Diamond Ducks Sunday action: Baseball cools, softball stays hot

Both baseball and softball had already secured series victories by the end of Saturday, the question was, could they break out the brooms for a sweep?

Unfortunately for baseball the answer was no. After nabbing consecutive victories against #12 Arizona State that handed the Sun Devils their first series loss of the season, Oregon fell in a 9-6 battle that wasn’t put away until the ninth inning.

The Ducks held the lead through six but in the seventh inning Arizona State brought in four runs to capture a lead they would not relinquish. Still, a score by Tanner Smith off a bases-loaded error kept the lead at only one run, and a scoreless eighth inning made it anyone’s ballgame heading into the ninth. But a two-run homer by ASU in the ninth sealed the deal.

Still, there’s no reason for baseball to hang their heads, they’ve won five of their las six, worked their way into the Top 20, and won a series against a highly-ranked opponent, building a great deal of momentum for their rivalry game against Oregon State on Tuesday.

Down by the bay, softball stayed red-hot, pushing their winning streak to a baker’s dozen by handling Cal 8-5 to sweep the series and set themselves up for a flaming finish to the regular season as they host Utah back in Eugene this coming weekend.

A 3-0 lead for the Bears quickly evaporated in the fourth inning, when Oregon went off for six runs. Interestingly enough, they accomplished it without a single homer, but instead through a flurry of singles, doubles, and sacrifice flies.

Cal cut the lead to one heading into the seventh, but a couple more singles and sacrifice flies gave the Ducks the cushion they needed, and earned them an eight-run game without homering once.