For a while, the fans were thinking no-hitter.
Although Oregon starting pitcher Jace Stoffal didn’t get the no-no with a single in the seventh, the Ducks are more than happy with the 2-0 victory over Oregon State Friday night at PK Park.
The win is Oregon’s 11 straight and now the Ducks are 20-7 overall and 7-3 in conference play. The Beavers dropped to 18-12 overall and just 5-9 in Pac-12 play.
In front of a near sold out PK Park, Stoffal turned in the best start of his Oregon career, going seven innings and just that one hit with nine strikeouts and three walks.
OSU didn’t threaten to score until the seventh when Stoffal was running out of gas. The Beavers managed to load the bases with one out, but the Ducks right-hander coaxed Brady Kasper to pop out and Tanner Smith to fly out to center to end the potential rally.
Oregon’s bats weren’t exactly hot either. Beavers starter Trent Sellers was matching Stoffal pitch for pitch, but the Ducks had many more base runners and just couldn’t get one to cross home.
That was until the fifth inning.
Colby Shade finally got the Ducks on the board with a liner off of Beavers shortstop Mikey Kane’s glove to score Gavin Grant. Oregon made it 2-0 later in the same inning when Sabin Ceballos doubled home Shade.
That was just enough to hold off OSU. Relievers Matt Dallas and Josh Mollerus kept the Beavers off the scoreboard and preserved the win.
The two rivals will get after it for Game 2 of the series on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 3 pm.