Friday, March 1
Eugene, Ore.
4:05 PM
University of Oregon
6-2
1
vs
6
UC Santa Barbara
4-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UC Santa Barbara
3
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
1
6
7
1
Oregon
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
6
4
Photo by: Rob Moseley/GoDucks.com
UCSB Takes Series Opener at PK Park
03/01/24 | Baseball
The Oregon baseball team suffered a 6-1 defeat on Friday evening.
EUGENE, Ore. — UC Santa Barbara took an early lead and then rode the right arm of a returning all-American to a 6-1 victory Friday over the Oregon baseball team in the opener of a three-game weekend series at PK Park.
The Ducks (6-2) fell behind 3-0 in the first, and managed just a single unearned run in the fifth off UCSB's Matt Ager, a third-team all-American last spring. Ager allowed four hits and two walks while striking out eight over 6.1 innings.
"They got a quality start from a really good arm, a Team USA-type arm," UO coach Mark Wasikowski said. "He pitched good."
How It Happened: Oregon starter RJ Gordon was touched for three straight hits to open the game, the third an RBI double that left runners at second and third. With one out, a sacrifice fly made it 2-0 — the runner was ruled safe on a bang-bang play at the plate — and a third run scored on an error.
The Ducks tried to respond in the bottom of the first, getting three straight two-out singles, from Drew Smith, Jeffery Heard and Bennett Thompson. Smith tried to score on Thompson's base hit to right field, but in another bang-bang play at the plate, Smith was called out.
"I thought those two plays, ironically in the first inning, were probably a really critical piece in hindsight," Wasikowski said.
Heard's first-inning single extended his hitting streak to eight games.
UCSB loaded the bases with one out in the third, with the inning ending on a sacrifice fly that saw a run score but a second runner thrown out on the basepaths for a double play.
Gordon got two outs in the fifth before being replaced by freshman Toby Twist, who got the third out to strand two runners. Twist pitched into the ninth, allowing one earned run across four innings, with five strikeouts.
"Twist settled things down," Wasikowski said. "You have a chance to get back into ballgame, if we had strung some at-bats together. But I was really encouraged with Toby out here."
After Twist got out of the jam in the top of the fifth, Ryan Cooney led off the bottom of the inning with a single. The freshman from Portland took second on a passed ball, advanced to third on a flyball out and scored on an error to make it 4-1.
But UCSB manufactured a run in the top of the sixth to keep the Ducks from grabbing momentum. Oregon was retired in order in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, and the Gauchos added an unearned run in the ninth. The Ducks loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but they weren't able to push a run across.
Up next: Game two of the series is Saturday at 2:05 p.m.
The Ducks (6-2) fell behind 3-0 in the first, and managed just a single unearned run in the fifth off UCSB's Matt Ager, a third-team all-American last spring. Ager allowed four hits and two walks while striking out eight over 6.1 innings.
"They got a quality start from a really good arm, a Team USA-type arm," UO coach Mark Wasikowski said. "He pitched good."
How It Happened: Oregon starter RJ Gordon was touched for three straight hits to open the game, the third an RBI double that left runners at second and third. With one out, a sacrifice fly made it 2-0 — the runner was ruled safe on a bang-bang play at the plate — and a third run scored on an error.
The Ducks tried to respond in the bottom of the first, getting three straight two-out singles, from Drew Smith, Jeffery Heard and Bennett Thompson. Smith tried to score on Thompson's base hit to right field, but in another bang-bang play at the plate, Smith was called out.
"I thought those two plays, ironically in the first inning, were probably a really critical piece in hindsight," Wasikowski said.
Heard's first-inning single extended his hitting streak to eight games.
UCSB loaded the bases with one out in the third, with the inning ending on a sacrifice fly that saw a run score but a second runner thrown out on the basepaths for a double play.
Gordon got two outs in the fifth before being replaced by freshman Toby Twist, who got the third out to strand two runners. Twist pitched into the ninth, allowing one earned run across four innings, with five strikeouts.
"Twist settled things down," Wasikowski said. "You have a chance to get back into ballgame, if we had strung some at-bats together. But I was really encouraged with Toby out here."
After Twist got out of the jam in the top of the fifth, Ryan Cooney led off the bottom of the inning with a single. The freshman from Portland took second on a passed ball, advanced to third on a flyball out and scored on an error to make it 4-1.
But UCSB manufactured a run in the top of the sixth to keep the Ducks from grabbing momentum. Oregon was retired in order in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, and the Gauchos added an unearned run in the ninth. The Ducks loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but they weren't able to push a run across.
Up next: Game two of the series is Saturday at 2:05 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Matt Ager (1-1)
L: Gordon, RJ (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Brendan Durfee 1
RBI: Brendan Durfee 1 ; Jessada Brown 1 ; Nick Oakley 1 ; Corey Nunez 1
SH: LeTrey McCollum 1
SF: Jessada Brown 1 ; Nick Oakley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Reiss Calvin 1 ; Zander Darby 2 ; Brendan Durfee 2 ; Nick Oakley 1
SB: LeTrey McCollum 1
CS: Reiss Calvin 1
HBP: Reiss Calvin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cooney, Ryan 1
HBP: Thompson, Bennett 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
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OF
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LHP
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