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The Oregon Ducks swept the San Diego Toreros this last weekend, showcasing new talent at the mound and displaying power at the plate.
Game 3 - March 4, 2023
Oregon started freshman Jackson Pace on Saturday, in his second career start, and he pitched six innings of shutout ball. USD brought Garrett Rennie to start and this was a tight contest for the first three innings.
In the fourth inning, the Ducks struck first. Sabin Ceballos knocked a double to center field, followed by a Drew Cowley single to bring him home.
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 4, 2023
Cowley drives in Ceballos. Ducks lead 1-0. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/29VM9EuUxT
Colby Shade hit a double to left field, and two batters later Bennett Thompson hit a single that brought Shade home.
B4 | Ducks put a pair on the board. Cowley starts it with a RBI single and then @tennettbhompson adds this Ribbie. #GoDucks
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 4, 2023
San Diego 0
Oregon 2 pic.twitter.com/xg5hsZViet
After dispatching USD in the top of the fifth, Oregon’s bats broke the game open with a four run fifth inning. Tanner Smith hit a single, followed by a successful Rikuu Nishisa bunt to get runners on first and second. Jacob Walsh singled to left field, scoring Smith.
108 off the bat. Incoming @JGWalsh_ | #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/9MVx0wp6HY
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 4, 2023
A Colby Shade 3 RBI double extended the Ducks lead to 6-0.
' @ColbyShade with the 3-run double. Ducks lead by 6. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/PPGUMbmRmT
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 4, 2023
Pace pitched a scoreless six innings, aided by excellent Ducks defensive play.
@tannersmith with more grand larceny. Takes two runs away from USD. #GoDucks#D1Top10 | #SCTOP10 | #NCAABaseball pic.twitter.com/KNXzOsbVPN
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 4, 2023
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Oregon blew the roof off of PK Park, starting with a Tanner Smith home run to left field.
@tannerr_smith does it on D, and then comes through on O. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/5jJQHIcmb8
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 4, 2023
Ceballos walked and Cowley hit a single that put runners on first and second base. The Jacob Walsh single scored Ceballos.
@JGWalsh_ with second RBI single in as many innings. Ducks' lead is 8. Back to the bullpen for USD. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/HFCSDNpPDt
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 4, 2023
A Colby Shade home run brought everyone to the plate, and Oregon was up 11-0.
B6 | 5-run inning for the good guys with two bombs including this 3-run @colbyshade jack. #GoDucks
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 5, 2023
San Diego 0
Oregon 11 pic.twitter.com/Wud3PPMsj1
A great outing by Jackson Pace ended after the sixth inning, and he was relieved by Grayson Grinsell.
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 5, 2023
Day is done for Pace. It was a good one. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/buVxFyFTF6
Grinsell went 1-2-3 against the order and the Ducks bats stepped up again. Nishida walked, followed by another Sabin Ceballos home run.
- @20_sabin makes it three long balls for the Ducks today. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/6dDfqlGcec
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 5, 2023
The score of 13-0 would be the final for the day, with the Oregon bullpen keeping the Toreros off the board with a shutout. Coach Mark Wasikowski lauded the freshman pitchers after the game:
@CoachWazUO thrilled with the young pitchers that combined for the shutout today. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/p5w1Sa3RxW
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 5, 2023
Game 4 - March 5, 2023
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Sunday’s game was pushed forward a couple of hours and started at 2:05 pm instead of 12:00. Morgan Lunceford started for the Toreros and Matthew Grabman took the Oregon start, and the Ducks brought runners home from the very first inning, with a Rikuu Nishida home run on his first at-bat.
B1 | !@A5D0l gives the Ducks the early lead with a solo tater to the opposite field. #GoDucks
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 5, 2023
San Diego 0
Oregon 1 pic.twitter.com/huganioHjK
A USD run in the top of the second inning would be all that the Toreros would be able to muster on the day. In his first at-bat, Colby Shade hit the HR to left center field.
T2 | '
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 5, 2023
Solo blast for @ColbyShade. Back-to-back ABs for Shade with a homer dating back to yesterday and 4 straight extra-base hits (2B, 2B, HR, HR). #GoDucks
San Diego 1
Oregon 2 pic.twitter.com/Oh3pRKyjxT
Grabman took care of the USD order in the top of the third innings, and Gavin Grant opened up the Ducks order with a solo home run.
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 5, 2023
Too high? Nope, gone! #GoDucks | @gavingrant__ pic.twitter.com/3FHTI2j1yQ
Austin Anderson came in for Grabman in the top of the fourth and pitched two flawless innings.
T4 | 1-2-3 inning for @aloha_austin15 in first inning of relief with 1 K. #GoDucks
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 5, 2023
San Diego 1
Oregon 3 pic.twitter.com/Wl0rvNJAlq
In the fifth inning, the weather gods would have their say on the game and there was a 36 minute rain delay. Both sides went scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings. The Oregon bullpen did their job in keeping USD off the board and struck paydirt again in the bottom of the seventh inning. Gavin Grant reached base after being hit by a pitch, and Tanner Smith advanced runners to first and third on a well placed bunt. A two-out single by Colby Shade brought the runners home.
B7 | Cowley with the big 2-out, 2-RBI single gives Oregon a 4-run lead. #GoDucks
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 6, 2023
San Diego 1
Oregon 5 pic.twitter.com/QKoKrytoaN
Oregon’s 5-1 lead would be the game final score. With the win, the Ducks swept a very good USD team and brought their record to 8-3 in the early season.
Oregon’s four starting pitchers in the series combined to give up just four runs (3 earned) in 18.1 innings (a 1.47 ERA). The Ducks pitching staff combined for a 1.25 ERA, and allowed just five earned runs in 36.0 innings - a very impressive pitching performance on the weekend.
The Rikuu Nishida home run was off a wood bat! Check this out:
You can go ahead and lock Rikuu into a spot on the #AllFitt team right now. I mean I've loved his game since last summer in the Cape, but this is just delightful. https://t.co/7sYTTShhwc
— Aaron Fitt (@aaronfitt) March 6, 2023
Coach Waz had this to say after the game:
Oregon rests up this week before hosting UCLA for a three-game series this coming weekend. You will be able to watch the action on Oregon Live Stream.
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