their first lead of the night, 7-5.

Oregon rallied back in the 8th. DeLuca, per usual, with an extra-base hit, smoking a double down the left field line plating Steer and advancing Matthews to third.

Left-fielder Evan Williams followed up with a RBI single to left scoring Matthews tying the game. With DeLuca at third, Goldfarb reached base on a fielders-choice while attempting to turn a double play; scoring the Ducks’ center-fielder in the process and taking the lead back 8-7.

Junior right-hander Ryne Nelson stayed in the game to try and close-out yet another game in the 9th, but Arizona battled with two outs. With a runner on first Arizona’s first baseman Austin Wells tripled, scoring the runner and sending the game into extras. Oregon lost in gut-wrenching fashion allowing an unearned run on an error by Nelson, falling in extra innings once again.

Nelson, R.: (L, 2-4) 3.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 R, 3 H, 5 BB, 4 K, 1 HBP, 2 IBB

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Arizona

Ducks 7 - Wildcats 28 (8 innings)

This was not a series to write home about as Oregon is swept losing the finale, and tying the school record for most runs allowed in a single game.

The Ducks’ starter, Cullen Kafka didn’t make it out of the second inning giving up 5 earned runs and 11 total. By the 4th inning Arizona had allowed 23 runs on 18 hits. Seven Wildcat batters had three-hit games. As a team, Arizona hit 13 doubles with 26 hits total. Oregon scored in six of the eight innings played, but couldn’t keep up with the assault the Arizona batters administered on the Ducks pitching staff.

Steer led the team in hitting, going 3-5, while DeLuca and Williams both led the team with 2 RBI’s. That marks Steer’s 43rd career multi-hit game and team-leading 17th of the season. Novitske went 1-3 with 2 runs and a RBI. He’s reached base once again, making it 41-45 games getting on-base this season.

DeLuca finished 1-4 with a double and 2 RBI’s, while Williams finished the game 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI’s as well.

Kafka, C.: (L, 5-4) 1.0 IP, 5 ER, 11 R, 8 H, 4 BB, 0 K, 1 HBP

Frazier, T.: 0.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 0 K

Somers, K.: 1.1 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 K

Fuller, P.: 1.0 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 0 K

Tellache, N.: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K

Ciuffetelli, C.: 1.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 0 K

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STATE OF THE PAC

#2 Stanford (35-8-0) / Conf. (17-4-0)

#12 Oregon State (31-14-1) / Conf. (17-4-0)

#1 UCLA (38-8-0) / Conf. (16-5-0)

California (28-15-0) / Conf. (13-8-0)

Arizona State (34-12-0) / Conf. (14-10-0)

USC (20-24-1) / Conf. (9-11-1)

Washington (24-19-0) / Conf. (9-12-0)

Arizona (22-24-0) / Conf. (10-14-0)

Oregon (24-22-0) / Conf. (8-13-0)

Utah (12-28-0) / Conf. (4-20-0)

Washington State (10-33-1) / Conf. (2-18-1)

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

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DUCK OF THE WEEK

Evan Williams

DH/LF Evan Williams is Duck of the Week with his steady performance while the team continues to slump. With fellow freshman Aaron Zavala out of the lineup due to his recent performance at the plate, Williams has stepped into the DH role and continues to stay effective while off the field. Through the four-game losing skid, Williams went 6-17 (.353) with 2 doubles and 5 RBI’s, as one of the more consistent bats in the lineup as of late.

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On Deck:

Oregon State (31-14-1)