Oregon Ducks Baseball/Softball Recap

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The Oregon Ducks bats rallied for a 5-run eighth inning to take this weekend’s series over the Washington Huskies.

Issac Ayon started for Oregon, against Calvin Kerchoff for the Huskies. Both sides were quiet in the first two innings, with both only allowing one hit in the second inning.

The Ducks struck first in the third inning. After a couple of walks, a Brennan Milone single scored Jack Scanlon to put Oregon on the board. In the bottom, a pair of Duck fielding errors allowed UW to score two off a single, before ending the inning up 2-1.

Oregon could not answer in the fourth, and Ayon had a rough time in the bottom of the inning. Ayon walked three batters and a Husky single scored two of them, putting UW up 5-1. In the fourth, the Ducks were able to answer; after a Gavin Grant single to lead off the top, Colby Shade smacked a home run to left field, and Oregon closed to 5-3. After giving up another single, Kerchoff’s afternoon was done and Stu Flesland came to the mound to stop further damage. In the bottom, things got a bit weird. Ayon hit the first batter with a pitch, and the umpire ruled it intentional and ejected Oregon’s starting pitcher. Logan Mercado came in for the relief and took care of the rest of the order.

The Ducks were quiet in the sixth, and Washington got a couple of singles before another Oregon error scored an unearned run, putting the Huskies up 6-3. In the seventh, Flesland was relieved by Stefan Raeth, and Raeth was able to retire the rest of the Ducks order. Mercado did the same in the bottom, going 3-up, 3-down.

In the eighth, the Ducks teed off on Raeth - surprisingly, not with any long-ball action, but with excellent placement hitting that also took advantage of Washington’s sole error of the game. Anthony Hall led with a triple, and scored on a Sam Novitske single. A Josiah Cromwick single to right put runners on first and second. Gavin Grant executed a great bunt, and a throwing error allowed him to get to second base while Novitske scored. After a popup fly - the first out for the Ducks - Colby Shade singled to right, and with Grant on third, the Ducks had runners on the corners. Shade stole second and set up Brennan Milone’s 2RBI single that scored Grant and Shade, capping a 5-run 8th inning that put the Ducks up for good at 8-6. Mercado dusted the Huskies 1-2-3, taking us to the ninth inning.

Oregon didn’t generate anything in the ninth, but the damage had been done, and Kolby Somers stepped in to save the win. Somers picked up his sixth save, and Logan Mercado earned today’s win, putting him at 5-0 for the season.

The big hitters today were Brennan Milone and Colby Shade. Milone would end at 2-4 with 3RBIs, and Shade batted 2-5, also with 3RBIs.

Oregon baseball goes for the sweep tomorrow! That game starts at 2:05 PT and can be seen on the Pac-12 Network.

Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Oregon softball finally combined solid batting with a great complete-game effort by Stevie Hansen to take their first win since March 27th in a run-rule victory, 11-3.

Hanah Bowen took the circle again for the Wildcats, and the Ducks scored right away. After Hanna Delgado lead off with a single, Allee Bunker homered to left field - the first of five Ducks home runs on the day. Hansen also gave up a home run in the bottom of the first, halving the Oregon lead at 2-1.

Hannah Galey walked in the second, and then Paige Sinicki sent a shot into left field for her 2-run homer, and the Ducks were up 4-1. Bowen’s day was over, and Madi Elish came to the circle, taking care of the rest of the order. Arizona answered in the bottom of the second with a two-run homer of their own, and Oregon was up by only one run.

In the third, Terra McGowan led off with a bunt single, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. KK Humphreys walked, and she would advance to second while McGowen scored on another wild pitch. A strong Ariel Carlson single up the middle scored Humphreys, and the Ducks were up 6-3.

The three-run cushion would prove to be all that Stevie Hansen would need to get the victory, as she completely shut down Arizona in the third, fourth, and fifth innings.

Oregon blew the lid open on this game in the fifth inning. KK Humphreys doubled, and an Ariel Carlson home run scored both of them. Gabby Herrera reached base on an AZ error, and Hannah Galey followed that up with a home run. Paige Sinicki then knocked her second home run of the night into left field, and Oregon was up 11-3 and lining up forks for the Wildcats, because AZ was done.

Stevie Hansen earned a hard-fought victory today, putting her at 9-4 on the season. The Ducks picked up 11 runs off 10 hits and were able to minimize the damage of their three errors on the day. Paige Sinicki went 2-3 with 2 HRs and 3 RBIs. Ariel Carlson also went 2-3 with 1 HR and 3 RBIs.

With a win tomorrow, Oregon would put the bad taste of their April losing streak out of their mouth with a series win over Arizona.

The Oregon Ducks play their final game of the Arizona series tomorrow at 12:00 PT. You can watch that game on the Pac-12 Network.