Diamond Ducks: Baseball secures victory, softball falls in opener

On a sunny Friday afternoon in Eugene, both baseball and softball took to the field to begin new series, baseball against Ball State and softball against conference foe Arizona State.

First, at PK Park, the Ducks compiled five runs in the eighth inning to pull away from the Cardinals in a 13-7 victory. Oregon jumped out to an early lead as they scored three runs in the bottom of the second.

The Ducks remained in control until a four-run top of the fifth inning by Ball State put them in front, however, Oregon quickly regained the lead with three more runs of their own at the bottom of the inning.

Trailing 6-4, the Cardinals tied the game with runs in the sixth and seventh. But that’s when Anthony Hall and Jacob Welsh both belted homers to give Oregon an 8-6 cushion. Then, in the bottom of the eighth, the Ducks scored five runs off of just one hit from Hall as Walsh, Sam Novitske, Tanner Smith, Colby Shade, Brennan Milone, and Josh Kasevich all walked.

Across the way at Jane Sanders Stadium, it wasn’t as happy of an ending.

The No.14 Ducks were severely out-batted by the No.16 Sun Devils in a 9-3 loss that was almost over by the fifth inning. A solo home run by Arizona State to lead off the game ended up being a bad omen for Oregon as ASU added four more runs in the second inning. After falling behind 8-0, the Ducks were in danger of being run-ruled.

Fortunately, Oregon was able to add three more runs and extend the game for two more innings before eventually falling to drop the series opener.

Home runs by Vallery Wong and Rachel Cid were the source of Oregon’s scoring.

Baseball begins a double-header against the Cardinals on Saturday at noon while softball will resume their series with the Sun Devils at 6pm. Both games are home in Eugene, and Badwater will be providing coverage for ATQ.