The Oregon Ducks baseball team would have obviously preferred to sweep this afternoon’s doubleheader with Ball State, but given the alternative, the Ducks will happily take the split.
Ball State rallied late to take Game 1 and in the nightcap, the Oregon team we’ve all got used to seeing showed up and defeated the Cardinals 10-4.
With the win, Oregon earns its 20th win of the season with 11 losses. Ball State fell to 18-11 overall.
Brennan Milone and Anthony Hall each homered. It was Hall’s fourth home run in his last five games and he now has seven for the season. Milone also drove in four.
Ball State jumped on the Ducks with three runs in the first, but Oregon answered quickly with three runs of its own in the second. Smith’s two-run single tied the game.
The Cardinals briefly took the lead in the fifth with a run, but Milone’s home run to deep right-center field gave the Ducks the lead for good. Oregon added two in the sixth, one in the seventh, and two more in the eighth.
Logan Mercado earned his fourth victory of the year by throwing four innings and allowing just one run on four hits and striking out five.
The Ducks will now go for the series win when they face Ball State at 12 p.m. at PK Park.
Game 1
Oregon has been able to rally in the late innings many times this season, but in the opening game of today’s doubleheader with Ball State, the Ducks couldn’t muster up a rally and the Cardinals took Game 1 by the score of 3-2.
Tanner Smith opened the game up with a lead-off homer, his eighth of the season, to give Oregon the early 1-0 lead. That advantage held up until the seventh inning when Trenton Quartermaine’s run-scoring single off of Kolby Somers tied it at 1-1.
Oregon was able to take the lead right back in the bottom half of the inning thanks to a wild pitch with the bases loaded. Smith scored and Oregon briefly led 2-1.
But Ball State tied it 2-2 on a wild pitch and Zach Cole hit a go-ahead home run to right-center for the 3-2 lead.
Oregon threatened when Jacob Walsh doubled to left. But he was stranded on second and that would be the Ducks’ last chance as the Cardinals’ Sam Klein went 2 1/3 innings, including throwing a perfect ninth to earn the win.
Starting pitcher Isaac Ayon deserved a better fate as he probably had his best game of the season going 6 1/3 innings, giving up one run and seven hits, striking out five, and walking none.